One Year In, How Is The LPGA's Elite Amateur Pathway Faring?

Last season, the Tour introduced a new pathway for players to earn their LPGA membership. With one success story under its belt, who will be the next one?

Addie Parker

At the beginning of last year, the LPGA Tour introduced its new program that allows for elite amateurs to have another avenue to securing their LPGA membership, beyond earning eligibility through the Epson Tour and LPGA Qualifying (Q) School.

The LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway, or LEAP for short, launched in January 2025 and by the end of the summer, it had its first success story.

The LEAP program is a points-based system that rewards players a certain number of points based on specific qualifying criteria. Players earn point is determined by five categories: ranking, LPGA finishes, amateur wins, awards, and team play. One needs 20 points in order to secure LPGA membership.

Lottie Woad was the first case study to this whole thing. She amassed 16 points through her ranking, awards, and wins, but her tournament play in LPGA events is what secured her final four points. The 22-year-old took advantage of her LPGA majors invitations, playing in four out of the five. But it was her time to shine at the Amundi Evian Championship, where Woad not only made the cut (earning her another point towards her total) but she finished inside the top-25 which is all she needed to cross the threshold.

It was remarkable to watch her be just shy of winning her first major as an amateur, but then to have her accept LPGA status and win her pro debut just weeks later was insane. The proof is in the pudding with the rising star—her hard work got rewarded and she wasted zero time in cashing in. The LPGA couldn't have asked for a better success story with this program. And with one notch in LEAP's belt, who will be the next one up?

Once Woad made the transition to the professional circuit, Kiara Romero became the next one up, claiming that top spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

The University of Oregon junior had a stellar 2025, winning the McCormack Medal for achieving that No. 1 ranking, earning the Big Ten's Women’s Golfer of the Year award, and she became the first Duck to be a two-time first-team All-American.

As it stands, the 19-year-old is the current LEAP front-runner with 14 points. There are five other players with five or more LEAP points, including Anna Davis who was the 2022 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion. See the full list and their points breakdown here.

With a full NCAA spring season and ANWA on her radar—Romero has plenty of opportunities to earn more points toward her total, but I hope we get to see more of her in LPGA events, too. Woad's blueprint isn't a bad one to follow.

But the jump from being a collegiate golfer to a pro is a large one, so there's another pathway the Tour has implemented that allows for these college stars to bring their talents to the Epson Tour.

Launched in July, the LPGA Collegiate Advancement Pathway (LCAP) is a newly developed program that creates a direct route for top collegiate golfers to enter the LPGA’s system of professional tours. The top 10 players enrolled in LCAP will earn Epson Tour membership based on their end-of-season rankings through the program.

As it stands, Stanford's Megha Ganne is leading that list. All eyes will be on the fourth-best amateur in the world and reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion, as her time on The Farm winds down. The senior told Skratch that turning pro, when it's all said and done is the goal, and that we can count on her pro debut at Riviera next summer.

Needless to say, the Tour will have no shortage on an influx of upcoming talent, and instead of one rising star coming down the traditional pipeline, expect several and from all over the place.

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