Nelly Korda acknowledges the crowd after winning the LPGA Annika golf tournament, at Pelican Golf Club, in Belleair, Fla., on Nov. 17.STEVE NESIUS/The Associated Press
The LPGA Tour will play for US$127.5-million in official prize money in 2025, another record for the circuit that has worked independently of the PGA Tour for 75 years.
The schedule announced Wednesday at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., has a few moving parts that include new tournaments in Utah and Mexico, the end of a 40-year run in Ohio and its Founders Cup merging into a previous tournament.
The official prize money does not include the US$2-million International Crown, held every two years as the only team event in golf where countries compete against each other; and the US$2-million Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed team event with the PGA Tour.
The LPGA Tour is playing for US$123.75-million in official prize money in 2024.
The tour also announced that Chicago-based CME Group has extended its sponsorship of the Race to CME Globe for two years through 2027.
The CME Group Tour Championship has more than doubled its purse to US$11-million, with US$4-million going to the winner this week. The only bigger payoff in women’s sport is the WTA Finals. Coco Gauff won US$4.8-million earlier this month.
Among the tweaks to the 2025 schedule was starting two weeks later for a slightly longer offseason. The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Florida starts Jan. 30.
New to the schedule is a return to Mexico for the Riviera Maya Open in Cancun, and the Black Desert Championship in Utah, which held a PGA Tour event on the same course this fall.