This list is updated through the 2024 Chevron Championship.
The LPGA has three members of the $20 million club, five who have won at least $17 million in on-course earnings, 24 with $10 million or more and 81 who have earned at least $5 million.
Annika Sorenstam leads the way. Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr are the three golfers who have surpassed $20 million.
Nellly Korda, with her win the 2024 Chevron Championship, her second major, is the 23rd player in LPGA history to surpass $11 million.
Let’s take a closer look here at the top 20 of all-time.
This list is updated through the 2024 Chevron Championship.
“I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players … They love what our product is showcasing.”
On the eve of the first women’s major championship of the year in Texas, Greg Norman hinted at a growing interest in a women’s LIV Golf League while speaking ahead of the upstart circuit’s next event in Australia.
The CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf was asked about the future of LIV both from a men’s and women’s perspective and admitted there have been internal discussions “on a regular basis” about the latter.
“I have personally had discussions with individual LPGA Tour players, LET Tour players, Ladies European Tour. They love what our product is showcasing,” claimed Norman during a press conference at Grange Golf Club ahead of LIV Golf Adelaide. “They ask all the time, ‘How can we get involved? We’d love to see a LIV ladies series.’”
“We can only drink out of a fire hydrant so much, so we have a lot of opportunities and initiatives coming across our plate,” Norman explained. “Our focus is to make sure this year we produce what we’re producing (with the LIV Golf League) from day one, 2023, and then going forward we’re looking what are the best opportunities to build on to what we have today.”
Believe him or not, Norman has been adamant that his goal for LIV was to coexist within the golf ecosystem. For the sake of their tour, LPGA players past and present can only hope Norman is good on his word.
“I think if Norman does do this, it’s going to totally ruin the LPGA, because I think most of the girls would go, just because the money is a game-changer,” said 31-time LPGA winner Juli Inkster last August.
“If it’s the money that they have on the LIV, you know they’re going to crush the LPGA,” said 10-time major champion Annika Sorenstam. “Hopefully they have the intention of growing the game and working together with the LPGA.”
Seven-time major winner Karrie Webb said she’d hold a grudge against players who doesn’t agree with her fellow Aussie Norman.
“If the LPGA were to suffer because a group of players went and started playing on a tour similar to (LIV) and the LPGA would suffer, I would hold that against them,” Webb said. “I know that (Greg Norman has) had this vendetta against the PGA Tour as long as I’ve known him, So I don’t think there would be any changing him. I would just ask him that in his ambition to succeed, that he doesn’t ruin women’s golf in the process.”
“I hope we survive it,” added former world No. 1 Stacy Lewis. “Should we talk to them? Absolutely. Ultimately, I think we have to find a way to co-exist.”
LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record. The Kingdom has been accused of politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
How can a women’s organization reconcile doing business with a regime that has such a horrendous record of human rights abuses, especially toward women?
“I think that’s maybe one of the reasons we should partner,” said Sorenstam, “to be able to make a difference.”
Here’s a list of active stars and where they stand on the march toward 27.
Lydia Ko needs only two more points to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. At 25 years old, she’s tracking to become the youngest player to achieve that milestone.
Seven-time major winner Inbee Park holds the current record. She was 27 when she fulfilled the requirements. Karrie Webb was the youngest to reach the 27-point mark at age 25, but because of the 10-year service requirement the LPGA had in place until last year, Webb became officially eligible at age 30. Se Ri Pak was 26 when she reached 27 points but was 29 when she was inducted.
To be eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame, players must have won or been awarded at least one of the following: LPGA major, Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average or Rolex Player of the Year.
They must also amass 27 points with:
one point for each LPGA official tournament win
two points for each LPGA major tournament win
one point for each Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honor earned.
An Olympic gold medal is also worth one point as of last year
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Here’s a list of active stars and where they stand on the march toward 27:
Originally, both the men’s and women’s fields were slated to have 144 players each.
Major champions Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Karrie Webb are back on home soil this week for the ISPS Handa Australian Open, which will be held concurrently with the men’s championship for the first time. But while the history-making events, held in Melbourne on Victoria and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs, will offer equal prize money, they will no longer have the same field size.
Originally, both the men’s and women’s fields were slated to have 144 players each. The women’s field has since been reduced to 108 players and the men’s enlarged to 156. The purse for each will be $1,150,000 ($1.7M AUD).
For years, the Australian Open was co-sanctioned by the LPGA and held early in the year. This time, however, the event falls during the LPGA’s offseason and during the tour’s final stage of qualifying school. The men’s event is on the DP World Tour schedule.
“We are fortunate to have solid depth of talent in our women’s field for the ISPS Handa Australian Open, with field sizes now adjusted to 108 women and a men’s field of 156,” Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said in a statement to Golf Australia magazine.
“Co-sanctioning the event with the LPGA wasn’t possible this year due to contractual arrangements in the schedule, and numbers have been significantly impacted by the LPGA Tour school, which was delayed by a hurricane. That has resulted in approximately 120 players not being able to enter the event and has led to a reduction in field size so as to avoid compromising the integrity of the national Open.”
Other LPGA players in the field include 2022 major winners Jennifer Kupcho (Chevron) and Ashleigh Buhai (AIG Women’s British Open). Marquee players in the men’s field include British Open champion Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and New Zealand’s top player Ryan Fox.
It’s a family affair for several of the biggest names as Minjee Lee will be joined by brother Min Woo in the men’s Open field along with Green’s fiancé Jarryd Felton.
There will be two cuts for each field. The first will come after 36 holes to top 60 professionals and ties plus amateurs, and the second after 54 holes to top 30 and ties (both pros and amateurs).
“I think Annika and I tried to downplay the rivalry a little bit, even though I think it truly existed,” said Webb.
The Senior LPGA Championship unfolded exactly how golf fans had hoped – with a showdown between Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam, two of the greatest players to ever compete on the LPGA.
Sorenstam chipped in for eagle on the first hole at Salina Country Club in Kansas, and Webb called it “game on.”
Tied for the lead at 12 under as they made the turn, a late eagle from Webb on the back nine pulled the Aussie ahead, and she ultimately won by four. Sorenstam parred all three pars 5s on the back nine and shot 38.
Webb, 47, carded a 5-under 67 on a scorcher of a Sunday to finish at 14 under in her senior major debut and earn $60,000. Sorenstam, 51, shot 69 to finish at 10 under.
American Laura Diaz finished alone in third, seven back.
“It’s been a while since I won a golf tournament,” said Webb, “so it feels really good.”
Karrie Webb competes at the Senior LPGA Championship. (LPGA photo)
Last week’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational marked the first time that Sorenstam and Webb were in the same tournament field since 2008. Both were asked about the rivalry they shared at the peak of their games.
Sorenstam and Webb combined for 113 LPGA titles, including 17 majors. Together the LPGA icons have won a total of 150 titles worldwide. Sorenstam retired from the LPGA in 2008 and Webb began playing a limited schedule in 2018. Both made their debut in the Senior LPGA this week.
“I think Annika and I tried to downplay the rivalry a little bit, even though I think it truly existed,” said Webb. “We probably should have played on it a little bit more.”
Sorenstam said Webb pushed her to take every facet of her game to another level, calling it a “friendly rivalry.” She recalled an LPGA commercial that had Webb hitting golf balls with Sorenstam’s face on them.
“Then she had a voodoo doll where she put a needle in me,” said Sorenstam, “and I think I put a little sticker on her back … I still think of that today. It was a good one. I thought it was good for the game and certainly good for us.”
Annika Sorenstam finished runner-up in her Senior LPGA debut. (LPGA photo)
Webb noted that for all the tournaments they won, there weren’t many Sunday rounds in which they were paired together. There might have been some back and forth on the leaderboard, but they weren’t often side by side.
“If it’s more than five times I’d be surprised,” said Webb, who noted that they did play plenty of rounds together on Thursday and Friday.
Webb said looking back, playing up the rivalry even more would’ve been good for the LPGA, but she struggled to do that.
“I think in a rivalry there’s a good guy and a bad guy,” she said, “and I was having my own struggles with the media at the time, so I knew who the bad guy would probably be made out to be, so I think that’s why I played it down.”
Webb last won on the LPGA in 2014 and said she wasn’t quite sure about her yardages down the stretch because she hadn’t played with adrenaline in quite some time. The short putts late in the afternoon seemed longer and her mouth went dry as she worked to close the door on Sorenstam.
“I just knew I had to play my best golf,” said Webb. “When we’ve battled in the past, that’s always what I had to do was play as good as I could.”
Sorenstam won last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in her championship debut. She’ll be back at the event next month at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio, to defend her title. (Webb isn’t eligible for the event because she’s not yet 50.)
“I wish I would’ve continued the pressure that I started,” said Sorenstam of her hot start, “would’ve been fun. But I think I ran out of gas a little bit.”
Here are 10 teams to watch this week at the LPGA’s 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
The 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational will feature a wonderful blend of past and present. While sisters Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson are two the biggest names on the current tour, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb are two of the biggest names of all time. They’ll all be in action in the same field this Wednesday-Saturday at the LPGA’s only team event.
This year, 72 two-person teams will vie for a purse of $2.5 million at Midland Country Club in Michigan. The victory will be considered an official LPGA title.
Here are 10 teams to keep an eye on this week, with Rolex Ranking in parenthesis:
LPGA fans will get a rare treat this July when Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb tee it up in the same tournaments.
LPGA fans will get a rare treat this July when Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb tee it up in the same tournaments in back-to-back weeks.
First up for the LPGA Hall of Famers is the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a team event at Midland Country Club from July 13-16 in Michigan. Sorenstam will partner with fellow Swede Madelene Sagstrom, while Webb will team up with Marina Alex, who won her second LPGA title in early May.
It will mark the first time the two legends have teed it up in the same event since the ADT Championship in 2008.
From there, Webb and Sorenstam will head to Kansas for the LPGA Senior Championship July 22-24 at Salina Country Club. Both will make their debut in the championship, which is open to players 45 and older.
Other notable players in the Senior field include Juli Inkster, Laura Davies, Hollis Stacy, Jan Stephenson, Pat Hurst, Rosie Jones, Liselotte Neumann, Catrin Nilsmark, Laura Baugh, Michelle McGann and two-time winner Trish Johnson.
Sorenstam, 51, won the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open last summer, which is limited to players 50 and over. Webb, 47, has teed it up on the LPGA twice this season, most recently the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Karrie Webb watches her tee shot on the 11th hole during the third round of the 2006 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at Eagle’s Landing Country Club in Stockbridge, Georgia. (Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Sorenstam and Webb have combined for 113 LPGA titles, including 17 majors. Together the LPGA icons have won a total of 150 titles worldwide. Sorenstam retired from the LPGA in 2008 and Webb began playing a limited schedule in 2018.
“I’m probably not as intense as I once was,” said Webb with a smile, when asked about summer tournament prep.
For Sorenstam, it will mark three consecutive weeks of competition as she will first participate in the American Century Championship July 8-10 near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Earlier this summer, Sorenstam competed in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, where she missed the cut.
Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb at the Bosque Real Golf Club in Huixquilucan, Mexico in 2005. (Photo: Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)
This will be Sorenstam’s first LPGA regular season competitive start since the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA, where she made the cut on her home course in her first tour start in more than a dozen years.
“I’m super excited to tee it up alongside my friend, Madelene for the Dow GLBI,” Sorenstam said. “She’s got a positive attitude and I’ve enjoyed practicing and spending time with her. I’ve heard great things about this tournament from my friends on the LPGA Tour. Team events are always fun and I’m looking forward to the experience.”
Madelene Sagstrom and Annika Sorenstam (courtesy photo)
Sagstrom won the 2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio and represented Europe for a second time at the 2021 Solheim Cup at Inverness.
“Annika is one of the greatest Solheim Cup players in history and teaming up with her for the Dow GLBI will be a thrill of a lifetime,” said Sagstrom. “We have begun practicing at home in Orlando, and we can’t wait to tee it up in Midland in July.”
The seven-time major champion has some advice for LPGA players who may consider LIV down the line.
BETHESDA, Md. – Karrie Webb walked a lot of holes at Congressional Country Club this week but didn’t hit a shot. She’s here with Kirsten Rudgeley and Caitlin Pierce, two Australian amateurs who, as Webb’s scholarship winners, received a week at the KPMG Women’s PGA with the LPGA Hall of Famer. The trio played golf together and practiced in the Washington, D.C. area all week and followed the likes of Minjee Lee and Hannah Green during competition. A truly priceless experience.
Both Lee and Green are previous scholarship winners and stayed the week with Webb when she was competing in the U.S. Women’s Open.
“What she does in women’s golf and for us amateurs,” said Rudgeley, “it’s pretty cool. Not many golfers give back.”
Webb’s scholarship and mentorship program is a grow-the-game initiative that dates back to 2008. The roots of the idea stretch back to 1986, when Webb watched her hero, Greg Norman, compete in the 1986 Queensland Open. That’s when she told her parents that she wanted to play professionally. She even stayed at Norman’s Florida estate as a bonus for being the overall girls champion in his junior golf foundation.
Now, the 47-year-old seven-time major winner is concerned that Norman, as CEO of LIV Golf, might threaten the very tour that so greatly shaped her life. With Golf Saudi already so heavily entrenched in the Ladies European Tour, and Norman having made public statements about a desire to get further involved in the women’s game, Webb is worried that what’s happening in men’s golf could make its way over to the LPGA.
The two Aussie legends haven’t talked about it.
“I know that he’s had this vendetta against the PGA Tour as long as I’ve known him,” said Webb. “So I don’t think there would be any changing him. I would just ask him that in his ambition to succeed, that he doesn’t ruin women’s golf in the process.”
The little girl in me just died well and truly!! Has anyones childhood hero disappointed them as much as I am now?? 🫣😢😭 https://t.co/p17klqYdCp
At the peak of her career, Webb said she turned down money to compete in South Korean events because the timing conflicted with her preparation for majors. Webb says she’s now “like a rookie on the LPGA” when it comes to course design, and while there could be a take-projects-where-you-can-get-them mentality, she has turned down opportunities to work in Saudi Arabia.
What if piles of life-changing cash had been offered in her prime?
“I think it would be tempting if it’s life-changing for sure,” she said. “Everyone has to think about that. … I guess what I’ve learned, the fact that I have made a lot of money in my life, is it does make you comfortable; it doesn’t make you happy.
“You’ve got to live with whatever decision you make.”
The first time Green, the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA champion, ever attended a professional event was as the guest of Webb at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She enjoyed it so much that in 2017, she went on her own to stay with Webb at the Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, while competing on the Epson Tour.
Webb has hosted a couple dozen young Aussie stars over the years, helping to nurture and cultivate future champions who will inspire the next generation.
LPGA founder Louise Suggs was a great friend of Webb’s, and she worries some current players don’t appreciate the tour’s history enough.
“If the LPGA were to suffer because a group of players went and started playing on a tour similar to (LIV) and the LPGA would suffer,” said Webb, “I would hold that against them. I think they really need to think about that.”
Karrie Webb made the cut after a 15 month break from LPGA golf.
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Cooler than expected temperatures accompanied by overcast skies and occasional wind gusts made for much more challenging playing conditions in the second round of the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio Friday morning.
That doesn’t bode well for the 74 players who made the cut at 1-over-par 145, as temperatures are forecast to be in the 40s and 50s Saturday and Sunday.
Given Friday morning’s weather, Lydia Ko, who shot a 9-under-par 63 for a two shot lead Thursday, was satisfied with a 2-under 70. That was good enough for her to be tied with Danielle Kang, who followed her opening 7-under 65 with a 68 Friday afternoon for an 11-under 133 total.
“I think the temperature was kind of a big thing,” said Ko. “Par 5s that played pretty short yesterday, they played like a completely different hole. Yesterday I hit driver, 3-wood, and a little flip wedge into 10, and today it was like a low driver and a 3-wood, and like an 8-iron.
“I think the temperature plays a huge factor because the course is not running out a lot. It just makes the golf course longer. Having some longer irons into the green definitely makes it a lot harder, where yesterday I felt like I hit a lot of mid-irons.”
“Coming in 2 under coming into the last couple holes, I just really wanted to get to the double digits. That was kind of my goal today, so I was happy to do that,” said Kang, who started her round on the back nine.
Danielle Kang hits from the 18th fairway during the second round of the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio Golf Club on January 28, 2022, in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
She hit a wedge from 94 yards to seven feet on the par 5 eighth and a 7-iron from 154 yards to 10 feet on the ninth hole to accomplish her goal of tying Ko, whom she’ll play with in the final threesome Saturday along with Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
Shadoff, of England, shot a 69 and is tied for third at 7-under 137 with Yuka Saso of Japan. Morgane Metraux of Switzerland, who birdied seven of her final 12 holes to shoot Friday’s lowest round at 66, is tied for fifth at 6 under with Bronte Law, Charley Hull, Nasa Hataoka, and Aditi Ashok.
Ko, 24, who had nine birdies and no bogeys Thursday, had two birdies and two bogeys through her first 11 holes Friday. She banged in a lengthy birdie putt on the 14th hole and birdied the par-3 17th.
She’s using a new putter following a disappointing performance on the greens in the season opener.
“After last week I said, ‘What the heck.’ Kind of seeing something new, sometimes I feel like it brings a little bit of a different energy,” she said.
Ko’s most impressive putt, a 33-foot birdie on the 14th hole, might’ve been too energetic. She admitted that she hit the ball way too hard, but it dove into the cup.
“I think for the most part these greens aren’t as fast as last week, so I was leaving a few putts short. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to get it to the hole,’ and I definitely got it to the hole,” Ko said. “I definitely got the read wrong because that was not the pace I was looking for. But it ended up being a perfect putt, so I’ll take it.”
Among local players, Lexi Thompson of Delray Beach had a second consecutive 70 and is tied for 17th along with Jessica Korda of Jupiter at 4 under. World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb of Boynton Beach is at 1 under after a 72. Jaye Marie Green of Jupiter shot 75 and is at 1 over to make the cut at 145. Missing the cut were Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Boca Raton, who was 2 over after a 72, and Taylor Collins of Fort Lauderdale, who was 10 over after a second 77.
“That’s the reward for making the cut, right? Get to play in bad weather over the weekend,” she said. “It’s been a while since I played in cold weather, so we’ll see how it goes.”
“I chose golf over life events for 25 years, and, you know, I want to put life events ahead of golf.”
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The next time you are cruising along the Intracoastal and spot a 32-foot Intrepid navigating the smooth waters, check out who is piloting the vessel.
It just might be a seven-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member who is in the conversation of the greatest female golfers of all time.
Karrie Webb has been taking advantage of the South Florida lifestyle for 23 years, whether it is fishing off her boat or docking it at Two Georges or Prime Catch or any other waterfront restaurant. The Aussie golfer settled on Boynton Beach in 1999 and has lived in the same house since, which is longer than any other place she has called home.
“It’s definitely as much home as it is when I go back home to Australia and the same sort of weather where I grew up, so that wasn’t a huge change,” said Webb, a member of Pine Tree Golf Club and an occasional playing partner of fellow club member and former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland.
“I’ve got a little bit more time on my hands to figure out different stuff, different hobbies.”
A bit more time, but not totally free.
Karrie Webb tees off on the 3rd hole during the second round of the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at Country Club of Charleston. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Webb, 47, is playing her first LPGA Tour event in more than 15 months this week at the Gainbridge LPGA. The LPGA’s career second-leading money winner tees off Thursday at 12:40 p.m. at Boca Rio.
Webb enjoys her time on the water and her freedom to visit her family in Australia. It’s much more fun than devoting most of her time to the tour. She has entered just 12 events in the last three years, none in 2021.
And she will use this weekend as a gauge to see how her body and mind handle the rigors of playing a competitive tournament, which will determine how many events she enters moving forward.
But after dealing with neck issues and realizing she was limited in the time she could spend hitting drivers on the range, Webb sounds like a woman who is very comfortable with this life.
“I chose golf over life events for 25 years, and, you know, I want to put life events ahead of golf,” she said Tuesday. “I think when you’re in the heat of golf you think you’re missing out on stuff, or at least I did towards the end of playing full time, and I just want to have a better balance.
“This week is perfect. It’s convenient that the tournament is here where I’ve lived for 23 years.”
DENHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 28: Karrie Webb of Australia poses with the trophy after winning the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club on July 28, 2013 in Denham, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
Top 10 in tour wins, majors
Webb was at the top of the game for nearly two decades with 56 professional wins, including 41 on the LPGA Tour (tied for 10th all-time). Among those were seven majors (tied for seventh), starting with the 1999 du Maurier Classic which lead to her first Player of the Year title, something she captured again in 2000. She won four majors (two each year) in 2000 and 2001 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.
Since reducing her schedule — the last time she played in at least 10 events was 19 in 2017 — she has learned what she misses about the lifestyle, and what she never wants to go back to again.
“I think after 20-plus years of lugging your clubs and tour bag around and a heavy suitcase from shuttle busses to the car rental place to the hotel, it adds up over the years doing that all on your own,” she said. “Those aren’t the highlights of playing on the LPGA but they’re all part and parcel of it. Those are definitely not the things that I miss.
“I miss seeing all the people and the banter on the range. Those are the things you think when you’re in the heat of it that you’re not going to miss, but you actually miss the most … apart from the competition.”
Webb later added the grind of the hours on the range and the putting green to the list.
“I really don’t have the desire to put the work in, and to even come close to competing out here you have to be able to put the work in,” she said. “The standard just gets better and better every year.”
Which, after a Hall of Fame career that spanned two decades, is the way it should be. Webb will enter events along the way knowing the expectations are not what they were. Now, it’s about having some fun and being a resource for those who strive to have the type of storied career she enjoyed.
And something else Webb does not miss … the scrutiny and being in the spotlight, which is something she tried to avoid throughout her career.
At her height, Webb was a private person. For years she would decline photo shoots at her home by saying it was under construction.
“I had a couple of camera crews show up on my front doorstep,” she said. “I built a fence so they couldn’t get in.”
Since, she said, it’s rare for her to be recognized when she’s not playing golf especially when she is out doing what she loves, cruising the Intracoastal Waterway.
