The LPGA is looking for its defining moment.
With new commissioner Craig Kessler at the helm, the LPGA is entering a whole new era where it plans to elevate the product and increase its visibility. in an effort to compete in the ongoing attention wars who have consumed professional sport.
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Kessler has only been on the job for six months, but he’s already made several significant changes that indicate things will be different for the LPGA moving forward. He orchestrated a seismic new TV broadcast deal to ensure that every round of the tournament can be seen live on Golf Channel or CNBC. He has tapped Golf Saudi as sponsor of a new tournament with a $4 million purse. He moved the Chevron Championship to Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston and is beginning to rework the schedule to maximize its value.
Kessler has big visions and, thus far, has demonstrated the ability and willingness to do things his predecessors could not or would not. The 2026 season is a huge season for the LPGA and the Kessler era. It can serve as a launching pad for the massive growth envisioned by players and executives, leading to the breakthrough women’s golf has been waiting for.
A pivotal season begins in late January, with five key players and five questions shaping a season that may be the start of a slow build to the moment envisioned by Kessler and the LPGA.
Craig Kessler’s next move
We’ll start with Kessler.
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As noted, he’s been taking over since taking office, and it’s clear that his first wave of moves was just the beginning.
At the CME Group Tour Championship in November, Kessler further explained her approach to positioning the LPGA to capture the eyeballs it seeks. That starts with the television broadcast deal, which has already been improved, but also requires raising the profile of the LPGA’s biggest stars, both inside and outside the ropes.
Enter: WTGL, a women’s simulation league This was announced this week by the LPGA and TMRW Sports, owner of TGL.
Kessler said he started hearing from players about the possibility of a women’s TGL even before he officially took over. Mike McCarley of TMRW Sports said that while the focus is currently on launching the WTGL, there is interest in LPGA players sharing the stage with PGA Tour stars in a crossover event. As the LPGA seeks to reach a broader audience, the WTGL offers a pathway to a younger, more diverse audience.
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“I think it means so much,” Lexi Thompson said Matt Barrie of ESPN of the creation of WTGL. “It brings a whole different fan base to golf. I think that’s what’s needed. It’s faster golf, all those shots, hitting a screen. I think the fans are really getting more involved and seeing the personality of the guys, and now the women. I think it’s just amazing for golf in general.”
Since a new television deal with WTGL, Kessler has already made several notable moves as he seeks to elevate women’s golf to the space it should occupy. His next moves will be just as important as the first.
Nelly Korda’s rebound
A year after winning seven times, Korda remained winless in 2025 despite statistics suggesting his game was essentially at the same level.
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“It’s definitely been an interesting year, I would say,” Korda said at the CME Group Tour Championship. “There’s been some good; there’s been flashes of really good; there’s been flashes of I don’t know what just happened. I’d say overall it’s just kind of golf. After last year, it’s always going to be hard to back that up.”
Korda had a chance to win the U.S. Women’s Open, but couldn’t defeat eventual champion Maja Stark on Sunday at Erin Hills. She would fall to second in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and fail to play in any of the final three majors of the year. And yet, despite one goose egg in the win column in 2025, Korda, the LPGA’s biggest star, didn’t consider it a failure. It was simply the ebb and flow of a sport has won and lost by the finest margins.
“Honestly, it’s a fine line,” Korda said. “Sometimes it comes down to one shot. It’s like sticking your lips out and not being able to get your swing going. It’s a very fine line when it comes to golf.
“I don’t necessarily think I’m a worse or better golfer. I would say maybe last year, not a lot of things went my way. That’s just kind of what golf is. I’ll never have a pity party and I’ll never wonder, oh, why is it in that divot or why did I have that bad bounce. It’s just sport. That’s what it is. Sometimes you have a wave of good bounces and good bounces. breaks and sometimes not.”
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But as the LPGA enters a pivotal season after one dominated by parity, how Korda bounces back – and potentially re-emerges as the dominant force in women’s football – will be vital. The depth of LPGA talent is evident. You won’t get a season with 29 unique winners and only two repeat champions without it. But as the LPGA looks to move toward its breakthrough, have one or two dominant stars who can reach a wider audience is at the very least necessary, even imperative.
“As a tour and even from a fan perspective, yeah, it’s great to have someone like Nelly who was so dominant last year,” Hall of Famer Lydia Ko said. “It draws a lot of attention, especially with her – in Nelly’s case, being an American player. It draws a lot of different attention. In case you don’t play golf, you know who Tiger Woods is. Having that kind of number is, yes, very important, but at the same time, just a level of play between the No. 1 ranked player in the CME rankings and 100, I think the talent is not that different.
“It’s a double-edged sword in the sense that you want depth and talent because you just want to see the game as a whole grow, but at the same time, if I had to market someone, it would be a lot easier to market one person than 30 people.”
How will Nelly Korda bounce back in 2026? This may be the defining question of the upcoming season.
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Nelly Korda watches Jeeno Thitikul play a shot
The recall of Jeeno Thitikul
As Korda trudged towards a winless 2025, Thitilkul dominated the season in every way that mattered except one.
The 22-year-old won three times, finished in the top three eight times and had 14 top 10s. She won the Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy, breaking Annika Sorenstam’s record for lowest average in LPGA history.
Thitikul has done everything in 2025, including eclipsing Korda as world No. 1, except winning his first major. She entered the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA as one of the leading contenders, but saw Minjee Lee pass her this weekend in Frisco. Thitikul had the Evian Championship within his reach on Sunday before Grace Kim stole it from him in the playoffs.
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In a year defined by parity, Thitikul was the dominant force. She has a chance to do it again in 2026, break onto a major stage and become one of the faces of the LPGA.
Charley Hull’s potential breakthrough
Charley Hull is one of the stars of the LPGA. Crowds flock to her when she is on the field. His popularity has grown in recent seasons and rivals Kordas.
As stated above, the LPGA needs stars and needs them to win on the course and stand out off it. Kessler praised Hull for being one of the LPGA’s top stars ready to branch out outside of golf.
“I’m just being myself,” Hull told GOLF. “I think it’s great that they invited me (to the UK state dinner). I had a pretty good year and it was nice. I think it’s a good thing for women’s golf that people are recognizing it and, yeah, I’m just being myself.”
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But Hull, 29, is still waiting for his big breakthrough moment. She has eight career victories, including three on the LPGA, but has yet to win a major championship. Hull has four career finalists at major tournaments, including the 2025 AIG Women’s Open, where her Sunday charge failed, and Miyu Yamashita walked away with the trophy.
Hull is a star. She’s a formidable, long-hitting talent who has the type of personality the LPGA needs to grow further. But can its results begin to match or exceed its explosive popularity? The answer will be important for the crucial season ahead.
Lexi Thompson looks on during Annika
The emergence of a new (or old) star
The 2025 season saw star amateur Lottie Woad have an unforgettable summer.
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Woad won the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, nearly won the Evian Championship, then turned professional and immediately won the Scottish Open.
As the LPGA searches for new stars, Woad appears to be one of the top candidates.
The same goes for Rose Zhang, who has scaled back her schedule as she works to finish her degree in communications at Stanford. The schedule change and a neck injury led Zhang to a season on “the fight bus.” But she played well at the FM championship at TPC Boston and plans to finish his studies in March, which should allow him to return to a full-time playing schedule.
Zhang, a two-time LPGA Tour winner, won her first-ever start as a professional and quickly became one of the Tour’s most popular players after a star amateur career. Splitting his time between professional golf and his studies has been difficult on his game, but Zhang will hopefully re-emerge towards the start of the 2026 major season, as his balancing act comes to an end.
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