LPGA Tour: Median Earnings Rapid Rise
Median earnings have increased 50% since 2021.
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Hey Golfers —
Women’s pro golf has experienced a major financial boom. Golfers are seeing record-breaking purses, endorsements, and earnings.
The LPGA Tour’s total purse hit an all-time high of $126.3 million in 2024, signaling a commitment to the sport from fans, sponsors, and media deals.
The CME Group Tour Championship, a key event on the calendar, led the charge with an $11 million purse, marking the largest prize in LPGA history. The winner of this prestigious event walked away with a $4 million payout — the biggest first-place prize ever seen in women’s golf.
Some perspective on the significance of the CME Group Tour Championship purse.
It was about half of the full-season Korn Ferry Tour purse
It was better than 31 PGA Tour purses
A separate but related issue with the CME Group Tour Championship was that the third round was on tape delay.
CME Group CEO Terry Duffy said it was ‘BS’ that the Saturday round was on tape delay. Here, we have the largest purse on the LPGA Tour — not even being shown on live television.
Back to LPGA earnings.
Mike Whan has done a tremendous job championing the U.S. Women’s Open. The tournament had a $12 million purse this year. It is the largest prize pool in women’s golf. And Yuka Saso made $2.4 million for winning the event.
Mike Whan joined the USGA in July of 2021. The first-place prize for the U.S. Women’s Open was $1 million. It had been at $1 million for three consecutive years and only grown 23% from 2015.
The first-place prize money has grown by 140% since 2021.
But it isn’t just golfers at the top making more money.
The financial success has spread throughout the LPGA Tour, benefiting players at all levels.
In 2024, a record 34 players earned over $1 million, surpassing the previous record of 28 in 2023 — an increase of 21%. A total of 195 golfers cashed checks on the LPGA Tour in 2024, about 17% of them made $1 million.
How does that compare to the PGA Tour?
137 golfers made at least $1 million on the PGA Tour. A total of 245 golfers cashed checks on the PGA Tour in 2024. So, 56% of golfers made $1 million on the PGA Tour.
One of the more important metrics to look at is median earnings to understand the health of player earnings.
The median earnings for the 2024 season were $213,159, compared to just $105,048 in 2015 — an increase of more than 100%
And median earnings have increased by 50% since 2021. The trendline from 2020 to 2024 is positive — we have seen a steady increase instead of a rather stagnant result in the prior years.
Jeeno Thitikul led the pack with over $6 million in earnings, setting a new single-season record for the LPGA. To put that in perspective, the $6.059 million that Jeeno won in 2024 was 39% more than the record Lorena Ochoa set in 2007.
Here’s a look at the LPGA Tour's top ten earners from 2024 — all made over $2 million.
One item that I believe is important to point out is that the LPGA Tour is profitable.
In 2022 (latest filing), they had revenue of $180 million and net income of $7.5 million. Around $50 million of revenue comes from media deals — around 28% of its total revenue. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour receives around 48% of its revenue from media rights.
The LPGA Tour has media rights through 2030 (they signed alongside the PGA Tour). They will be able to increase media revenue as a percentage of total revenue when that deal is up — a significant opportunity to increase player purses.
It will be fun to see what purses will look like in 2025. Will the U.S. Open winner crack $3 million? Whatever the case, women’s professional golf has made great strides in the last few years.
Have a great Tuesday. We will talk to you next week!
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