Category: LPGA

Prize money payouts for each LPGA player at 2022 CME Group Tour Championship

The 2022 LPGA season finale featured the largest first-place paycheck in women’s golf history.

Another record payday in women’s golf took place at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Lydia Ko took home the $2 million first-place prize, moving her to fifth on the career money list, passing Suzann Pettersen ($14,837,579) and Lorena Ochoa ($14,863,331) with $16,695,357 in official earnings. She has won $4,364,403 total this season.

Lorena Ochoa still owns the single-season earnings record of $4,364,994, 2007, just $591 more than Ko in 2022.

Seven-figure checks remain rare in women’s golf. This year, seven will be handed out, though the Aon Risk Reward Challenge $1 million prize is unofficial money. Minjee Lee won both the $1.8 million winner’s check at the U.S. Women’s Open and Aon race this year.

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Check out the final money payouts from the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship.

Finish Golfer Score Earnings
1 Lydia Ko -17 $2,000,000
2 Leona Maguire -15 $550,000
3 Anna Nordqvist -14 $340,000
T4 Georgia Hall -12 $222,500
T4 Jeongeun Lee -12 $222,500
6 Pajaree Anannarukarn -10 $150,000
T7 Brooke Henderson -9 $105,667
T7 Hyo Joo Kim -9 $105,667
T7 Gemma Dryburgh -9 $105,667
T10 Atthaya Thitikul -8 $83,500
T10 Celine Boutier -8 $83,500
T10 Nelly Korda -8 $83,500
T13 Madelene Sagstrom -7 $76,000
T13 Moriya Jutanugarn -7 $76,000
T15 Danielle Kang -6 $72,000
T15 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -6 $72,000
T17 Andrea Lee -5 $67,250
T17 Allisen Corpuz -5 $67,250
T17 Lizette Salas -5 $67,250
T17 Chella Choi -5 $67,250
T21 Xiyu Lin -4 $62,500
T21 Lexi Thompson -4 $62,500
T21 Megan Khang -4 $62,500
T21 Amy Yang -4 $62,500
T25 Ayaka Furue -3 $58,000
T25 Marina Alex -3 $58,000
T25 Sei Young Kim -3 $58,000
T25 Caroline Masson -3 $58,000
T25 Stacy Lewis -3 $58,000
T30 Lilia Vu -2 $54,250
T30 Charley Hull -2 $54,250
T30 Sophia Schubert -2 $54,250
T33 Jennifer Kupcho -1 $50,125
T33 Minjee Lee -1 $50,125
T33 In-gee Chun -1 $50,125
T33 Hannah Green -1 $50,125
T33 Jin Young Ko -1 $50,125
T33 Ashleigh Buhai -1 $50,125
T33 Nanna Koerstz Madsen -1 $50,125
T33 Na Rin An -1 $50,125
T41 Nasa Hataoka E $46,250
T41 Eun-Hee Ji E $46,250
T41 Sarah Schmelzel E $46,250
T41 Alison Lee E $46,250
T45 Ally Ewing 1 $44,250
T45 Cheyenne Knight 1 $44,250
T45 Ryann O’Toole 1 $44,250
T45 Maja Stark 1 $44,250
T49 Hinako Shibuno 2 $42,750
T49 Pornanong Phatlum 2 $42,750
51 A Lim Kim 3 $42,250
52 Matilda Castren 4 $42,000
53 Mina Harigae 5 $41,750
T54 Hye Jin Choi 6 $41,125
T54 Paula Reto 6 $41,125
T54 Carlota Ciganda 6 $41,125
T54 Ariya Jutanugarn 6 $41,125
58 Gaby Lopez 7 $40,500
T59 Yuka Saso 8 $40,125
T59 Patty Tavatanakit 8 $40,125

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CME Group CEO ‘exceptionally disappointed’ with LPGA leadership heading into record payday

“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, who will hand over a $2 million check on Sunday.

NAPLES, Fla. – The seeds of the CME Group Tour Championship began with a pro-am 15 years ago. In those early years, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy received note after note from clients who so enjoyed their rounds of golf with LPGA players that they instantly became fans of the tour.

Beginning in 2011, CME began title-sponsoring the LPGA’s year-ending event, eventually integrating the firm’s Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida, with the LPGA’s season-ending event at the Ritz-Carlton’s Tiburon Golf Club. This week, Duffy will hand over the biggest check in the history of the women’s game – $2 million. The overall purse of $7 million is the largest on the LPGA outside of the majors (and is bigger than the purses at two of the five majors). The last player in the field of 60 will make $40,000, close to what 10th place made last week.

Former U.S. presidents, secretaries of state and business tycoons have presented at CME’s conference, and for Tuesday night’s dinner, the firm typically invites a select number of players to attend. Earlier this week, when Duffy asked for the houselights to be turned on so that he could applaud the players in the room, the only people standing were those serving the tables.

Not a single player showed up.

“It’s an embarrassment to a company of my size and an embarrassment to me personally,” said Duffy, two days after the event.

Duffy’s beef isn’t with the players, though — it’s with who’s at the helm.

“I am exceptionally disappointed with the leadership of the LPGA,” he continued. “They better get their act together because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.”

When CME first sponsored the Titleholders event in 2011, the purse was $1.5 million and the winner received $500,000. Three years later, the Race to the CME Globe season-long points race was introduced with a $1 million bonus. That bonus has since been folded into the official prize money with a winner-take-all format. In 2018, it was announced that the winner would receive $1.5 million, which at the time was more than what most PGA Tour winners received.

“This announcement is really about setting a new standard in women’s golf,” said then-commissioner Mike Whan four years ago. “I would love to lie to you guys and say that I called Terry 16 times and pushed and pushed him for it, but it was his idea.”

Duffy aimed to blaze a trail that he hoped other organizations would follow. His influence today is similar to what David Foster did at Mission Hills in the 1970s to elevate the women’s tour with the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks with the media during a roundtable during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Mollie Marcoux Samaan was named commissioner of the LPGA 18 months ago, and she was at the dinner that players skipped.

“There hasn’t been any greater supporter of the LPGA than CME Group and Terry Duffy,” Marcoux Samaan told Golfweek on Friday when asked about the incident.

“There was clearly a disconnect, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen. So on this particular issue, I’m taking full responsibility as a leader of the organization to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

This week, the LPGA announced that the total prize fund in 2023 will cross the $100 million mark for the first time, despite losing three full-field events and only adding one (although it’s unknown at this point if players will actually be able to travel to the two events in China that are worth $4.2 million). The majors and CME represent nearly half of the tour’s prize money, with only three additional events on the schedule with a purse of at least $3 million. A dozen events still offer purses below $2 million.

As the LPGA’s big events do the heavy lifting, it’s still a grind to push longtime sponsors to higher purses and fill in the gaps of those who don’t renew. Veteran players, who not too long ago worried that the LPGA might not survive, understand that a culture of appreciation remains vital.

The accessibility and approachability of players is what drove Duffy to take a pro-am event with about 20 players and build it into a benchmark event for women’s sports.

While the LPGA continues to reach new heights financially, the chasm between the men’s and women’s tours only grows deeper as some purses on the PGA Tour’s schedule now reach $20 million. LPGA veteran Karen Stupples believes it’s critical that LPGA players maintain the “act like a Founder” mantra that Whan preached for years.

“They went to baseball parks and did tricks on the fields to bring people in to watch them play golf,” said Stupples of the 13 women who founded the tour in 1950. “The players don’t have to do that anymore, They have to go to a party or two. Just treat it as your job. Your job description is to do this.”

Terry Duffy addresses the crowd with Keith Urban, who performed on the lawn at the Ritz on Wednesday as part of the week’s festivities at CME. (Photo courtesy of CME)

It’s not unusual now for top players to turn down pre-tournament interviews, even at major championships and CME. Some will meet with the print media or Golf Channel, but not both. Sometimes, it’s nothing at all.

When Stacy Lewis became the No. 1 player in the world, a couple of LPGA Hall of Famers sat her down and outlined the expectations.

“They just said, as a top American, as No. 1 in the world, you’re going to be asked to do a lot of things,” said Lewis. “You’re going to be asked to do a lot of interviews that you don’t want to do. You need to do it because it’s what’s best for the tour. It will be productive for you; it will be productive for the tour. It creates more exposure, and that’s your job. Your job as a top player is to help build this tour.”

Stupples believes that players often get so caught up in their own little bubbles that they fail to see the bigger picture. Lewis agrees.

“It’s all these kinds of things that for so long they were unsaid, and people just did it because it’s the right thing to do,” said Lewis, “and the current generation needs to hear it, needs to be taught it.”

For the LPGA to continue on an upward trajectory, player buy-in remains critical, especially when it comes to knowing the expectations of those who write the checks.

“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, “because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others. There’s no one person, no two people who can grow it alone. You need everybody. They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured.”

Marcoux Samaan said she continues to emphasize the “act like a Founder” culture Whan created at staff and player meetings, believing that the organization’s “secret sauce” of hospitality, sponsor engagement and accessibility remains one of its biggest strengths.

“We just need to continue to deliver that message,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and I don’t think anyone disputes it. I think everyone believes it. Sometimes you just miss in the moment.”

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Lydia Ko and Leona Maguire could deliver epic duel at CME on Sunday with $2 million on the line

Maguire began the day seven shots behind Ko, but a flawless 9-under 63 vaulted her into a tie with Ko at 15 under.

NAPLES, Fla. — Lydia Ko doesn’t want to think about it like a match-play Sunday. After three rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship, Ko sits knotted with Ireland’s Leona Maguire, the hero of last year’s European Solheim Cup team.

Ko could clinch Rolex LPGA Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy, the World No. 1 ranking and money title with a victory and the record $2 million prize. Maguire could further grow her lion-hearted reputation.

“I’m as competitive as they get,” said Maguire, who earlier this year became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA.

Maguire began the day seven shots behind Ko, but a flawless 9-under 63 vaulted her into a tie with Ko at 15 under. Putts swirled around the cup and dropped for Maguire all day, just as her caddie said they would. She needed only 25.

“I think the Solheim Cup was a big part of my journey,” said Maguire, who collected 4.5 points at Inverness. “I have a lot to thank to Beanie (Catriona Matthew) here for picking me, but I think the biggest thing was confidence, feeling like I belonged on that team playing all five matches doing as well as I did.”

Maguire and Ko duel won’t alone, however, as officials have moved to split tees and threesomes for the final round with incoming weather expected in the afternoon. Former U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 will join the pair after a second straight 68.

Ko, who leads the POY race by one point over Minjee Lee, could win the award for the first time since 2015. She could also rise to No. 1 for the first time since the summer of 2017. The Kiwi spent a total of 104 weeks at the top. Ko would have to win and have current No. 1 Nelly Korda finish solo 21st or worse. Korda is currently tied for 12th.

Last month, Ko wrote on Instagram that she and swing coach Sean Foley were no longer working together. Over the summer, she started working with both Foley and Ted Oh, whom she’d worked with previously. Oh is in Naples this week.

“I think both Sean and Ted wanted me to swing naturally to how I should be swinging,” she said, “not to try and make a picture-perfect swing.”

Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays her shot from the 15th tee during the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 19, 2022 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Ko said she won’t think of tomorrow as a match-play scenario given that battling herself is hard enough. She also expects someone to make a charge.

“I just want to play golf that I don’t regret,” she said, “that I feel confident and, and come at the end of tomorrow and say, ‘Hey, you know, I did my best and you know, this is where I finished.’ ”

Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh is among those who could make a charge, sitting five shots back at 10 under with Lee6. Dryburgh won for the first time earlier this month in Japan.

When Dryburgh first arrived on the Ladies European Tour she had one sponsor. After that one fell away, she got some help from the Scottish Golf Union, but that one dried up too. When she had no sponsor, members from her home club, Beaconsfield Golf Club, set up a trust.

Two weeks ago, Dryburgh made more money in one week, $300,000, at the Toto Japan Classic than she had in her previous four years on the LPGA after her breakthrough victory. Now, she trails by five as she chases a second win in three weeks and a $2 million prize.

“Just taking the confidence from Japan into the week,” said Dryburgh. “Been swinging very well and putting well as well, so just kind of riding all of that confidence at the moment. And it’s been fun to get into contention. You never know what can happen tomorrow.”

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Carefree Lydia Ko in command by five at season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner earns $2 million

Lydia Ko is in position to finish her season strong.

NAPLES, Fla. – Leona Maguire took a vastly different road to the LPGA than Lydia Ko, ruling the women’s amateur scene for years as a standout at Duke. A dozen years ago, a 27-year-old Maguire teed it up with a 13-year-old Ko at the World Amateur Team Championship in Argentina.

“She was a phenom then getting ready to turn pro,” said Maguire. “I remember her short game was incredible. A wedge shot didn’t go outside 3, 4 feet.”

Players still marvel at Ko, who at 25 is enjoying a magnificent career resurgence. After a second-round 66, Ko leads the field by five at the CME Group Tour Championship at 13-under 131. A victory here would shore up her first LPGA Player of the Year award since 2015, not to mention a $2 million payday.

Ko said she wanted to finish the season with no regrets, playing freely.

“I think when I play freely,” said Ko, “I’m not being tentative. I’m controlling how the shot is going to go. I think that way it’s just a little bit stress-free.

“If I do miss it, hey, like, I’m going to miss one here and there. So it’s just a better place for me to be at. And obviously when the nerves kick in, that bit is a lot harder, but I think when I was struggling, I got more and more tentative and trying to control the ball and trying to make it work.”

While she hasn’t mathematically clinched the Vare Trophy for low scoring average, it’s basically a done deal. To rise to No. 1 in the world again, she’d have to win and have Nelly Korda finish solo 21st or worse. In 2015, Ko became the youngest player to ever reach No. 1 in the world ­– male or female – at age 17.

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Korda sits in a share of third with Anna Nordqvist, Gemma Dryburgh, and Nasa Hataoka, six strokes back. Hyo Joo Kim sits alone in second at 8 under. Maguire, a first-time winner this season, is at 6 under with Amy Yang and Jeongeun Lee6.

Top-ranked Korda, who is wearing her new signature line with J.Lindeberg this week, made four birdies on the front nine and then parred the last nine holes after the putter went dry.

“They’ve kind of used a lot of the Sunday pins,” said Korda, who won last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

“I would say, 16, 17, they kind of put them in the back just over a bunker. When you kind of get on one of those ridges that it can break either way, like, it just happens that occasionally you don’t roll them in.”

Nelly Korda gives a smile on the 18th green during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Ko, a two-time winner on tour this season and the 2014 CME champion, leads the LPGA in strokes gained total per round and strokes gained putting per round this season. Coming into this event she had made 201 putts of 10 feet or longer this season, eight more than any other player on tour.

Ko tops the tour in putts per green in relegation with a 1.72 average. She did the same in 2016 (1.71).

“I think during the times when I wasn’t hitting it as good, my short game improved,” said Ko. “So it’s good and bad, but I don’t feel like I’m the best putter in the world. I feel like there is so much room for improvement.”

Minjee Lee trails Ko by one point in the POY race. The Aussie bogeyed the last hole to shoot 68. She’s 5 under for the tournament in a share of 10th.

Coming into the event, Ko was 26 under at the CME over the past two years compared to Lee at 24 under.

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LPGA releases 2023 schedule, which features 33 events and record prize fund of $101 million

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks.

NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA released its 2023 schedule on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 women are competing for a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history. Next year’s schedule will include 33 tournaments and a record prize fund of $101.4 million. This year’s purses totaled $93.5 million.

“We feel very bullish on where we’re going,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, “but we are not done yet. I think all this growth is really positive, but we still have work to do.”

The year will begin in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 19-22 at Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona, though there won’t be a Florida swing this year. After a full month off, the tour then moves to Asia for three events in Thailand, Singapore and China. The LPGA hasn’t competed in China in three years due to ongoing travel restrictions.

“I think we’re seeing good progress,” said Ally Ewing. “The majors are stepping up in a big way, and I think the push is to continue on and get our regular-season events at a better number. But overall, when you look at the progress through the years, and you reach this milestone it’s exciting.”

The first full-field event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will be held March 23-26 at Superstition Mountain G.C., in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The LPGA introduced tour-backed Drive On events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Drive On, won by Leona Maguire, was contested at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.

Superstition Mountain hosted the 2004-08 Safeway International and is home to a number of LPGA players.

With four limited-field events to start the season, the majority of players on the LPGA will have more than four months off between starts. While some wanted a longer offseason, many are concerned about the long break between events, particularly those who are further down the money list.

“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Caroline Inglis, who finished the year 100th on the Race to CME Globe, at last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

Marcoux Samaan said the tour has taken a hard look at the money list at all positions, and while the money has improved from the top down in recent years, there’s still work to be done, particularly to ensure that the bottom half can earn a living.

“We need to make sure that that 100th best player can make a living out here on the tour,” she said. “Right now, the 100th best player made $167,000. It probably cost her $125,000 to $150,000 to be out here, and that’s really a tangible goal for us to say we really want the 100th best player to be able to make a good living commensurate with her talent out here on the LPGA.”

To that end, Marcoux Samaan called for more investment in women’s sports in general, noting that the infrastructure of the organization must grow.

“You hear people talk about in women’s sports all the time this idea that we need to be able to thrive rather than just survive, and I think that takes investment, and that takes infrastructure,” she said.

“So for us, that includes technology infrastructure. That includes personnel infrastructure, media infrastructure, and access. So that’s kind of like where we’re focused. I think we’re always going to be focused on the tournaments. We’re always going to be focused on the schedule, first and foremost. That’s the lifeblood of who the LPGA is.”

Six years ago, the PGA Tour and LPGA entered into a strategic alliance. Marcoux Samaan described the partnership as positive and strong.

“Obviously we work with them on our media rights,” she said. “People know that that we’ve had a relationship with them around our media rights, but right now, the biggest engagement is really around technology.”

The LPGA has never had a formal marketing department and Marcoux Samaan has placed an emphasis in building a team that will help drive more fans to events and the tour’s social media channels. The three most important words, she said, are “content, content, content.”

“All the ways that we can, in a modern world, have two-way communication with our fans,” she said, “know who our fans are, aggressively deliver content that they’re interested in, encourage them to come and be a part of our ecosystem.”

The majors and CME have largely been responsible for increasing prize money in significant ways. The dates of next year’s Chevron Championship have moved to April 20-23, after the Masters. The event will be contested for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and the AIG Women’s British Open at Walton Heath (Old Course) in Surrey, England. The U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG will be held back-to-back on opposite ends of the country with a week off in between.

Marcoux Samaan said that in an ideal world, the majors would be more spread out.

“We’re not sure where we’ll go in the future,” she said, “but I think part of it is because we are playing at some phenomenal golf courses, and a bit of those decisions were based on availability of the golf courses and availability to get in and play in these really important and iconic venues.”

New, previously announced events on the schedule include the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National and the return of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, an unofficial team event, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Three tournaments dropped off the schedule, including the LPGA Mediheal Championship, JTBC Classic and the Gainbridge stop in Fort Myers, which was combined with the Pelican to form one event: The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

In September, the Solheim Cup will be staged in Spain for the first time, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The fall Asian swing includes four stops, including Shanghai and Taiwan, which have both been canceled the past three years due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

When asked specifically about getting back into China to play next season, the commissioner said they’re still waiting to hear.

“We told the players that we’ll keep them posted,” she said, “but we have a contract, and it’s on the schedule. We’ll let them know as that evolves, but we’re hopeful that we can get in and play on all the events that are on our schedule.”

2023 LPGA schedule

Date Tournament Host Location
Jan. 19-22 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona G. and C.C. Orlando
Feb. 23-26 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam C.C. (Old Course) Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand
March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa G.C. Singapore
March 9-12 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay G.C. Hainan Island, China
March 23-26 LPGA Drive On Championship Superstition Mountain G.C. Gold Canyon, Arizona
March 30-April 2 DIO Implant LA Open Palos Verdes G.C Palos Verdes Estates, California
April 12-15 LOTTE Championship Hoakalei C.C. Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
April 20-23 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas
April 27-30 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro Wilshire G.C. Los Angeles
May 4-7 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown TPC Harding Park San Francisco
May 11-14 Cognizant Founders Cup Upper Montclair C.C. Clifton, New Jersey
May 24-28 Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Shadow Creek Las Vegas
June 1-4 Mizuho Americas Open Liberty National G.C. Jersey City, New Jersey
June 9-11 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer Seaview A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey
June 15-18 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield C.C. Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 22-25 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Baltusrol G.C. (Lower Course) Springfield, New Jersey
July 6-9 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica Pebble Beach G.L. Pebble Beach, California
July 13-16 Greater Toledo LPGA Classic Highland Meadows G.C. Sylvania, Ohio
July 19-22 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland C.C Midland, Michigan
July 27-30 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort G.C. Evian-les-Bains, France
Aug. 3-6 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links Ayrshire, Scotland
Aug. 10-13 AIG Women’s Open Walton Heath (Old Course) Surrey, England
Aug. 17-20 ISPS Handa World Invitational Galgorme Castle G.C. and Massereene G.C. Antrim, Northern Ireland
Aug. 24-27 CP Women’s Open Shaughnessy G. and C.C British Columbia, Canada
Aug. 31-Sept. 3 Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater C.C. Portland, Oregon
Sept. 7-10 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G Kenwood C.C. Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 22-24 Solheim Cup Finca Cortesin Andalucia, Spain
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G Pinnacle C.C. Rogers, Arkansas
Oct. 5-8 The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America Old American G.C. The Colony, Texas
Oct. 12-15 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C. Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Oct. 19-22 BMW Ladies Championship Korean location to be announced
Oct. 26-29 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Miramar G.C New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nov. 2-5 Toto Japan Classic Taiheiyo Club Minori Course Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan
Nov. 9-12 The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican G.C. Belleair, Florida
Nov. 16-19 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon G.C. Naples, Florida

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LPGA releases 2023 schedule, which features 33 events and record prize fund of $101 million

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks.

NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA released its 2023 schedule on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 women are competing for a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history. Next year’s schedule will include 33 tournaments and a record prize fund of $101.4 million. This year’s purses totaled $93.5 million.

“We feel very bullish on where we’re going,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, “but we are not done yet. I think all this growth is really positive, but we still have work to do.”

The year will begin in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 19-22 at Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona, though there won’t be a Florida swing this year. After a full month off, the tour then moves to Asia for three events in Thailand, Singapore and China. The LPGA hasn’t competed in China in three years due to ongoing travel restrictions.

“I think we’re seeing good progress,” said Ally Ewing. “The majors are stepping up in a big way, and I think the push is to continue on and get our regular-season events at a better number. But overall, when you look at the progress through the years, and you reach this milestone it’s exciting.”

The first full-field event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will be held March 23-26 at Superstition Mountain G.C., in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The LPGA introduced tour-backed Drive On events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Drive On, won by Leona Maguire, was contested at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.

Superstition Mountain hosted the 2004-08 Safeway International and is home to a number of LPGA players.

With four limited-field events to start the season, the majority of players on the LPGA will have more than four months off between starts. While some wanted a longer offseason, many are concerned about the long break between events, particularly those who are further down the money list.

“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Caroline Inglis, who finished the year 100th on the Race to CME Globe, at last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

Marcoux Samaan said the tour has taken a hard look at the money list at all positions, and while the money has improved from the top down in recent years, there’s still work to be done, particularly to ensure that the bottom half can earn a living.

“We need to make sure that that 100th best player can make a living out here on the tour,” she said. “Right now, the 100th best player made $167,000. It probably cost her $125,000 to $150,000 to be out here, and that’s really a tangible goal for us to say we really want the 100th best player to be able to make a good living commensurate with her talent out here on the LPGA.”

To that end, Marcoux Samaan called for more investment in women’s sports in general, noting that the infrastructure of the organization must grow.

“You hear people talk about in women’s sports all the time this idea that we need to be able to thrive rather than just survive, and I think that takes investment, and that takes infrastructure,” she said.

“So for us, that includes technology infrastructure. That includes personnel infrastructure, media infrastructure, and access. So that’s kind of like where we’re focused. I think we’re always going to be focused on the tournaments. We’re always going to be focused on the schedule, first and foremost. That’s the lifeblood of who the LPGA is.”

Six years ago, the PGA Tour and LPGA entered into a strategic alliance. Marcoux Samaan described the partnership as positive and strong.

“Obviously we work with them on our media rights,” she said. “People know that that we’ve had a relationship with them around our media rights, but right now, the biggest engagement is really around technology.”

The LPGA has never had a formal marketing department and Marcoux Samaan has placed an emphasis on building a team that will help drive more fans to events and the tour’s social media channels. The three most important words, she said, are “content, content, content.”

“All the ways that we can, in a modern world, have two-way communication with our fans,” she said, “know who our fans are, aggressively deliver content that they’re interested in, encourage them to come and be a part of our ecosystem.”

The majors and CME have largely been responsible for increasing prize money in significant ways. The dates of next year’s Chevron Championship have moved to April 20-23, after the Masters. The event will be contested for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and the AIG Women’s British Open at Walton Heath (Old Course) in Surrey, England. The U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG will be held back-to-back on opposite ends of the country with a week off in between.

Marcoux Samaan said that in an ideal world, the majors would be more spread out.

“We’re not sure where we’ll go in the future,” she said, “but I think part of it is because we are playing at some phenomenal golf courses, and a bit of those decisions were based on availability of the golf courses and availability to get in and play in these really important and iconic venues.”

New, previously announced events on the schedule include the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National and the return of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, an unofficial team event, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Three tournaments dropped off the schedule, including the LPGA Mediheal Championship, JTBC Classic and the Gainbridge stop in Fort Myers, which was combined with the Pelican to form one event: The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

In September, the Solheim Cup will be staged in Spain for the first time, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The fall Asian swing includes four stops, including Shanghai and Taiwan, which have both been canceled the past three years due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

When asked specifically about getting back into China to play next season, the commissioner said they’re still waiting to hear.

“We told the players that we’ll keep them posted,” she said, “but we have a contract, and it’s on the schedule. We’ll let them know as that evolves, but we’re hopeful that we can get in and play on all the events that are on our schedule.”

2023 LPGA schedule

Date Tournament Host Location
Jan. 19-22 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona G. and C.C. Orlando
Feb. 23-26 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam C.C. (Old Course) Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand
March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa G.C. Singapore
March 9-12 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay G.C. Hainan Island, China
March 23-26 LPGA Drive On Championship Superstition Mountain G.C. Gold Canyon, Arizona
March 30-April 2 DIO Implant LA Open Palos Verdes G.C Palos Verdes Estates, California
April 12-15 LOTTE Championship Hoakalei C.C. Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
April 20-23 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas
April 27-30 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro Wilshire G.C. Los Angeles
May 4-7 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown TPC Harding Park San Francisco
May 11-14 Cognizant Founders Cup Upper Montclair C.C. Clifton, New Jersey
May 24-28 Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Shadow Creek Las Vegas
June 1-4 Mizuho Americas Open Liberty National G.C. Jersey City, New Jersey
June 9-11 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer Seaview A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey
June 15-18 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield C.C. Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 22-25 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Baltusrol G.C. (Lower Course) Springfield, New Jersey
July 6-9 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica Pebble Beach G.L. Pebble Beach, California
July 13-16 Greater Toledo LPGA Classic Highland Meadows G.C. Sylvania, Ohio
July 19-22 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland C.C Midland, Michigan
July 27-30 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort G.C. Evian-les-Bains, France
Aug. 3-6 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links Ayrshire, Scotland
Aug. 10-13 AIG Women’s Open Walton Heath (Old Course) Surrey, England
Aug. 17-20 ISPS Handa World Invitational Galgorme Castle G.C. and Massereene G.C. Antrim, Northern Ireland
Aug. 24-27 CP Women’s Open Shaughnessy G. and C.C British Columbia, Canada
Aug. 31-Sept. 3 Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater C.C. Portland, Oregon
Sept. 7-10 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G Kenwood C.C. Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 22-24 Solheim Cup Finca Cortesin Andalucia, Spain
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G Pinnacle C.C. Rogers, Arkansas
Oct. 5-8 The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America Old American G.C. The Colony, Texas
Oct. 12-15 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C. Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Oct. 19-22 BMW Ladies Championship Korean location to be announced
Oct. 26-29 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Miramar G.C New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nov. 2-5 Toto Japan Classic Taiheiyo Club Minori Course Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan
Nov. 9-12 The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican G.C. Belleair, Florida
Nov. 16-19 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon G.C. Naples, Florida

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With so much on the line, Player of the Year contender Lydia Ko opens with a 65 to take early lead at CME

Ko holds the course record at Tiburon, 62, and won this tournament in 2014.

NAPLES, Fla. – Lydia Ko made bogey on the opening par 5 at Tiburon Golf Club to begin the CME Group Tour Championship, but that did nothing to foreshadow the rest of the day.

Ko, leader of the Rolex Player of the Year race and Vare Trophy, paces the field after an opening 7-under 65. The 25-year-old Kiwi holds the course record at Tiburon, 62, and won this tournament in 2014. She recorded eight birdies on the day and shot 31 on the back nine. This week’s winner earns a record-setting $2 million.

“The first four holes into the wind is a beast,” said Ko. “It’s a beast without the wind. So I knew that if I could just hang on and just stay patient, there was going to be a lot of opportunities, and I was able to grab a lot of them in the back nine. So definitely nice to finish off that way.”

An 18-time winner on the LPGA, Ko last won the LPGA Player of the Year in 2015. She leads Minjee Lee by one point in the POY race. Lee opened with a 71 and is tied for 23rd. Players must finish in the top 10 to earn points.

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Nelly Korda, winner of last week’s Pelican Ladies Championship and current No. 1, made a 20-footer for bogey on the second hole that felt like a birdie. She opened with a 4-under 68 with two dropped shots, hitting all 14 fairways.

“It was kind of sporadically windy,” said Korda, “but then I guess once I got over a couple of my shots the winds died, so those were my like two really about mistakes.”

CME: Full leaderboard

Brooke Henderson withdrew from last week’s Pelican event with an injury to her upper back and said that she wasn’t even sure if she could tee it up this week. The Canadian lives part-time here in Naples and felt well enough on Thursday to shoot 68. Henderson, a two-time winner this year, said she made some adjustments to her swing to be able to play.

2022 LPGA CME Group Tour Championship
Brooke Henderson hits her second shot from the first fairway during the first round of the 2022 LPGA CME Group Tour Championship at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Photo: Lynne Sladky/Associated Press)

Danielle Kang spent four days with Butch Harmon last week in Las Vegas and felt good about swing changes they’re making coming into the week, jotting notes down on her glove. Kang spent a month in South Korea with Inbee Park, where she tied for 10th at the BMW Ladies Championship.

Kang, who revealed over the summer that she has a tumor on her spine, lost in a playoff at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to Atthaya Thitifkul and tied for third at the LPGA Mediheal, after returning to competition after a months-long break.

“I really wish at one point we can just get to a point where I don’t want to be associated with so much health things as I’m here, I’m standing in front of you guys, I’m playing golf,” said Kang.

“Body and being physically in the top best shape is something we’re always going to be thinking about as athletes. So the way I warm up, the way I have to approach certain type of things, is — there has been obstacles that’s been set in front of me, but that’s kind of part of life, right? Nothing is going to be fluid.”

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Photos: 2022 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club

The tournament featured a $2 million first-place prize, the highest on the LPGA.

The 34-event 2022 LPGA season concludes at the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

The par-72 course measures 6,556 yards for the season finale. It was designed by Greg Norman and opened in 1998.

The tournament’s purse was increased to $7 million in 2022, with a record $2 million going to the winner. It’s the highest first-place prize on the LPGA. The player who finishes 60th in the field of 60 will receive $40,000.

The Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy winners will also be decided this week. Both awards come with one LPGA Hall of Fame point.

How would Sophia Schubert spend CME’s $2 million payday? She’d steal a move from Arnold Palmer’s playbook

Schubert started taking flying lessons six months ago after watching “Top Gun: Maverick” with her boyfriend.

NAPLES, Fla. –  With the largest paycheck in women’s golf history on the line this week at the CME Group Tour Championship, LPGA players are often asked what they’d do with $2 million. Jin Young Ko said she’d buy a yellow Ferrari. Nelly Korda also mentioned a sports car. Minjee Lee said a boat (yacht?).

Sophia Schubert offered one of the more interesting responses after an opening 4-under 68 at Tiburon Golf Club. The rookie who came oh-so-close at the Amundi Evian Championship, where she won $586,262, said she’d buy a plane.

Schubert started taking flying lessons six months ago after watching “Top Gun: Maverick” with her boyfriend.

“I was, like, you know what, I’ve kind of been looking for a hobby outside of golf,” she said, “just something to kind of distract myself. So I was, like, I might as well try this. It seems fun.”

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Schubert, who lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, about 20 minutes from a small airport, said her father took lessons when he was younger and her best friend’s husband is an instructor. The Texas grad and 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion said she tries to keep her lessons to days when the weather is nice.

“I took off the very first time that I got in the plane for my first lesson,” she said. “I haven’t landed. That’s the scary part. So the flying is not that hard, but it’s all the ground school and the book stuff that’s kind of the hard stuff.”

The ultimate dream, she said, would be to one day fly herself to tournaments like Arnold Palmer and Peggy Kirk Bell.

“Just being in control of an airplane and then being able to look down,” she said. “It’s really special just to be up there and do that.”

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Photos: Jin Young Ko through the years

Jin Young Ko is one of the best players in the world. View photos of the former World No. 1 throughout her career.

Jin Young Ko is a name synonymous with winning.

The South Korean sensation was an LPGA first year back in 2018 at the age of 22 when she took home Rookie of the Year honors.

The accolade was just the first of many in Ko’s illustrious LPGA career. When making the jump from Korea, she had already won a whopping 12 times on the Korean LPGA Tour.

In just her fifth season, Ko has tallied 13 LPGA wins including two major championships. She took home the most prize money for three straight seasons (2019-2021) and also was awarded LPGA Player of the Year honors in 2019 and 2021.

Battling a wrist injury that has plagued her since the end of the 2021 season, Ko looks to regain her form and retake No. 1 in the world.