Tag: 2024 LPGA schedule

5 things to know about how the LPGA plans to grow, including key areas like brand-building and ticket sales

Mollie Marcoux Samaan calls this a period of transformational growth for women’s golf.

NAPLES, Fla. – Mollie Marcoux Samaan calls this a period of transformational growth for women’s golf. Prize funds have grown nearly 70 percent since 2021, with a record $118 million on the line in 2024.

Media rights revenue is up 25 percent since 2021, and corporate partnership money is up 33 percent. The LPGA has invested heavily in its team, adding 18 percent more staff over the past year.

In 2024, the LPGA will offer the highest first-place prize in all of women’s sports: $4 million to the winner of the CME Group Tour Championship.

And while the majors and CME have been mostly responsible for the tour’s financial growth in recent years, the 2024 schedule will have 10 regular-season events with a purse of $3 million, up from only one two years ago.

“We’re aspiring to be, I would call it, the most successful mission-driven global sports and entertainment brand in the world,” said Marcoux Samaan in her annual state of the tour press conference, “and we’re excited to be able to do that.”

HOW TO WATCH: 2023 CME Group Tour Championship

Here are five key takeaways from Marcoux Samaan’s time on Thursday with the press:

LPGA releases 2024 schedule, which features $118 million in prize money payouts

Major championship purses have increased 78 percent since 2021, with regular-season events up 61 percent.

NAPLES, Fla. – On the heels of the CME Group’s blockbuster announcement of an $11 million purse for next year’s Tour Championship, coupled with a record $4 million winner’s prize, the LPGA has released its 2024 schedule, and the money keeps flowing.

There will be 33 official events with a record total prize fund of $118 million, with $116.55 million in official money. LPGA prize funds have increased 69 percent since $70 million in 2021, with the bulk of that leap coming at the majors and CME.

Perhaps the most important increase is in the number of regular-season events that now have purses of $3 million or higher. That number increases to 10 in 2024, up from four in 2023 and only one in 2021.

There are three new tournament titles on the 2024 schedule including the previously announced LPGA Drive On Championship in Bradenton, Florida, as well as the FM Global Championship in Norton, Massachusetts and the Arizona Championship presented by JTBC next March at a course to be announced at a later date. (This is essentially a swap for the Arizona-based Drive On event that was held this year at Superstition.)

HOW TO WATCH: 2023 CME Group Tour Championship

South Korean legend Se Ri Pak will now have her own namesake event on U.S. soil at the renamed Se Ri Pak L.A. Open at Palos Verdes. She joins Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie West as tournament hosts.

The flow of the 2024 schedule will be easier on players with less criss-crossing the country. The LPGA Match Play at Shadow Creek moves up to April ahead of the Chevron Championship. The U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club moves back to late May and the AIG Women’s British Open at St. Andrews moves later in August to accommodate the Olympics.

Qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics will end after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship June 24 at Sahalee. The top 15 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings automatically qualify for the Games (no more than four players per country) and the remaining spots awarded to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two qualified players.

The Solheim Cup also returns in September at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, where Team USA will look to end its drought.

Hawaii’s Lotte Championship moves to the fall for the first time on the heels of a four-tournament Asian swing. The purse for the Lotte also jumps significantly from $2 million to $3 million.

Notably absent from the schedule is the Volunteers of America tournament in Texas. The ISPS Handa World Invitational, which featured both men and women, also won’t return to the LPGA schedule, as previously announced.

Additional purse increases are expected to be announced in the coming months. Major championship purses have increased 78 percent since 2021, with regular-season events up 61 percent. Players will be given travel stipends or guaranteed minimum payouts at 19 events next season, including the majors.

Dates Event Course Location Purse
Jan. 18-21 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona Golf and Country Club Orlando $1.5 million
Jan. 25-28 LPGA Drive On Championship Bradenten Country Club Bradenton, Florida $1.75 million
Feb. 22-25 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam Country Club Thailand $1.7 million
Feb. 29-March 3 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa Golf Club Singapore $1.8 million
March 7-10 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club China $2.2 million
March 21-24 Seri Pak LA Open Palos Verdes Golf Club Palos Verdes Estates, California $2 million
March 28-31 Arizona Championship presented by JTBC TBD Phoenix $2 million
April 3-7 LPGA Match Play at Shadow Creek Shadow Creek Las Vegas $2 million
April 18-21 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas $5.2 million
April 25-28 JM Eagle LA Championship Wilshire Country Club Los Angeles $3 million
May 9-12 Cognizant Founders Cup Upper Montclair Country Club Clifton, New Jersey $3 million
May 16-19 Mizuho Americans Open Liberty National Golf Club Jersey City, New Jersey $3 million
May 30-June 2 U.S. Women’s Open Lancaster Country Club Lancaster, Pennsylvania $11 million
June 7-9 ShopRite LPGA Classic Seaview, a Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey $1.75 million
June 13-16 Meijer LPGA Classic Blythefield Country Club Grand Rapids, Michigan $3 million
June 20-23 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Sahalee Country Club Sammamish, Washington $10 million
June 27-30 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland Country Club Midland, Michigan $3 million
July 11-14 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort Golf Club Evian-les-Bains, France $6.5 million
July 18-21 Dana Open Highland Meadows Golf Club Sylvania, Ohio $1.75 million
July 25-28 CPKC Women’s Open Earl Grey Golf Club Calgery, Canada $2.6 million
Aug. 1-4 Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater Country Club Portland, Oregon $1.75 million
Aug. 8-11 2024 Paris Olympics Le Golf National France N/A
Aug. 15-18 Scottish Open TBD Scotland $2 million
Aug. 22-25 AIG Women’s Open Old Course at St. Andrews St. Andrews, Scotland $9 million
Aug. 29-Sept 1 FM Global Championship TPC Boston Norton, Massachusetts $3.5 million
Sept. 13-15 Solheim Cup Robert Trent Jones Golf Club Gainesville, Virginia N/A
Sept. 19-22 Kroger Queen City Championship TBD Cincinnati, Ohio $2 million
Sept. 27-29 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Pinnacle Country Club Rogers, Arkansas $3 million
Oct. 10-13 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club Shanghai, China $2.1 million
Oct. 17-20 BMW Ladies Championship TBD Korea $2.2 million
Oct. 24-27 Maybank Championship Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia $3 million
Oct. 31-Nov. 3 Toto Japan Classic Seta Golf Course Shiga, Japan $2 million
Nov. 6-9 Lotte Championship Hoakalei Country Club Ewa Beach, Hawaii $3 million
Nov. 14-17 The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican Golf Club Belleair, Florida $3.25 million
Nov. 21-24 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon Golf Club Naples, Florida $11 million
Dec. 13-15 Grant Thornton Invitational Tiburon Golf Club Naples, Florida $2 million