Just before the final event of the 2025 Tour, the LPGA raised the stakes for pro women's golf, announcing this week that the governing body is expanding both player paydays and live broadcast coverage for the 2026 season.
For the first time in the sport's history, the LPGA's upcoming 76th Tour will see every round of every tournament broadcast live in the US.
The Tour will also add 50% more camera equipment — including slow-motion and drone cameras — than used in this year's tournaments, with most 2026 LPGA action airing live on the Golf Channel or CNBC.
"For us to finally get our shot at having live TV and for people investing in our product out here has been amazing," US star and world No. 2 Nelly Korda said on Wednesday. "I can't wait to see where it's going to go."
Even more, next season's total prize money will reach $132 million across the Tour's 33 tournaments, a record-high sum after five major events raised their purses by a cumulative $3 million.
There will also be more financial commitment across the board, with 12 events on the 2026 LPGA Tour featuring elevated purses and more than 15 guaranteeing a minimum payout for all players — even those who miss the cut.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we've built, and even more excited about where we're headed," said LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler. "Coming off our 75th anniversary season, we wanted a calendar that gives our athletes great stages, better flow, and even more opportunity — and I think 2026 delivers that."
LPGA season wraps with this week's 2025 CME Group Tour Championship
Though the LPGA is already planning for its 2026 campaign, the final event of the 2025 Tour kicked off on Thursday, as this year's top 60 points-getters teed off in the CME Group Tour Championship.
Featuring 28 of the 29 event champions this year as well as every world Top 25 player, the 2025 Tour's grand finale will see the sport's best battling for the lion's share of the $11 million purse in Naples, Florida.
Leading the field is the aforementioned US standout Korda as well as 2024 CME Group Tour champion and world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul and New Zealand's two-time winner No. 5 Lydia Ko.
An impressive eight LPGA rookies also made the cut to enter the elite end-of-season tournament, including Japan's No. 3 Miyu Yamashita and England's No. 10 Lottie Woad.
How to watch the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship
The 2025 LPGA Tour will finish with Sunday's final round at the CME Group Tour Championship.
While ESPN+ will stream featured groups throughout the four-day tournament, the first three rounds will air live on the Golf Channel before Sunday's finale shifts to NBC and Peacock.
The LPGA is hitting the green in teams on Wednesday night, as some of the top golfers on Tour link up to represent their countries at the 2025 International Crown in South Korea.
This fifth edition of the match-play tournament will see seven teams from the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, and China, as well as a mixed World Team taking on the reigning champion squad out of Thailand this week.
Comprised of the four top-ranked LPGA players from each nation, countries earn a team spot in the biennial International Crown based on the combined rankings of their best quartet of golfers — with those overall aggregates also determining tournament seeding.
The US topped all teams to snag this year's No. 1 seed, though the squad suffered a significant availability blow earlier this month when world No. 2 Nelly Korda withdrew from the 2025 International Crown due to injury.
No. 28 Yealimi Noh will compete in Korda's place, with the 24-year-old joining No. 10 Angel Yin, No. 16 Lauren Coughlin, and No. 33 Lilia Vu on Team USA.
Led by another 24-year-old, LPGA Tour debutant No. 6 Miyu Yamashita, No. 2 seed Japan appears to be the team to beat, with the World Team's fourth-ranked Lydia Ko (New Zeland) and fifth-ranked Charley Hull (England) upping the stakes for the No. 7 seed squad.
How to watch the 2025 International Crown
The four-day 2025 International Crown will tee off at 10 PM ET on Wednesday night, with live coverage of each day of competition airing on the Golf Channel.
The LPGA Tour's largest purse is back on the line, as the 2025 US Women's Open hits the links at Wisconsin's Erin Hills Golf Course on Thursday.
The oldest of the Tour's five major championships, the US Women's Open is now in its 80th year.
In partnership with tournament sponsor Ally, the event's $12 million overall prize money makes it the most lucrative competition in women's golf, with a $2.4 million check going to the eventual winner.
World No. 35 Yuka Saso of Japan, the 2021 and 2024 US Women's Open champion, is back to defend her title alongside eight other former tournament winners, including 2023 victor and current No. 38 Allisen Corpuz (USA) and 2022 champ No. 22 Minjee Lee (Australia).
Also vying for this year's trophy are all 12 2025 LPGA Tour victors, headlined by world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) and No. 3 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), as well as the two title-winners from the US — No. 11 Angel Yin and No. 18 Yealimi Noh.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda leads 24 of the sport's Top 25 players on the 2025 US Women's Open course, as the US star still searches for her first victory of the season.
How to watch the US Women's Open
The US Women's Open tees off at 6:45 AM ET on Thursday, with coverage of the LPGA major kicking off at 12 PM ET across USA Network and Peacock.
Sunday's championship-winning final round will air live beginnning at 2 PM ET on NBC.
After a planned seven-week break from the LPGA Tour, world No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda is back in action, with the US star beginning her 2024 title defense at the 2025 Ford Championship on Thursday afternoon.
While last year’s inaugural event saw Korda in the midst of a historic five-tournament winning streak, the 26-year-old has been more strategic with her participation this year, sitting out the tour’s recent Asia swing after kicking off her 2025 campaign with two Top 10 finishes.
"I mean, it’s always nice to take time off where you’re not injured and you're kind of trying to hopefully become better and catch up on maybe some lost time," she told Golfweek on Wednesday.
Incorporating rest is a strategy world No. 3 Lydia Ko is also employing this year, as the New Zealander travels to the Phoenix, Arizona, event after a three-week break of her own. Ko is also packing winning momentum in her golf bag this weekend, having snagged her 23rd career title at the 2025 HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore on March 2nd.
Joining Korda and Ko on this weekend's Ford Championship links are all 10 of the LPGA's top-ranked golfers, who will be competing together for the first time this year at the event.
That means Australia's world No. 5 Hannah Green, the US star No. 6 Lilia Vu, and South Korea standout No. 8 Jin Young Ko will all be competing for a chunk of the $2.25 million purse.
Top LPGA golfers take aim at low-scoring history
With Phoenix's warm climate known for producing low golf scores, this weekend's at the 2025 Ford Championship athletes will also take a swing at history by chasing the near-impossible single-round score of 59.
"That's kind of like the trend of golf here in Arizona," said Korda about the area's ideal setting for the sport. "I mean, the weather is usually perfect. The grass is usually perfect as well. So that all sets up for low scoring ability, and then it's hot, so it flies really far. So the par 5s are pretty reachable."
Korda once came close to the elusive score during her 2021 Olympic gold medal-winning run in Tokyo, though a few extra late swings saw her finish the round at 62.
"I came pretty close at the Olympics, then I doubled my last one," she explained. "It was like starting to creep into my head and I was like, yeah, I don't even think about it, no."
If any of this weekend's LPGA stars do snag a sub-60 round, they'll become just the second LPGA player to ever do so, joining former pro Annika Sörenstam, whose historic 59 came in Phoenix in 2001.
How to watch Nelly Korda at the 2025 Ford Championship
Running through Sunday's fourth and final round, the 2025 Ford Championship tees off on Thursday, with streaming coverage beginning at 6 PM ET and broadcast coverage airing at 7 PM ET.
All rounds of the tournament will air on the Golf Channel.
After the second day of competition, Korean golfer A Lim Kim holds a one-stroke lead at the LPGA Tour's HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore — with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, and the UK’s Charley Hull hot on her heels.
World No. 9 Hull kept pace in second after the first day of competition, but No. 3 Ko pulled ahead to sit one stroke behind No. 34 A Lim Kim after two days of play.
Meanwhile, No. 29 Hyo Joo Kim sliced seven strokes off her first-round performance to pull level with Hull in third place after a strong second round.
The USA's top contenders thus far are No. 69 Sarah Schmelzel and recently minted first-time LPGA champion No. 30 Yealimi Noh, both of whom currently sit one stroke behind Hull in a five-way tie for fifth place.
Elite LPGA golfers lock in on high-stakes battle
The field in Singapore features nine of the world’s Top-10 players and 13 of the Top 15, with the only top-ranked absences coming from US stars No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 15 Rose Zhang.
Korda is sitting out the Asia leg of the LPGA Tour for the second year in a row. She will also miss the upcoming tournaments in Thailand and China before making a scheduled return at Arizona's Ford Championship in late March.
Korda’s absence hasn’t lightened the Women's World Championship competition, however, as the tournament’s $1.8 million purse remains in close contention halfway through the event's four rounds.
"I don’t think I typically play really well on this golf course and I thought this year would be a good year to kind of turn that around," reigning Olympic gold medalist Ko told reporters following the second round.
"The scores haven’t really been that low these past couple days," she added. "I'm just trying to focus on me and hopefully just keep climbing up the leaderboard."
How to watch the LPGA Tour at the Women's World Championship
The third round of the LPGA Tour's 2025 HSBC Women’s World Championship tees off at 8:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on the Golf Channel.
US golf star Nelly Korda will look to launch yet another historic run on Thursday, when the 2025 LPGA season kicks off at the Tournament of Champions in Florida.
Korda registered seven victories on the 2024 LPGA Tour, catapulting to No. 1 in the world rankings and taking home LPGA Tour Player of the Year.
Calling last season "very, very, very crazy," the 26-year-old tied an LPGA record with five of her wins coming in successive starts. The fifth victory came at the 2024 Chevron Championship, earning Korda the second major title of her career.
A fresh start for Korda as 2025 LPGA Tour begins
Despite aiming to continue her record run, Korda acknowledges that the 2025 LPGA season will present its own challenges.
"The field is different. There [are] different girls in the field. Weather is different. Golf course could be different. There are so many variabilities that just completely changes it," she told reporters on Tuesday.
Her first test takes place in Orlando. That's where Korda will enter her seventh Tournament of Champions — a competition she's yet to walk away from as a winner.
Following its 2019 launch, the annual four-day event is limited to players who've won major LPGA competitions in the last two years. Due in part to Korda's recent dominance, only 32 professional golfers fit this year's criteria, including defending title-holder and world No. 2 Lydia Ko and 2024 runner-up Alexa Pano.
Also in this weekend's field are US stars No. 5 Lilia Vu, No. 14 Rose Zhang, No. 15 Lauren Coughlin, No. 20 Angel Yin, and No. 21 Megan Khang.
The pro competition will also run concurrently with a 72-hole celebrity contest that includes USWNT icon Brandi Chastain, among others.
"It’s a different, relaxed vibe," Korda said about the tournament. "And no better way to start off the year than playing in this event."
How to watch the LPGA Tournament of Champions this weekend
The 2025 Tournament of Champions starts at 11:30 AM ET on Thursday. Live coverage of the competition will air across NBC networks.
Lydia Ko took home the victory at the Gainbridge LPGA event on Sunday, adding win No. 17 to her list of career victories. At 24 years old, she’s the first player to reach 17 wins prior to the age of 25 since Nancy Lopez in 1979.
The 18th hole brought with it challenges, including the possibility of a tie, but Ko was able to get up and down out of the greenside bunker to save par. She finished at -14 overall.
As cool as you like 😎
— LPGA (@LPGA) January 30, 2022
Watch the sand save that secured Lydia Ko's 17th Tour victory! 👇 pic.twitter.com/tfow37h9pG
She recorded four birdies to shoot a 3-under 69 in the final round, holding off Danielle Kang who shot a 4-under 68 and finished one back of the victor at -13 overall.
“I tried to stay really patient out there and not get carried away on what everybody else was doing and just focus on my game, trying to make the lowest score I could,” said Ko. “I think that helped me really dial it in and just kind of stay in the present, which I think is really important, especially when other players are playing well and I’m not making many birdies.”
With the win, Ko has 21 of the 27 points needed to be considered for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The runner-up finish for Kang comes one week after winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
“I played some really good golf out there. I hit some quality shots, today and yesterday,” Kang said. “I just couldn’t get some of the things going my way. I flag hunted really well and hit some good putts that didn’t go in. Yeah, I tried really hard out there.”
Yuka Saso (67) took third while Charley Hull and Celine Boutier tied for fourth at -11. World No. 1 Nelly Korda shot 2-under 76, finishing the week tied for 20th at -2. Korda is now expected to lose the No. 1 spot to Jin Young Ko.