Sick of the PGA vs LIV Drama? It’s Time to Tune In to the LPGA

If you’re a golf fan and haven’t been watching the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) this season, it’s time to change the channel. Women’s golf is teeing off into a golden age and you’re going to want to be here for it, especially if you prefer drama unfolding on the course rather than the media center.

Despite a grueling travel schedule and without the benefit of private jets, the best players routinely show up and contend week in and week out. Hitting unfathomably precise shots with long clubs and draining birdie putts, they display a skill set a bit different from the bomb and gouge techniques you watch elsewhere.

Top Golfers to Watch in the LPGA

The fields are almost always deep, with a dynamic, global cast of characters vying for the trophy. At the moment, the battle at the top is tight. Less than one point separates No. 1 in the world, Jin Young Ko, from No. 2, Nelly Korda, who is unfortunately sidelined for the moment with back pain, and No. 3, Lydia Ko.

Mostly retired Michelle Wie West, who's hosting but not playing this week’s Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in New Jersey says the roster of players this season is impressive, as is the level of competition on tour at the moment. “You see the scores out there," she says. "They're getting lower and lower on tougher and tougher golf courses. It's been really fun to watch!”

Best Up-and-Coming Golfers in the LPGA

There are also a number of young guns lurking in the wings. Wie West picked Lilia Vu as a player to watch this week. Now fourth in the world, the 25 year old has already notched a pair of wins this season including a major at the Chevron Championship, absolutely lighting golf courses on fire in the process. It’s a good bet you’ll find short odds at the bookies’ on her scoring a hat trick before the summer comes to an end.

Another phenom you’ll want to clock is Rose Zhang. Last week she became the first woman to win back to back NCAA titles playing for Stanford. Now she's making her professional debut at Mizuho Americas. Even if she isn’t at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday evening, her performance might be one you’ll want to say you saw not long from now.

Beyond Liberty National, the LPGA is taking events to some of the biggest stages in golf. Already this year, the ladies have played at Lake Nona in Orlando, Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, San Fransisco’s TPC Harding Park, and Upper Montclair Country Club in New Jersey for the Cognizant Founders Cup.

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“You can't be a top tour unless you play top venues,” says Wie West.

Three weeks after Mizuho Americas, the LPGA returns to the Garden State and another swing in the country’s biggest media market at a truly iconic course, Baltusrol Golf Club for the second major of the year. The ladies are playing the Lower Course during the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, an A. W. Tillinghast masterpiece, recently restored by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.

Thick, rough, deep sand and bedeviling greens require players to mind their angles and thoroughly think their way around the course. It’s a stern test of golf that will separate the best of the best as it has in the men’s game nine times in major championships. (The women haven’t had a crack at Balty since 1985.)

A Look Ahead at the Women's US OPEN

If that weren’t a big enough draw, later this summer the Women’s US Open will be contested at Pebble Beach for the first time—ever—and it'll be absolute must-see TV.

“Conducting the preeminent women’s championship on a course as iconic as Pebble Beach Golf Links is a historic moment for women's sports,” says Julia Pine, the United States Golf Association’s director of championship communications. “Some of the most famous moments in the game’s history have played out during US Opens at Pebble Beach and, now, the best women in the game have the opportunity to create indelible moments of their own and join champions such as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods.”

There, atop the cliffs above Carmel Bay is where Wie West, a former US Open champ, will sing like a swan in her farewell appearance. She’s a long shot but as a local she’ll certainly feel the support of the crowd.

Pebble is a course that will be easily recognizable to even casual viewers. “Fans from around the world have a familiarity and affinity for Pebble Beach, and a nostalgia from great moments of the past, creating an easy entry point for those less familiar with the women's game,” according to Pine. For those who've never been, it's the best walk in public golf (this side of the pond) and unequivocally the most telegenic course in professional golf (sorry, Augusta!).

The US Open at Pebble will also be the first women’s event to feature Shotlink scoring, which will not only improve the viewing experience but also bring in an advanced data set players can use to their advantage, just like on the PGA Tour.

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In another watershed at Pebble, USGA CEO Michael Whan said the total purse could eclipse the $10 million record for a women’s golf event set at last year’s US Open. For the 2023 season, players are competing for just about $100 million in total prize money, a record-breaking amount and up nearly $30 million from 2019.

Of course, fans care less about the money than the players. But every inch toward financial parity is an important step, plus more sponsorship dollars are a pretty good indication of an increase in interest, which makes the point all the more obvious: The ladies game is on the rise and there’s no better time to tune in.