A Beginner Viewer's Guide to Women's Golf

You’re interested in watching more/following women’s golf but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place.

Last season, the LPGA and its biggest stars had a quite a few ‘golf x culture’ moments—from Nelly Korda at the Met Gala (the first golfer invited back since Tiger Woods in 2013) to Charley Hull becoming a fan favorite, and only now is the smoke starting to clear up on her stardom (pun absolutely-intended).

Whatever drew your attention to the women’s game, welcome, you’re right on time for the party. Recently it feels like women’s golf has reached its crux, and is on the precipice of skyrocketing. I mean think about it, social media exploded over Caitlin Clark’s pro am moment. Players are cashing in big time, a record 34 LPGA players made over $1 million in 2024 (a winner's circle that was on average just 15 players annually from 2016-2021 and up from 28 players in 2023). Lydia Ko played her way into the Hall of Fame on sports’ biggest stage at the Olympics—and that’s just a glimpse of what happened last season alone. Since 2021, women’s golf has had a steady increase in popularity and notoriety, and I get the strong feeling that 2025 will be the year of the LPGA—and you won’t want to miss what will be yet another historic season.

But you may be asking a few, very important questions. Who are the top-ranked players? Who should you follow? How many events are on the LPGA schedule? Where do you watch women’s golf? Consider this your key to unlocking one of big golf’s best and untapped secrets. Women’s golf is a gold mine of talent and stories of relentless perseverance, and this is just the beginning.

With partners, new and old, an impending new commissioner, increased interest from celebrities and influencers, and a 75-year anniversary this year—the tour is drawing in more and more eyes. Allow this to be your cheat sheet and a simple breakdown of the LPGA's rich history, major players and events, who to follow and how.

LPGA History: A 75-Year (and counting) Tale

In order to build the ultimate viewer's guide to women’s golf, we must go back in time—75 years to be exact—and meet the group of women who set out to establish an organization where women in golf could compete for a living.

After the second world war, the 1950s marked the beginning of the modern era—a time of economic growth, scientific innovation, and the foundation of the women’s rights movement.

The history of golf and women’s golf well pre-dates 1950, especially outside the United States, but the formation and foundation of the LPGA marks the genesis of women’s professional golf being seen as necessary and culturally significant.

When a sport or cause has an organization, equipped with bylaws and policies, there’s a level of validity to it that demands attention. There was enough traction for women’s golf at the time that 13 women—Alice Bauer, Patty Berg, Bettye Danoff, Helen Dettweiler, Marlene Hagge, Helen Hicks, Opal Hill, Betty Jameson, Sally Sessions, Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork, Louise Suggs, and Babe Zaharias—took it upon themselves to create the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1950.

Most notably, Babe Zaharias, in her own right, was an absolute legend. She excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. Her resume includes two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympic and 10 major championships over the course of her golf career. Incredibly bad ass.

Zaharias and her cohorts did it all in creating and establishing the LPGA organization. The founders not only competed, but organized events and tournaments, conducted outreach for courses to host them, marketed and advertised their talents themselves—these women would throw out first pitches at minor league baseball games and make radio appearances all to promote the LPGA. In its first season, the tour started with just 14 tournaments and $50,000 in total prize money. Within 10 years, the tour added 12 more events and the prize money grew four-fold.

In the 75th year, LPGA athletes have the opportunity to compete for $131 million in 33 events.

The Key Players

But the buck doesn’t just start and end with the founders. Over the decades, women’s golf saw new torch barriers with each generation. The second wave of women’s golf saw stars like Nancy Lopez, Juli Inkster, and Renee Powell. Followed by the icons of the early 2000s, Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, Se-ri Pak or South Korea, and Lorena Ochoa of Mexico—credited with globalizing the women’s game. And now we enter the contemporary era of golf where we see standouts becoming younger and younger. The likes of Michelle Wie, Lexi Thompson, and Lydia Ko hit the scene as teenagers, changing the landscape of women’s golf yet again. And now we arrive at the current generation of Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson, and Rose Zhang, where competition has never been as competitive, but there’s social media, and players are expected to be personalities on top of everything else.

Korda, Hull, and Zhang are among the most popular, especially across social media, but there are other key players you should incorporate in your ‘who to follow’ mix.

Players to Watch

The strong personalities: Megan Khang and Angel Yin

When watching golf, it’s always slightly more entertaining when players have a bit of edge to them. Despite how well or poorly they’re playing, you’ll see glimpses of their emotion simmer out of them. Like a pot steadily starting to boil. But keeping it well within what's acceptable for on-course etiquette, you’ll get the occasional fist pump and gestures to the crowd from players Megan Khang and Angel Yin.

Khang is one of the most fiery players on tour—and she shines in team competition. I got to see her up close and in action at the Solheim Cup and can easily say that she was the emotional leader of Team USA. Her energy is contagious and she’s easy to root for.

Angel Yin is a bit more subtle in her energy but she wears her emotion on her sleeve. You can literally see the dedication and passion she has for the game in her eyes. She’s also just straight up weird and uses her humor to pull you in. This “Coach Prime” moment from the 2023 season lives in my mind rent free.

The ones who rise to the occasion: Leona Maguire and Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul

She’s steady, likes to lurk in the shadows a bit but Leona Maguire is a force. I think she’s a lot like Justin Thomas, has had a rough go at it over the last couple of years, but you know that when she’s on, she’s on. Maguire is gritty and a player you do not leave off team competition. Even when Solheim Captain Suzann Pettersen sat her during a Saturday session, the Irishwoman bounced back and won 4UP on her opponent during singles matches on Sunday.

When $4 million was on the line, Atthaya Thitikul aka "Jeeno" didn’t blink. The Thailand-native rallied on the back nine at the LPGA’s season finale the CME Group Tour Championship to stamp her mark on the 2024 season, winning the largest single prize payout in women’s golf history. Exchanging birdies and going toe-to-toe with Angel Yin, she fired an eagle-birdie finish on the 17th and 18th with nerves of steel. At just 21 years old, Thitikul will have plenty of big moments in her career and your bet will be pretty safe with her, I think.

The one who has tenure but is just getting started: Lauren Coughlin

After 101 tour starts, Lauren Coughlin finally became an LPGA Tour Winner. A few weeks later she said let’s run it back and won her second tournament, which clinched her spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team as a rookie. She went undefeated in her sessions at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, and even had a chance to seal the deal for the Americans on the 18th hole.

Coughlin, 32, was just warming up in 2024. With major confidence boosters, I’m excited to see what she’s able to do this season.

The next gen: Alexa Pano, Gabi Ruffels, and Auston Kim

With just a couple seasons under their belts (Ruffels and Kim will be entering their sophomore seasons), this trio will be a part of the cohort taking the LPGA Tour to the next level. Each are incredibly strong players on-course, but they grew up in the era of social media and have the ability to create social presence the way new age athletes have to. They're just as savvy off-course as they are on, and that will enable them to establish a following early in their careers.

Pano had a highly successful junior career, forgoing college to compete on the Epson Tour (the LPGA’s developmental tour), earning her playing card in Q School on the first try. She won during her rookie season in 2023, and is besties with Rose Zhang (they grew up competing against one another)—so she’s in good company I’d say.

Ruffels and Kim both graduated from the Epson Tour, securing their playing cards through securing spots on the money list. They each have the potential to win tournaments and soon—keep an eye on these two in their second season.

Best Social Media follows: Lily Muni He and Jenny Shin

As exciting as on-course viewership can be, let’s be real, we love to keep up with athletes during their normal lives.

The most aesthetic player on tour is Lily Muni He. Not only is her street-style to-die-for (like truly Pinterest worthy) but she travels the world with Formula 1 driver bf Alex Albon. From the paddock to the range, He is living her absolute best life and we should all be envious.

As a 14-year vet, Jenny Shin has plenty of stories and anecdotes to share about her time on tour—which she chronicles on her Twitter (yeah it’s X but it’s Twitter forever and always to me). It’s safe to say that her account is her internet diary and I’m obsessed with it.

Can't-Miss Events

There are 33 official LPGA Tour Events this season, with the season opener a couple weeks away in Lake Nona, Fl. The tour has five majors: the Chevron Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the Amundi Evian Championship, and AIG Women’s Open.

Major season kicks off in April with The Chevron Championship, taking place for the third year in The Woodlands, Texas at The Club at Carlton Woods. In May, the LPGA Tour will make its first trip to Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc. for the U.S. Women’s Open. Three weeks later, the tour will visit the home of the PGA of America for the first time, playing the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas. The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in France will catalyze the summer European swing in July, and the AIG Women’s Open in Wales at Royal Porthcawl, another new venue for the tour, will conclude in August.

See the full LPGA 2025 schedule here.

Other events to note:

In addition to the five majors, the International Crown, a global team match play event, is back on the schedule. The prestigious event dates back to 2014, and is the tour’s opportunity to showcase the global talent of women’s golf. The International Crown is the only competition in professional golf where each team represents their home countries. This year’s crown will take place Oct. 23-26 at New Korea Country Club in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.

Though it’s not an LPGA sanctioned event, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur is the only women’s event played and hosted at Augusta National a week before the Masters. As the premier tournament in amateur golf, the two-day event welcomes the rising stars in women’s golf to play the iconic emerald green hills.

How to follow along all season

The LPGA Tour has yet to announce full broadcast details for the season (stay tuned!!), but all events will air on Golf Channel. Additionally, a minimum of seven events airing on NBC (and Peacock) and four events on CBS. The LPGA will continue its partnership with ESPN+ in 2025, with three events to be showcased on the streaming platform next season.

But also be sure to tune into our Skratch socials all year long, we’re covering the LPGA in refreshed ways—and you don’t want to miss the inside the ropes access at exclusive events.