LPGA announces major changes for 2025

The LPGA season ends with the biggest single payday in women’s golf history on the line.

The CME Group Tour Championship winner will bank a $4million cheque in the season finale at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida on Sunday.

But after the big crescendo, attention will soon turn to the 2025 campaign.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan gave her annual address on Wednesday, with three big changes to look out for ahead of the new season…

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The prize money

The LPGA celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025 with a record purse. There will be total prize money payout of more than $131million across 33 official events next season. That is up almost 90 per cent from four years ago. The five majors are worth almost $50million, with the US Women’s Open holding the biggest purse at $12milliom.

Pace of play

It is an issue that overshadowed The Annika, the penultimate event of the season won by Nelly Korda last weekend. Charley Hull slammed the glacial pace of play as “ridiculous” and called for a bigger deterrent to put off her dithering rivals.

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So what’s the solution?

Marcoux Samaan revealed in her address that the LPGA will form a brand new pace of play committee during the off season to try and enact serious change.

Amateur pathway

It was before Marcoux Samaan’s press conference that the LPGA announced a new pathway for the most promising amateurs. The Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) is a new program that will give amateurs a chance to earn LPGA membership immediately.

Players can earn exemption status by accruing points based on finishes in amateur events, participation in the Curtis and Palmer Cups, or occupying one of the top three positions in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.