Tag: 2025 LPGA schedule

LPGA releases 2025 schedule as it prepares to celebrate 75 years

The LPGA will have 33 official events spanning 14 states and 11 countries.

NAPLES, Fla — The LPGA turns 75 in 2025, and its global force will compete for $131 million in total prize money, the tour has announced.

Once again, the LPGA will have 33 official events spanning 14 states and 11 countries as well as the mixed-team Grant Thornton Invitational and Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, staged in South Korea. Official money is up $3.6 million from last season, though the tour says additional purse increases are expected to be announced.

“This schedule is highlighted by two exciting new events, a new multi-year title for the longest-running non-major tournament on the LPGA Tour, even higher purse sizes, increased benefits that will enhance the athlete experience, improved geographical flow and a longer off- season that will give our athletes a well-deserved rest after their tremendous work in 2024,” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a statement.

The two new events for next year include the previously announced Black Desert Championship debuting in Utah with a purse of $3 million in May, and the Riviera Maya Open in Mexico later in the month. The Cancun event, which has yet to announce a course, will have a purse of $2.5 million. It’s the tour’s first time in Mexico since 2017.

With Cognizant choosing not to renew its title sponsorship, the Founders Cup moved to Bradenton, Florida, where the tour held a Drive On event in 2024, won by hometown player Nelly Korda. With no title sponsor listed, it looks like the LPGA will financially back its Founders Cup with a purse of $2 million in early February.

In addition, the tour’s long-standing Toledo stop has dropped off the schedule after four decades.

While it looked like the Portland stop was in similar danger, The Standard Insurance Company has stepped up to title sponsor. The course is listed as TBD, and the purse will be $2 million.

The 2025 season kicks off two weeks later than 2024, giving top players a longer offseason with the Grant Thornton held in December. The opening 2025 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions gets underway Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.

The tour will once again have two separate Asian swings with stops in Thailand, Singapore, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan.

One of the more head-scratching stretches of the schedule comes in June, when two Michigan events (Meijer LPGA Classic and Dow Championship) are split up by the KPMG Women’s PGA in Texas. (It was the same in 2024.)

Players have a week off after the Michigan-Texas-Michigan run followed by the Amundi Evian Championship in France. Then there’s another off-week before two events are held in the U.K.: ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open and AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.

Nine tournaments raised their purses for 2025, with the FM Championship becoming only the second non-major to feature a purse over $4 million after the CME Group Tour Championship ($11 million). FM’s purse went from $3.8 million in 2024 to $4.1 in 2025.

While major championship purses have led the way in growth, other events are starting to catch up. Non-major purses will total more than $83 million in 2025, up from $45.8 million in 2021.

Here’s a look at the complete 2025 schedule:

Date Title Course Location
Jan. 30-Feb. 2 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona Golf & Country Club Orlando, Florida
Feb. 6-9 Founders Cup Bradenton Country Club Bradenton, Florida
Feb. 20-23 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam Country Club (Old Course) Pattaya, Thailand
Feb. 27-Mar. 2 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa Golf Club (Tanjong Course) Singapore
March 6-9 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay Hainan, China
March 20-23 Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship Palos Verdes Golf & Country Club Palos Verdes Estates, California
March 27-30 Ford Championship Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass Chandler, Arizona
April 2-6 T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards Shadow Creek Golf Course Las Vegas
April 17-20 JM Eagle Championship presented by Plastpro El Caballero Country Club Los Angeles
April 24-27 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas
May 1-4 Black Desert Championship Black Desert Resort Ivins, Utah
May 8-11 Mizuho Americas Open Liberty National Golf Club Jersey City, New Jersey
May 22-25 Riviera Maya Open TBD Cancun, Mexico
May 29-June 1 U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally Erin Hills Erin, Wisconsin
June 6-8 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer Seaview, A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey
June 12-15 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield Country Club Belmont, Michigan
June 19-22 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco Frisco, Texas
June 26-29 Dow Championship Midland Country Club Midland, Michigan
July 10-13 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort Golf Club Evian-les-Bains, France
July 24-27 ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links Gailes, Ayrshire, Scotland
July 31-Aug. 3 AIG Women’s Open Royal Porthcawl Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom
Aug. 14-17 The Standard Portland Classic TBD Portland, Oregon
Aug. 21-24 CPKC Women’s Open Mississauga Golf & Country Club Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Aug. 28-31 FM Championship TPC Boston Norton, Massachusetts
Sept. 11-14 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G TPC River’s Bend Maineville, Ohio
Sept. 19-21 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G Pinnacle Country Club Rogers, Arkansas
Oct. 1-4 Lotte Championship presented by Hoakalei Hoakalei Country Club Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
Oct. 9-12 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club China
Oct. 16-19 BMW Ladies Championship TBD Korea
Oct. 23-26 Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown New Korea Country Club Goyang, Korea
Oct. 30-Nov. 2 Maybank Championship Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nov. 6-9 Toto Japan Classic Seta Golf Course Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan
Nov. 13-16 The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican Golf Club Belleair, Florida
Nov. 20-23 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon Golf Club Naples, Florida
Dec. 12-14 Grant Thornton Invitational Tiburon Golf Club Naples, Florida

 

LPGA facing 2025 sponsorship concerns as Cognizant steps away from Founders Cup

The LPGA is expected to release its schedule in full at the CME Group Tour Championship next month.

Cognizant will no longer title sponsor the LPGA’s Founders Cup, Golfweek has confirmed. Three years ago, Cognizant announced its arrival in the golf space by partnering with both the LPGA and PGA Tour at the same time. The U.S.-based information technology services company immediately doubled the Founders Cup purse to $3 million, elevating an event that’s dedicated to honoring the legacy of the tour’s 13 founders. At the time, the Founders Cup boasted the largest purse on tour outside of the majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

“We are very appreciative of our partnership with Cognizant and the support they gave to our athletes for the past three years,” the LPGA released in a statement to Golfweek. “We look forward to providing more information on the 2025 Founders Cup as well as additional exciting news about the 2025 LPGA Tour season, including new events and record-breaking purses, during the CME Group Tour Championship.”

With the tour celebrating 75 years next season, there’s no doubt the Founders Cup will have a place on the LPGA schedule next year. Golfweek has learned that one possibility is to move it from New Jersey to Florida, where the LPGA’s Drive On event was held in Bradenton last January. Nelly Korda’s hometown triumph came in a riveting playoff against Lydia Ko at Bradenton Country Club. The LPGA backed that event financially and could potentially do the same for the Founders Cup until a new sponsor is found.

More: How Nelly Korda’s streak of five consecutive LPGA wins ranks in the history of golf

If that’s the case, the Founders Cup purse of $3 million would likely decrease as the Drive On event was $1.75 million. Rose Zhang won this year’s Founders Cup and earned a check of $450,000.

From left to right, LPGA Pioneer Barbara Romack, founders Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork, Louise Suggs, during the first round of the RR Donnelley Founders Cup.

Cognizant began its journey with the PGA Tour as a Global Partner for the Presidents Cup through 2026. The company now also title sponsors the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic (formerly the Honda Classic) at PGA National.

“While Cognizant’s sponsorship of the LPGA’s Founders Cup has expired, our commitment to dovetail global brand awareness campaigns with a strong voice in promoting diversity and inclusion through world-class sporting events and leagues remains unchanged,” Cognizant told Golfweek in a statement.

“We kicked off our partnership with the LPGA by doubling the prize purse, which at that time made the Cognizant Founders Cup the richest LPGA prize pool outside of the majors and Tour Championship. We are proud of the impact generated and the platform we have helped support for the next generation of female golfers. Our partnership with The John Shippen Cognizant Cup reflects our ongoing commitment to driving diversity and inclusion in the sport, honoring the legacies, and supporting the growth of Black golfers.”

Former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan created the Founders Cup in 2011 with a mock purse – in other words, players didn’t get paid. All the money went to charity. Not everyone appreciated the idea. Comments, he once said, ranged from: “You just tell me when and where and I’ll be there” to “Have you slipped and fallen?”

Karrie Webb won the inaugural event, and there were three founders on hand that week: Shirley Spork, Marilynn Smith and Louise Suggs.

Marlene Hagge Vossler was the last survivor of the band of 13. She died in May 2023 at age 89.

The LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program is the primary beneficiary of the Founders event, raising millions over the past dozen years to fuel the next generation. There’s no question that Whan’s vision, which started as a note on a hotel napkin, has become one of the tour’s bright lights.

Other events that also have question marks surrounding them include the Ford Championship in Arizona. Ford initially signed on for a one-year deal as title sponsor in 2024 and conversations remain ongoing, sources tell Golfweek, in regards to the extent of the company’s involvement in 2025.

The LPGA’s Portland stop, which carried on this year without a title sponsor as the Portland Classic, is the tour’s longest-running non-major tournament, dating back to 1972. Aditi Ashok, the only Olympic player who teed it up in Portland this summer before jetting to Paris, said she did so in part because it might be the last time the tour plays there. The event also didn’t have a title sponsor in 2023.

The LPGA is expected to release its schedule in full at the CME Group Tour Championship next month. One new event that was announced last year is the Black Desert Championship in Utah, which will reportedly feature an eye-popping purse. The PGA Tour’s Black Desert Championship was held two weeks ago at the Tom Weiskopf-designed Black Desert Resort and offered a purse of $7.5 million.