Each Major LPGA End of Season Award, Explained

At the end of every LPGA season, usually during the week of the Tour's final event, there's one night dedicated to glitz, glamor, and celebration. It's where players, partners, and organization officials come together and honor the accomplishments of the year.

The Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony is basically women's golf's version of the MET Gala, equipped with a green carpet, one of those cool slow-mo bots, and Rolex drip.

As the official timekeeper and major partner, the iconic luxury brand helps put on this evening to acknowledge the best in the world and their talents on a more formal basis. This year's awards ceremony will be hosted on Monday, November 17, ahead of the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.

Last year, Skratch was posted up on the green carpet, asking players about their favorite moments from the season. From Nelly Korda to Lexi Thompson, there was no shortage of star power.

We'll be on the carpet this year and looking forward to seeing the different fits and checking in on what players will reflect on from this historic 2025 season.

Related: This Has Never Been Done in The LPGA's 75-Year History—Until Now

It's sure to be a real treat of an evening, especially in the 75th anniversary year of the LPGA. Here's what you need to know about awards that will be honored as the season comes to a close.

Rolex Player of the Year

There are only two players left in the hunt for Player of the Year. Unlike the PGA TOUR, the LPGA uses a points based system to decide who will win, rather than being player voted.

Players are awarded points at each official LPGA tournament based on top-10 finishes with the top points earner taking home the prestigious honor each year.

World No.1 Jeeno Thitikul leads Miyu Yamashita by 16 points heading into this week's penultimate event—The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

Though it's rather self explanatory, Player of the Year goes to the player who has had the best season overall. Both Thitikul and Yamashita have won twice this season, the only two players to do so.

Yet Yamashita captured a major, the AIG Women's Open, whereas Thitikul has yet to win her maiden major title. Thitikul has missed only one cut, going 18/19 in her starts this season, and has earned 13 top-10s including her two wins.

Related: Why Jeeno Thitikul's 2025 Season is Perfectly Imperfect

Yamashita is has made 21 cuts in 23 starts and has 12 top-10s including her two wins.

Last year, Nelly Korda won POTY with 280 points earned from seven wins.

Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year

Yamashita is also in the mix for the Rookie of the Year award named after one of the 13 founding members of the LPGA Louise Suggs.

Suggs was a beast in her own regard, earning 58 LPGA career wins and 11 major championships. She also became the LPGA’s first player to complete the career grand slam, which included the U.S. Women’s Open, the LPGA Championship, the Western Open and the Titleholders Championship, at that time.

The 24-year-old leads her Japanese compatriot Rio Takeda by 252 points.

Takeda won on the LPGA Tour in 2024 as a non-member, which earned her status for 2025. She's made quick work of her time on Tour, adding another win this year and seven other top-10 finishes.

Vare Trophy

The Vare Trophy is the award for the lowest player scoring average in a season.

To be eligible to win the Vare Trophy, a player must meet both of these requirements: compete in a minimum of 60 total or 60% of Official Tournament rounds with an individual score; compete in a minimum of 70 total or 70% of total Official Tournament rounds, whichever is less, during the season; in seasons that include the Olympic Games, rounds played.

There were 33 official official events on the 2025 LPGA schedule, excluding the co-sanctioned Grant Thornton Invitational and the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown.

Jeeno Thitikul leads Minjee Lee by 0.794 strokes and is the only player with a sub-69 scoring average. The Thai player has scored under par in 52 of her 65 rounds this season (80%) which ranks first on the LPGA Tour. She has recorded 41 rounds in the 60s.

The winner of this award will be announced at the conclusion of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Aon Risk Reward Challenge

This challenge is a season-long competition on the LPGA that highlights the player who navigates some of the most strategically challenging holes on tour. Each event on the schedule has holes that are dedicated to this challenge and players will take their best two scores from each Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole, with the winners having the best average score to par at the end of the regular season. The winner will take home the Aon trophy and a $1 Million prize.

Minjee Lee leads this award over Jeeno Thitikul. The challenge will be officially decided at the conclusion of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and announced at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Thitikul won the million-dollar bonus last year on top of the $4 million from winning CME—the biggest single prize payout in women's golf.

There's another award worth mentioning that isn't considered to be "end of season".

The Rolex ANNIKA Major Award is an in-season honor that recognizes the player who has the most outstanding record in all five major championships. Players who end up inside the top-10 at the majors are awarded points. In order to earn the award by year’s end, a player must win at least one of the five major titles.

This year's winner was Minjee Lee for her fantastic finish at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Lee did not miss a cut at a major championship in 2025.

She'll be honored with this award on Monday night.