Why the LPGA Tour is desperate for a true superstar

In this weeks' "View From The Fairway", Sports Journalist Derek Clements takes a close look at the LPGA. With 29 different winners and no clear icon, the LPGA Tour is crying out for a true superstar as Nelly Korda, Jeena Thitikul, Charley Hull and Lottie Woad battle to become the face of the women’s game.

THE LPGA Tour has a problem. It is in desperate need of a superstar, a dominant force who will attract crowds and, almost more importantly, sponsors to the women’s game.

The PGA Tour has Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, and a host of other golfers who move the needle.

In 2024, the LPGA Tour’s prayers were answered by Nelly Korda, who won seven times, including a remarkable five in a row. But the season that has just finished has been very different.

I have always believed that golf needs two things - a dominant figure and rivalries.

When Jack Nicklaus was dominating the men’s game, he was challenged by, at various times, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson. Tiger Woods sent shivers down the spines of his contemporaries but Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh had their moments.

Annika Sorenstam was kept on her toes by Karrie Webb.

And even Scheffler doesn’t have things all his own way thanks to McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and many others.

So what of today’s LPGA Tour?

The season that has just finished witnessed an incredible 29 different winners, with 11 of them tasting victory for the first time.

Until Jeena Thitikul won the Buick LPGA Shanghai in October there had not been a single repeat winner in 2025. She then added the season-ending Tour Championship with its bumper $4m first prize to end the year as the dominant force. Thitikul also finished the season with almost $8m in prize money. In truth, she is a breath of fresh air, a golfer who plays with a smile on her face and who possesses a killer short game.

Rookie of the Year winner Miyu Yamashita won the AIG Women’s Open and then joined Thitikul as the only other repeat winner when she captured the Maybank Championship.

But trust me when I tell you that although LPGA Tour commissioner Craig Kessler proclaims to be happy with the state of the women’s game, he wants to see Korda winning again in 2026 and he is hoping that Korda and Thitikul may provide the sort of rivalry that the women’s game craves.

Lydia Ko, herself a former world number one, agrees. She said: “As a tour and even from a fan perspective, it’s great to have somebody like Nelly that was so dominant last year.

“It catches a lot of attention, especially with her — in Nelly’s case, being an American player. That catches a lot of different attention. Even if you don’t play golf, you know who Tiger Woods is. Having that kind of a figure is, yes, very important, but at the same time, just a level of play between the No. 1-ranked player on the CME rankings to 100, I think the talent is not that far different.

“As a Tour having better talent and more talent throughout the leaderboard is just as important as having one superstar.”

Please don’t get me wrong - the standard of play has been hugely impressive and there is a lot to be excited about next season.

Lottie Woad turned pro and immediately won the Women’s Scottish Open. She had also won the Irish Open as an amateur and very nearly won the Evian, one of the women’s game’s five majors. I have high hopes for Woad. She has already climbed into the top 10 in the world rankings - a remarkable achievement when you consider that she has not even been a professional for six months. In recent weeks she has been quietly going about her business, getting used to life as a touring professional. I expect her to win multiple times in 2026 and perhaps even secure her first major.

And then there is the enigma that is Charley Hull. That she possesses a God-given talent is beyond dispute. That she has failed to live up to her potential is equally true. But she remains a fan favourite on both sides of the Atlantic.

Hull told GOLF: “I’m just being myself. I think it’s great that they invited me to the UK state dinner. I’ve had a pretty good year, and it was nice. I do think it is a good thing for the women’s game of golf to have people acknowledging it and, yeah, I’m just being myself.

“Before it used to be like the top-10 players could win, and now it’s like the top 30, 40 players have all got a chance of winning because the standard has gone up and we’ve got so much more depth and that’s what we want.”

She won the Kroger Queen City Championship and came close at the Women’s Open and is one of the LPGA Tour’s most high-profile players - but the truth is that is has as much to do with what she does off the course as on it. And for true golf fans such as myself, that is a source of frustration. I cannot help but feel that if Hull applied herself 100% to the game, then she could still become a superstar. She has a huge following on social media and that would only grow if she could win on a more regular basis.

Kessler is fully aware of the place that the likes of Korda and Hull occupy within the women’s game and he claims to have no issues with them increasing their profile off the course. In fact, he appears to actively encourage it.

He said: “There are so many examples we can point to, whether it’s what Nelly did by going to the Met Gala or with Sports Illustrated or Charley going to a state banquet in the UK or some of the recent things she’s done on social. I could take you through a variety of players and things that they have done to show up in culture, not just inside the ropes. Those things make a difference.”

The tour has just secured a lucrative new TV deal. To attract the sort of audience needed to justify that deal, Kessler and his team need their players to generate excitement on the course. Thitikul, Korda, Hull, Woad et al have a huge amount resting on their shoulders.