Is The LPGA's Parity Its Achilles' Heel?

Just last week, I read a great piece on Fried Egg Golf by Meg Adkins discussing the LPGA's winners streak. When you have a moment, give it a good read because Adkins made a point that's been brewing in my mind ever since.

For those just catching up, after 27 events this season on the LPGA Tour, Jeeno Thikitul became the first repeat winner in Shanghai, snapping the streak of different winners every week. But in came event 28, the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, and we have yet another new champion to add to the tally. Sei Young Kim became the season's 27th different winner, and therefore breaking the record for most different winners in a single season on the LPGA Tour. The previous record of 26 different winners was set in 1995 and tied in 2018 and 2022.

It's a rare and impressive feat, but Adkins piece brought on a new thought—is the streak a cumbersome consequence in the global growth of women's golf?

It's this particular quote in her writing that I can't let go of: "I'm confident in saying that no matter what happens for the remainder of the 2025 season, the story of the year is the streak. This level of parity is the exact opposite of what you want if you're Craig Kessler, trying to grow the reach of the Tour and develop better storytelling around the players. The top 10 week in and week out all year long has had way too many moving pieces. Expecting fans to keep up and build a rooting interest is far too much to ask."

I find myself almost conflicted, better yet, perplexed by this take—because I can't quite decide if I agree with it or not. It was a brilliant piece of writing, and I thank you Meg for getting my wheels turning.

In the past, when discussing the streak, the Tour's parity and the insane accessibility to take home a win there has been this season, I've sung the praises of the level of talent and skill being displayed in women's golf. As a golf fan, seeing different winners week in and week out is exciting. Predictability in golf has always been difficult, courses change, games fluctuate, and more often than not, utilizing the past to inform your decisions on the present isn't helpful.

The extent of the type of diversity we're seeing on the LPGA Tour reinforces the fact that efforts to grow the game at the grassroots level around the world are working. Our 2025 champions podiums have seen vastly different players, unique backgrounds, distinctive swings—no one win has looked the same, opening the door for emerging players to become more familiar in the golf space (and with golf fans).

But on the other hand, I can also understand how having so many lesser-known players win while your big stars are pretty quiet is bad for the marketing business. You're pulling people's attention in too many directions, which can do more harm than good especially in a growth period.

Let's throw it back to 2024, when the LPGA's biggest star Nelly Korda won practically every time she played. At one point it became to be more shocking when she didn't win. That level of success allowed fans and folks who casually tune in to the women's game build up familiarity, and the storylines flowed. Korda's success was breaking into mainstream sports media, bolstering her brand and the Tour's.

But this season has been the complete opposite. There's a new world No.1 in Jeeno, Korda remains win-less, and despite having some major moments like Grace Kim's triumph in Evian, Lottie Woad's winning debut, and Charley Hull's shining finish in Cincinnati—the top story around the LPGA above all, has been this streak. Adkins was right to say that most of these events and their winners have already started to feel fleeting.

How do you build momentum off of something like this? I imagine that this is the very question that will keep new commissioner Craig Kessler up at night.

If you look outside of golf to another sport like tennis there's a similar kind of conundrum occurring. On the men's side of things you have two stars in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who both appear to be lightyears ahead of their peers, winning all eight grand slams in the last two years.

In women's tennis, there have been several different winners in the grand slams, not just from the top players but from those who have come close in years past finally tasting victory. Even on the smaller stages, outside of the slams, the biggest players and personalities in Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Iga Świątek are showcasing strong performances.

It's not quite the same thing, but a frequent debate I see on my social media timelines is that women's tennis has been more enjoyable over the last two years because of its variety. So why isn't this the case in women's golf?

If I had to take a crack at answering my own question, I believe it lies in the top players on the WTA top players not only winning (and consistently) but also having the ability to create moments outside of competition that get people talking. From tournament kits (I'm still thinking about Coco's Wimbledon look) to how they accessorize on the court to making TikToks with one another—tennis is cracking the virality code.

These moments aren't isolated, things are working in tandem, and perhaps women's golf needs a little bit of luck on its side in getting its top players to all perform at peak level around the same time—a lot of which depends on a schedule that flows cohesively. Outside of the five majors, what are the other key events we're seeing the top-level fields? How do we build excitement around the stops that players consider can't-miss? (I'm looking at you, Mizuho.)

The LPGA schedule has been a major talking point over the last few years, with strong urges from athletes and media alike to make it, well, make sense. The 2025 schedule was something that former commissioner Mollie Marcoux-Samaan felt immensely proud of before her departure. But her successor and his team have been working diligently to mix it up.

In regards to the 2026 schedule the LPGA Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer Ricki Lasky said in a statement to Golfweek that there are a few key components to building something optimal for players and partners alike. "At the end of the day, we’re focused on three things: routing, courses, and purses — and those are the areas we’re committed to strengthening as we work on the 2026 schedule and beyond."

Less events, or better yet, less ping-ponging to get to events to play elevated venues with top-dollar purses is a sure fire way to get more of your athletes even more motivated and excited.

But let's get back to this streak madness. It truly can not be overstated enough just how insane 27 different winners in 28 events is.

Fresh off her win, her first since 2020, Sei Young Kim gave her two cents on the historic season saying, "I think it shows how strong the LPGA Tour is at the moment. In the past, the top 10 or top 5 almost always decided the winner, but now it's hard to tell who will win. It's becoming like the PGA TOUR, where we have so many strong, competent players on the planet."

But even on the PGA TOUR, there's never been a season of parity quite like this. Dominance is the name of the game in men's golf, with players like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh winning nine events in a single season in the years 2000 and 2004, respectively. Scottie Scheffler got a sniff at tying that record last season, collecting seven wins.

To those paying attention, it's been undeniable to see just how much the bar has been raised in the women's golf. The skill level is probably the best it has ever been, which is inherently a good thing.

But I also can't help but to think about Tiger's reign of supremacy and how he transformed the way the modern era of men's golf (and golf as a whole) is perceived. Serena did the same with women's tennis. Viewers crave a main character, whether if they love them or hate them—you have to give the people someone they can focus their attention on—and that's hard to do with 27 different options.

Ultimately, what Adkins outlined in her piece for Fried Egg is the truth—it was uncomfortable pill to swallow, but after some thought I agree with her. As amazing as the strength in skill and parity is, it's also the silent killer of the LPGA this year.

The streak has become the main character, not those winning, and that's a shame. It's no one's fault, it's just a double-edged sword scenario no one saw coming. The only thing that's really left to do is ride out the wave, see if the remaining events of the season will go out with a bang, and hope that 2026 will bring on some semblance of consistency.