kids encyclopedia robot

LPGA facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
This page is about the golf association. For the political party, see Libertarian Party of Georgia.
Quick facts for kids
Ladies Professional Golf Association
Ladies Professional Golf Association.svg
Logo introduced in October 2007
Sport Golf
Founded 1950; 75 years ago (1950)
Founder 13 original LPGA players
Inaugural season 1950
Commissioner Craig Kessler
Country  United States, with events in other countries around the world
Most titles United States Kathy Whitworth (88)
TV partner(s) NBC Sports
Golf Channel
CBS Sports

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American group for professional women golfers. Its main office is in Daytona Beach, Florida. The LPGA is famous for running the LPGA Tour. This is a series of weekly golf tournaments where top female professional golfers from all over the world compete.

What is the LPGA?

The LPGA is the oldest and most famous professional sports group for women in the United States. While other countries have their own "LPGAs," the American one was the first and is the biggest.

The LPGA is not just for tour players. It's also a group for women who are golf club professionals and teachers. This is different from the men's PGA Tour, which is separate from the group for male club and teaching pros.

Becoming a Pro on the Tour

To play on the LPGA Tour, golfers must earn a spot. Each year, the LPGA holds a qualifying school. Golfers who do well in this tough tournament can get a "tour card," which lets them play in LPGA events for the next year.

The LPGA also runs the Epson Tour. This is the official "developmental" tour, like a minor league in baseball. The best players on the Epson Tour at the end of the season automatically earn a spot on the main LPGA Tour for the following year.

History of the LPGA

The LPGA was started in 1950 by a group of 13 amazing women golfers. Before the LPGA, there was a smaller group called the WPGA (Women's Professional Golf Association), but it stopped in 1949.

The 13 founders of the LPGA wanted to create a place for women to play golf professionally. Their names were:

Patty Berg was the LPGA's first president. Because of their important role in golf history, all 13 founders were added to the World Golf Hall of Fame as a group in 2023.

In 2010, the LPGA changed its rules to allow transgender women to compete. A new policy was added in 2025 about the requirements for players to compete in female tournaments.

LPGA Tournaments Around the World

2009 LPGA Championship - Kristy McPherson (4)
Kristy McPherson practices before the 2009 LPGA Championship.

The LPGA Tour is based in the United States, so most of its events are held there. But it has become a global tour. The first tournament outside the U.S. was in Havana, Cuba, in 1956.

Today, the LPGA holds tournaments all over the world, including in Asia, Europe, Australia, and Canada. Some of these events are co-sanctioned, meaning they are run in partnership with other international golf tours like the Ladies European Tour.

The Five Major Championships

The most important events on the LPGA Tour are the five major championships. Winning a major is a huge achievement in a golfer's career. The majors are:

  • Chevron Championship
  • U.S. Women's Open
  • Women's PGA Championship
  • Women's British Open
  • The Evian Championship

The Season Finale

Since 2006, the LPGA season ends with a big championship tournament. Today, it is called the CME Group Tour Championship.

Players earn points all year long in the "Race to the CME Globe." The top players in the points race get to compete in the final tournament for a very large prize.

Prize Money and Growth

The prize money on the LPGA Tour has grown a lot over the years. In 2010, the total prize money for the year was about $41 million. By 2019, it had jumped to over $70 million. For the 2024 season, the total prize money was more than $125 million, a new record! This shows how much women's professional golf has grown in popularity.

International Stars

For many years, most of the top players on the LPGA Tour were from the United States. But now, the tour is filled with talented players from all over the globe.

The rise of international players began to speed up in the late 1990s, especially with the success of Se Ri Pak from South Korea. Her victories inspired a whole generation of Korean golfers. Today, players from countries like South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Australia, and Sweden are often at the top of the leaderboards.

LPGA Tour Awards

Each year, the LPGA gives out special awards to its players for their great performances.

  • Player of the Year: This goes to the player who earns the most points for top-10 finishes throughout the season.
  • Vare Trophy: Named after famous golfer Glenna Collett-Vare, this is for the player with the lowest scoring average for the year.
  • Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year: This award is given to the best first-year player on the tour. It is named after LPGA founder Louise Suggs.

In 1978, Nancy Lopez became the only player ever to win all three of these awards in the same season.

Recent Award Winners

Year Player of the Year Vare Trophy Rookie of the Year
2024 United States Nelly Korda Japan Ayaka Furue Japan Mao Saigo
2023 United States Lilia Vu Thailand Atthaya Thitikul South Korea Ryu Hae-ran
2022 New Zealand Lydia Ko (2) New Zealand Lydia Ko (2) Thailand Atthaya Thitikul
2021 South Korea Ko Jin-young (2) New Zealand Lydia Ko Thailand Patty Tavatanakit
2020 South Korea Kim Sei-young United States Danielle Kang –
2019 South Korea Ko Jin-young South Korea Ko Jin-young South Korea Lee Jeong-eun
2018 Thailand Ariya Jutanugarn (2) Thailand Ariya Jutanugarn South Korea Ko Jin-young
2017 South Korea Park Sung-hyun
South Korea Ryu So-yeon		 United States Lexi Thompson South Korea Park Sung-hyun
2016 Thailand Ariya Jutanugarn South Korea Chun In-gee South Korea Chun In-gee
2015 New Zealand Lydia Ko South Korea Inbee Park (2) South Korea Kim Sei-young

Top Money Winners

Winning tournaments also means winning prize money. Here are the top 10 career money leaders on the LPGA Tour as of the end of the 2024 season.

Players who are still active on the tour are in bold.

Rank Player Country Played Earnings ($)
1 Annika Sörenstam  Sweden 1994–2023 22,583,693
2 Karrie Webb  Australia 1996–2024 20,293,617
3 Cristie Kerr  United States 1997–2024 20,179,848
4 Lydia Ko  New Zealand 2014–2024 20,143,981
5 Inbee Park  South Korea 2007–2022 18,262,344
6 Amy Yang  South Korea 2008–2024 15,848,328
7 Lorena Ochoa Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 2003–2010 14,863,331
8 Suzann Pettersen  Norway 2003–2019 14,837,578
9 Minjee Lee  Australia 2015–2024 14,746,089
10 Lexi Thompson  United States 2012–2024 14,588,207

See also

  • Chronological list of LPGA major golf champions
  • Golf in the United States
  • List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
  • Professional Golfers' Association of America
  • Professional golf tours
  • Women's major golf championships
  • Women's World Golf Rankings
kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
LPGA Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.