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Mark Schlabach
The LPGA’s 75th season tees off this week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Thirty-two winners from the past two seasons, along with 49 celebrities, will compete in the 72-hole season opener at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Lydia Ko will try to win for the second straight season on her home course. World No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda will attempt to pick up where she left off after last season’s record-setting performance.
And the LPGA will welcome a new crop of 21 rookies from 12 countries.
Here’s what to watch as the 2025 LPGA season gets underway on Thursday:
Nelly’s encore
After winning seven times in 2024, including her second major title at the Chevron Championship, what can Korda possibly do for an encore? Doing half as much in 2025 would be a stellar season for most golfers, but Korda is better than most.
“I mean, last year is last year,” Korda told reporters Tuesday. “When it comes to defending titles, I mean, the field is different. There [are] different girls in the field. Weather is different. Golf course could be different. There are so many [variables] that just completely changes it.
“I try not to take that approach of I’m defending and just take the approach of this is a new week, new opportunity, and I’m prepared. I’m going to prepare my hardest and go into the week with a positive attitude.”
After dealing with a neck injury late in the season, Korda didn’t get much of a break. In December, she competed in the Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed event with PGA Tour golfers, and the PNC Championship with her father, Petr.
Korda said she planned to play in next week’s Founders Cup in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida. She’ll skip the first Asian swing and plans to return to action in late March at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Arizona, and the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.
LPGA’s diamond anniversary
The LPGA will be celebrating its 75th anniversary throughout the season, and it teed off last week with a ceremony at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club in Tampa, Florida, the site of the first LPGA tournament, the Tampa Open, in January 1950.
That tournament was won by amateur Polly Riley of Fort Worth, Texas, who outlasted a field that included LPGA founders Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Patty Berg, Louise Suggs and others.
“I’m so grateful to the 13 founders that started this Tour and made it into what it is today,” Brooke Henderson said. “Just the courage and the strength the founders showed 75 years ago, which is a long time ago. It’s a great way to celebrate that the tour is continuing to grow and be elevated.
“I think it’s a really exciting time to be a part of women’s sports, and particularly the LPGA Tour. I think the founders would be very proud of where we are today.”
This season, LPGA golfers will compete in 32 official events with purses totaling more than $131 million, an all-time high.
Jeeno Thitikul’s rise
Jeeno Thitikul won her first professional event at 14 years, 4 months, so her performance in 2024 was hardly a surprise. Now 21, the 2022 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year had two victories last season, at the Dow Championship and CME Group Tour Championship, in which she collected a $4 million winner’s check.
With 12 top-10 finishes in 17 starts, Thitikul collected about $6.1 million in 2024, setting a single-season record for on-course earnings. That was about $1.7 million more than what Korda earned last season.
Thitikul, from Thailand, is skipping the season opener, along with Ruoning Yin and Lilia Vu.
Where’s Lexi?
For the first time in more than a decade, Lexi Thompson won’t be a regular competitor on the LPGA Tour. She played in her first U.S. Women’s Open as a 12-year-old in 2007 and became the youngest LPGA winner at 16. Her 11 LPGA victories included the 2014 Chevron Championship, and she was a regular member of U.S. Solheim Cup teams.
Thompson, 29, announced last year that she won’t play a full schedule this season. She could compete in a few events, although none have been announced.
Thompson did announce on New Year’s Day that she’s engaged to her boyfriend, Max Provost.
Brittany Lincicome, Ally Ewing and Angela Sanford were other LPGA golfers who retired after the 2024 season.
Players to watch
Nelly Korda: The reigning LPGA Player of the Year hasn’t won the Tournament of Champions but has fared well at Lake Nona with five consecutive top-10 finishes before last season’s tie for 16th. Last season, she captured the first of five straight victories in her second start at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
Korda, who led the tour in total driving in 2024, will be breaking out a new TaylorMade Qi35 driver for the first time this week.
Lydia Ko: Ko opened 2024 with a 2-stroke victory over Alexa Pano at the Tournament of Champions. By the end of the season, she picked up a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and her third major at the AIG Women’s Open. That was enough to earn her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame at 27.
Earlier this month, Ko was named to New Zealand’s New Year’s Honors List, making her a Dame. She is the youngest person to receive that honor.
“I did think about it, because you don’t really grow up thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to become a Dame,'” Ko told the New Zealand Herald. “You might say, ‘I’m going to become a Hall of Famer,’ or, ‘I’m going to be the world No. 1 in my sport,’ but it’s so above [those] and very different and above what we can control as well.”
Ruoning Yin: Only 22, the Chinese golfer has already finished first five times on the LGPA Tour, including three times last season, at the Dow Championship team event, Buick LPGA Shanghai (in her hometown) and Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
The 2023 Women’s PGA Championship winner finished in the top 25 in four majors last season, tying for second at the AIG Women’s Open. She’s one of the better iron players and putters on tour and is ranked third in the world.
Hannah Green: After going three full LPGA seasons without a victory, the Australian golfer has picked up four wins in the past two — three in 2024 alone. She has climbed to sixth in the world.
Green’s goal for 2025 is to perform better in the five majors. She won the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship but has only two top-10s in 25 starts since then.
Rose Zhang: After this week’s tournament, golf fans will have to wait a few more weeks to watch Zhang regularly on tour. She’s taking classes at Stanford and won’t attempt to defend her 2024 victory at the Founders Cup next week.
Still only 21, Zhang had five top-10s and 16 made cuts in 21 starts in 2024.
Rookies to watch
Ingrid Lindblad: The Swedish golfer won a record 15 times at LSU and was ranked the No. 1 amateur in the world for a whopping 53 weeks. She finished in the top three at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three times.
Adela Cernousek: As a junior at Texas A&M in 2024, she became the program’s first NCAA individual national champion. Her parents were professional volleyball players.
Miyu Yamashita: A 13-time winner on the LPGA of Japan Tour, Yamashita tied for second at last year’s Women’s PGA Championship. She’s ranked 13th in the world.
Akie Iwai: Iwai and her twin sister, Chisato, are LPGA rookies. Akie won six times on the LPGA of Japan Tour. Her sister finished first seven times.
Jenny Bae: The former Georgia golfer won Epson Tour events back-to-back in her second and third starts in 2023.
The Majors
Chevron Championship
When: April 24-27
Where: The Club at Carlton Woods, The Woodlands, Texas
Defending champion: Nelly Korda.
Purse: $7.9 million
U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally
When: May 29-June 1
Where: Erin Hills, Erin, Wisconsin
Defending champion: Yuka Saso
Purse: $12 million
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
When: June 19-22
Where: Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, Frisco, Texas
Defending champion: Amy Yang
Purse: $10.4 million
Amundi Evian Championship
When: July 10-13
Where: Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Baines, France
Defending champion: Ayaka Furue
Purse: $8 million
AIG Women’s Open
When: July 31-Aug. 3
Where: Royal Porthcawl, Porthcawl, Wales
Defending champion: Lydia Ko
Purse: $9.5 million