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.
A fourth straight win, as a matter of fact, the first to do it since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.
And she’s added another $300,000 to her bank account. Her 12th win pushed her career winnings on the LPGA to more than $10 million. Korda is the 25th golfer to hit that mark, doing so in her 132nd start. She tied the mark set by Lorena Ochoa in 2008 for fastest to surpass $1 million in a season.
For her latest win, she had to navigate the five-day, multi-format tournament. The Match Play had 54 holes of stroke play over three days before switching to three days of match play.
Check out the prize money payouts at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.
Korda’s career total is now $9.86 million, good for 26th all-time.
GILBERT, Ariz. — The second leg of the three-tournament West Coast swing on the LPGA is in the books with the conclusion of the inaugural Ford Championship.
Hoisting the trophy on Sunday? None other than world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who’s now won three straight starts on the LPGA.
Korda took her first outright lead of the week on the back nine Sunday and never looked back, winning for the 11th time in her LPGA career.
With Ford signed on as the title sponsor and the Thunderbirds, who run the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open joining as a founding partner, the total purse and first-place money got bumped to $2.25 million and $337,500, respectively.
Korda’s career total is now $9.86 million, good for 26th all-time in 131 starts.
The JM Eagle LA Championship now offers the highest purse on the LPGA outside the majors and the season-finale.
Over the course of its nearly 75-year history, the LPGA has had a handful of business titans champion the organization in extraordinary ways.
While it’s early days for Walter Wang and his wife Shirley, who only got into the business of sponsoring an LPGA event two years ago, the impact and the passion are already significant.
Last year, the JM Eagle LA Championship purse doubled from $1.5 million to $3 million. This year, the Wangs upped it again to $3.75 million, making it the highest purse on tour outside the majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. Walter, who is CEO of, JM Eagle signed on for a five-year commitment as title sponsor. Shirley Wang is CEO of Plastpro, which serves as the event’s presenting sponsor.
There are now 11 non-major tournaments with purses of $3 million or more in 2024, up from five last year. Total LPGA prize money is now more than $120 million this season.
“I thought, these ladies deserve more,” said Wang, when he realized the extent of the gap between PGA Tour and LPGA purses. “I spoke to my wife and said, ‘Let’s do this. And if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right.’ ”
Hannah Green poses with the trophy after winning the 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles. (Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)
In addition to the purse, the tournament, scheduled for April 25-28, will also cover lodging costs for the 144 players in the field and provide complimentary shuttle access to Wilshire Country Club throughout tournament week. Early commitments include the top four players in the world: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Celine Boutier and Ruoning Yin.
Lizette Salas, a California native and 12-year veteran of the LPGA, knows the kind of statement the Wangs are making in L.A.
“Yeah, it’s an incredible feeling just to witness the growth of the game, ” said Salas, “the involvement of the sponsors who really – just really value how hard we work and how much we love this game and really just want to – they pay attention to details like Shirley and Walter really just try to take some stress off of our plate for the week.”
Wang’s JM Eagle is the world’s largest manufacturer of plastic pipe, and when asked what supporting the LPGA does for his business, he very bluntly said “nothing.”
“I’m a plastic pipe producer,” he explained. “There’s almost no value to putting our name out there or advertising the brand name. That’s not us. We’re a very commodity-driven business.”
At the heart of Wang’s sponsorship is giving back to the community, which he considers the responsibility of all companies.
Wang’s father, Yung-ching Wang, a Taiwanese billionaire, expanded his plastics company to the U.S. in 1982. Walter started working for JM in 1990, growing the business five times over since then organically. What was a $200-plus million business grew to over $1 billion in 10 years.
Wang’s love of golf started in his early 20s back in Taiwan. He appreciates the life lessons the game provides and wants to introduce the sport to more young people, particularly in after-school programs for at-risk youth.
A devout Christian, Wang said a battle with a rare cancer that took him to Hong Kong for treatment nearly 20 years ago greatly shapes how he views life and his purpose.
“It was like a sabbatical with God,” he said.
While presidents and CEOs choose to get involved in sponsoring the tour for myriad reasons, Wang said reaping the long-term rewards is what’s truly precious.
“Inside your heart, it feels great,” said Wang. “You feel a lot of joy supporting the LPGA. You just do.”
Korda’s 10th LPGA victory pushes her past $9.5 million in career earnings.
Nelly Korda’s playoff victory over fellow American Ryann O’Toole at the Seri Pak Championship moved her past Laura Davies on the LPGA’s all-time career money list. Korda now checks in at No. 28 with $9,523,989 in official career earnings.
Korda earned $300,000 for her 10th career victory. She now has $586,716 in earnings this season after two wins in three starts.
LPGA rookie Gabriela Ruffels, making her third LPGA start as a tour member, finished one stroke out of the playoff and in a share of third. She earned $120,026.
Rose Zhang began the week in California taking final exams and finished it with a check for $20,287. Zhang tied for 22nd in her first start since January.
Here’s the total purse breakdown for the field at Palos Verdes:
Check out how much money each player earned in China.
There were many nights when Bailey Tardy wondered if it might be time get a new job. She’d missed more cuts than she’d made at the start of her rookie season last year. And it had already taken a long time to even get to the LPGA.
“It’s expensive being out here,” said Tardy. “I wasn’t making any money. I’m 27, so it’s kind of like either you make it or you go get a job.”
A $482,136 paycheck for a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble, however, provided much-needed breathing room. Now, after securing her first victory in China at the Blue Bay LPGA, that bank account looks especially strong after a $330,000 payday.
Tardy has now amassed $911,491 in official career earnings on the LPGA.
This marked the first event on the Asian swing this season to feature a cut. A total of 66 players earned a paycheck on Hainan Island.
Here’s how much money each player earned at the 2024 Blue Bay LPGA.
Hannah Green surpassed the $4.5 million mark in career earnings with her victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. The Aussie earned $270,000 for her fourth career victory in Singapore. The newlywed has earned $275,456 this season over the course of two events.
“I was talking to my coach on the phone last night and he’s like, yeah, try and get as many birdies in early as possible. I like to make things a bit interesting and birdied the last three.”
Green became the fifth player from Australia to earn at least four victories, joining Karrie Webb, Jan Stephenson, Minjee Lee and Rachel Hetherington.
World No. 1 Lilia Vu and Alexa Pano withdrew from the final round due to illness. Both still earned $4,322 in the no-cut event.
Here’s the total purse breakdown for the second event of three events in Asia.
It pays to play well on the LPGA. Just ask this week’s winner, Patty Tavatanakit.
Patty Tavanakit snapped a victory drought on the LPGA that spanned more than 1,000 days on her home soil, winning by one stroke at the Honda LPGA Thailand. The victory gave her $255,000 of the $1.7 million purse. Bangkok’s Tavatanakit has earned $262,656 this season and $2,667,983 over the course of her LPGA career.
Albane Valenzuela earned solo second money after riding a 19-putt performance in the final round to a 63.
Everyone in the field gets paid in the LPGA’s no-cut Asian events. Yuting Shi finished last and earned $3,551. Players also had their hotel and flights to Thailand covered.
There were 11 Thai players in the field and five finished in the top 18.
Here’s the total purse breakdown for the first event of three events in Asia.
BRANDENTON, Fla. — For Nelly Korda, the phrase “there’s no place like home” has new meaning after the Bradenton, Florida, native won the LPGA Drive On Championship 15 minutes from her parents’ home.
Korda’s eagle-birdie finish at Bradenton Country Club vaulted her into a playoff against Lydia Ko. The two former No. 1s had the crowd rocking as Ko tried to play her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame, and Korda tried to go wire-to-wire.
“I thought I completely lost it,” said Korda, who began the day with a four-shot lead and trailed by three going into the last two holes.
“Being in my hometown and having the hometown support was incredible. I didn’t think this many people would show up.”
Korda won $262,500 for her efforts, pushing her career earnings to $9,223,989.
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Ten of the 15 rookies in the field cashed checks.
Here’s the total purse breakdown for the first full-field event of the 2024 LPGA season:
Lydia Ko became the fifth LPGA player to cross the $17 million threshold in official career earnings.
Lydia Ko collected her 20th LPGA victory a short golf cart ride from her Lake Nona Golf & Country Club home at the LPGA Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Well, except for Sunday. The electricity went off after Ko’s mom used the blender that morning, so mom Tina had to pick her up in a car after her victory press conference. The golf cart was dead.
With the $225,000 winner’s check, Ko became the fifth player to cross the $17 million threshold ($17,167,692) in official career earnings. She remains fifth on the All-Time Official Money List, $832,308 behind LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park.
Ko is also now one point away from the 27 required to make the LPGA Hall of Fame.
