LPGA tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour ( LPGA Tour for short ) is a North American tournament series in professional women's golf. It is organized weekly by the LPGA, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (based in Daytona Beach , Florida ) from February to November of each year. In the 2006 season, the prize money paid out exceeded the 50 million dollar mark for the first time.
LPGA Tour Tournaments
Most of the events are held in the USA . In 2006 there were two tournaments in Mexico and one in Canada . Two events of the European sister organization Ladies European Tour , the Women's British Open and The Evian Championship in France , are also part of the LPGA Tour. Towards the end of the season there is an event in South Korea (also part of the LPGA of Korea Tour ), another in Japan and a third, new one, in Thailand .
The annual major championships for women are:
- Kraft Nabisco Championship
- Wegman's LPGA Championship
- US Women's Open
- Ricoh Women's British Open (in collaboration with the Ladies European Tour )
- The Evian Championship (in collaboration with the Ladies European Tour)
Presence of international players
In its early days, the LPGA Tour was dominated by US players. British Vivien Saunders became the first female golfer living outside the United States to play on the tour in 1969. Today the non-American contingent is very large and mostly superior. For several years now, the LPGA Tour has been dominated by South Korean players. At the beginning of July 2016, five players from South Korea were among the top 10 placements. Even leading New Zealander Lydia Ko has South Korean roots. The last time an American woman won the money list was in 1993. In 2009, 122 non-Americans from 27 countries played.
Other series of tournaments of the LPGA
In addition to the elite LPGA Tour, there is the secondary Symetra Tour , through which you can qualify for the next season of the big tour. Similar to the men, qualifying tournaments are held, the annual qualifying school , whereby, depending on the placement, you can earn the right to play the LPGA Tour, the Symetra Tour or neither.
In 2001 the LPGA established the Women's Senior Golf Tour for women over 45 years of age.