With Five LPGA Events Left, Here's What's at Stake

The first leg of the LPGA's fall Asia swing did not disappoint. It was a whole lot of good golf, with an extra side of drama. From over-baked greens due to extreme heat, to a wild five-hole playoff finish resulting in the first repeat winner of the season—it's remarkable that despite being this close to the finish line, the best in the world are showing us that every shot counts.

Consider this part of the season "crunch time" for these athletes. Things are coming down the wire with just five official events left (excluding the International Crown...more on that later), and a whole lot left for grabs—especially in the dollar sign department.

Things are starting to get real serious and it's all centered around a little glass globe. Allow me to explain.

The LPGA Tour has its own points system, similar to what the FedExCup is to the PGA TOUR is what the Race to the CME Globe is to the LPGA Tour.

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition and players are vying for a spot in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship field. Only the top 60 players on the points will be eligible to compete in the Tour Championship.

The player who wins the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship will be named the Race to the CME Globe Champion and receive $4 million, the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf, along with a cool little globe trophy. The runner-up will receive $1 million. Additionally, every athlete in the 60-golfer field will be awarded at least $55,000, awarding recognition for all players.

Last year, Nelly Korda finished atop the 2024 Race to the CME Globe points list with 4,368.319 points collected from her seven wins, and four other top-10 finishes. Where as new world No.1 Jeeno Thitikul won the 2024 Race to the CME Globe with an impressive Sunday finish, carding a 7-under round of 65.

What events remain?

BMW Ladies Championship

This week we have the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links in the Republic of Korea featuring a limited field of just 78 players. A handful of players in the BMW field are sitting on the CME bubble, hovering around the 60th place cut off, like rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez, Gabi Ruffels, and former world No.1 Lilia Vu.

Related: How to Watch the BMW Ladies Championship

*Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown

After BMW, eight teams representing different countries around the world will go head-to-head an the international biennial match play competition called the International Crown. The International Crown, like the Solheim Cup, is one of the most premier events in women's golf, dedicated to showing the global scale of talent the LPGA has.

Related: Why Nelly Korda Won't be Playing in the International Crown

Note: This is not a full field LPGA event and players can not earn CME points from this competition.

Maybank Championship

After the intense four days of competition, some players who will have participated in the International Crown will head over to Malaysia for the Maybank Championship, where the ever charismatic Ruoning Yin will look to defend her title.

TOTO Japan Classic

Rounding out the fall Asia swing is the TOTO Japan Classic, which was introduced to the schedule in 2019, and wasn't contested again until 2022 due to COVID complications.

The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican

The Tour's return to the States will be for the penultimate event of the year named after the G.O.A.T herself Annika Sörenstam. It was at this event last year where we saw WNBA star Caitlin Clark team up with Sörenstam and Korda for her first LPGA pro-am experience.

And it's where Korda snagged her seventh title of 2024.

CME Group Tour Championship

And last, but certainly not least, is the LPGA's tour championship contested at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

And before competition begins, the Tour and its biggest stars will gather for an end-of-season awards gala—the Rolex LPGA Awards.

Awards Season: Who will be Player of the Year?

In an evening dedicated to celebrating the season, the Tour and it's official timekeeper Rolex host a gathering of players, past and present, and honorable guests to congratulate the winners of a few special awards.

Player of the Year

Unlike the PGA TOUR who votes on Player of the Year, the LPGA's biggest season-ending award is determined based on points. The verdict is still out for who will be crowned the 2025 Player of the Year, but as it stands, it looks like it's Jeeno Thitikul's to lose.

Thitikul currently leads Minjee Lee by 40 points for Rolex Player of the Year honors. The Thai player first rose to the top of the standings after her second-place finish at The Amundi Evian Championship. This season she has earned top-10 finishes in 12 of 17 starts this year, including wins at the Mizuho Americas Open and the Buick LPGA Shanghai.

Rookie of the Year

Like POTY, the Rookie of the Year Award is also decided on a points-based system, where Miyu Yamashita leads Rio Takeda by 101 points. Besides her maiden win being a major (the AIG Women's Open), Yamashita has 10 top-10 finishes across 19 starts.

The top four contenders for this honor are all players from Japan: including twin sisters Chisato and Akie Iwai.

Related: We Seriously Need to Talk About Women's Golf in Japan

Vare Trophy

The Vare Trophy is the season-ending award given to the player with the lowest scoring average for the year. Jeeno Thitikul also leads this race with a scoring average of 69.951.

This award will be presented at the conclusion of play at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Rolex First Time Winners

For the last 45 years, Rolex has gifted 117 LPGA players with timepieces to commemorate their first career win. So far this season there have been 12 total first-time winners, but only 11 will be honored because Youmin Hwang, winner of the Lotte Championship deferred her LPGA membership to 2026 and is not considered a Rolex first-time winner.

Related: The (Super) Cool Thing All LPGA First-Time Winners Get