The LPGA Tour is set to award a remarkable $127.5 million in official prize money for the year 2025, marking yet another milestone for the tour, which has functioned independently from the PGA Tour for 75 years.
On Wednesday, during the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship held in Naples, Florida, the tour unveiled its upcoming schedule, which features several significant changes. Among these alterations are the addition of new tournaments in Mexico and Utah, the conclusion of a longstanding event in Ohio that has spanned four decades, and the integration of the Founders Cup into an existing tournament.
This total prize money announcement does not take into account the $2 million allocated for the International Crown, occurring every two years, which is the only team event in golf where nations face off against one another. Additionally, the $2 million Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed team competition involving the PGA Tour, is also outside of this amount.
The official prize purse for the LPGA Tour in 2024 is set at $123.75 million. Furthermore, it was disclosed that CME Group, based in Chicago, has renewed its sponsorship of the Race to CME Globe for an additional two years, extending through to 2027.
The CME Group Tour Championship has seen its purse more than double, now standing at $11 million, with $4 million designated for this week’s winner. The only larger prize in women’s sports can be found at the WTA Finals, where Coco Gauff recently earned $4.8 million.
LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan was expected to make remarks later the same day.
In terms of scheduling adjustments for 2025, the tour has decided to commence two weeks later than previously in order to provide a slightly extended offseason. The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions will kick off on January 30 in Florida.
In a notable change, Cognizant has opted not to continue its sponsorship of the $3 million Founders Cup held in New Jersey. Consequently, the Founders Cup will substitute the LPGA Drive On Championship taking place in Bradenton, Florida, with a revised purse of $2 million.
Returning to the calendar is the Riviera Maya Open in Cancun, Mexico, alongside the Black Desert Championship in Utah, which recently hosted a PGA Tour event on the same course.
The LPGA has also rearranged the Hawaii event to be earlier in the fall Asian series rather than at the end, allowing players to return to the mainland more conveniently. Additionally, the first major of the season, the Chevron Championship, has been rescheduled to start one week later, avoiding a clash with the Masters.
The financial rewards for ten tournaments have seen minor increases. Notably, almost all events, except for the Honda LPGA Thailand and the ShopRite LPGA Classic, will boast purses of at least $2 million. Furthermore, ten tournaments will feature prize funds exceeding $3 million, with the newly introduced FM Championship at TPC Boston seeing its purse rise to $4.1 million.
This total does not include major tournaments or the CME Group Tour Championship. The U.S. Women’s Open, organized by the USGA, will continue to have the highest purse at $12 million and is set to be held next year at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, the same location where Brooks Koepka achieved his first major victory in the 2017 U.S. Open.
