You’re reading The Fixture, a newsletter about women in sports and women’s sports by a woman in sports. I’m Katie McInerney, an editor at the Boston Globe.
The day before the US Women’s Open teed off, Nelly Korda was asked about her standing in women’s golf.
“I definitely don’t think of myself as the face of the sport,” she responded.
That’s the humble answer. But the LPGA would probably have loved if she gave a different one.
The truth is that Korda, winner of the first two majors of this season and the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, is perhaps the most recognizable name in the women’s game right now — and in the United States, it isn’t even close.
Korda delivered where it mattered on the sport’s biggest stage, winning her first US Women’s Open with a putt that made you hold your breath to become the first American to win while ranked No. 1 ever. She’s the first American to win four majors since 2004.
Longtime journalist Beth Ann Nichols called it “the biggest moment in women’s golf” in 12 years.
“She’s the needle mover that makes people outside of golf pay attention,” USGA CEO and former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan told Nichols after Korda’s victory.
And recent trends indicate people are actually paying attention. Finally.
On the climb
The LPGA has existed for more than 75 years, but like many women’s sports has been too under-appreciated, undervalued, and underfunded for most of that time. Yes, the problems are exactly what you think they are: The wage gap is too broad. The television coverage is deeply inadequate. There is not nearly enough media coverage.
But things are quickly changing.
For the first three majors of the season, TV viewership is up — in some cases, significantly:
⛳ The Chevron Championship: On April 26 in Texas, Korda took the win with 830,000 people (on average) watching for that final round — a 2 percent increase over last year.
⛳ The US Women’s Open: Korda recorded her second major victory of the season on June 7 at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. About 1.3 million people tuned in for that final round, a 78 percent increase over 2025.
⛳ The Women’s PGA Championship: On June 28 out at Hazeltine in Minnesota, Korea’s Haeran Ryu won with a whopping 1.4 million tuning in on average — a 227 (!) percent increase from last year and the highest viewership since 2005.
On Thursday, the women teed off for the latest major, the Amundi Evian Championship on the shores of Lake Geneva along the Swiss border in France, as part of a three-event swing through Europe. Major season (there are five in women’s golf) will be capped off with the British Women’s Open from July 30 to Aug. 2.
And how about the purses to go with it?
Ally Financial threw its support behind the US Women’s Open in 2024, a natural extension of the company’s recent embrace of women’s sports. The $12.5 million purse for this year’s tournament was a record … that was quickly broken when KPMG upped its prize for the PGA Championship to $13 million to make it the largest purse in women’s golf history.
That competition is a trend. Last year, executives at FM told the Boston Globe that the company set its purse for the first FM Championship in 2024 at $3.5 million because it wanted to be the highest non-major purse. That prompted another event to up its own prize. And this year, KPMG upped its prize the week before the PGA to set the record. AIG moved the British Women’s Open up $250,000, so Evian added $1.1 million to its prize.
Just look how far things have come in the last decade-plus:
💰The Chevron Championship: 2014 purse: $2 million; 2026 purse: $9 million ⬆️ 350% increase
💰The US Women’s Open: 2014 purse: $4 million; 2026 purse: $12.5 million ⬆️ 212% increase
💰The Women’s PGA Championship: 2014 purse: $2.2 million; 2026 purse: $13 million ⬆️ 490% increase
💰The Amundi Evian Championship: 2014 purse: $3.2 million; 2026 purse: $9.1 million ⬆️ 184% increase
💰The British Women’s Open: 2014 purse: $3 million; 2026 purse: $10 million ⬆️ 233% increase
💰CME Group Tour Championship: 2014 purse: $2 million; 2026 purse: $11 million ⬆️ 450% increase
This prize-money arms race is fantastic for the sport. But what happens if … you can’t watch it? That was the reality for women’s golf up until this year. For the first time since Golf Channel began airing the LPGA Tour, every event and every round will be shown live.
For the first time. In 2026.
In addition, the LPGA is using Trackman technology — standard on the men’s tour — plus 50 percent more cameras, three times more microphones, and plenty of drones to offer a viewing experience we’ve come to expect from professional golf.
All of this goes a hell of a long way to giving the sport the platform it needs to take off. But all of those things — the broadcast, the money, and the viewership — can only take the sport so far.
Taking it higher
The idea has been batted around before: Women’s golf just needs its own Caitlin Clark to bring it into the greater sports consciousness in the United States.
It’s just not that simple. You can’t go searching for a savior. You need to make your own magic.
(Two asides: Clark is actually a great golfer and participates in The ANNIKA Pro-Am each fall. And women’s golf is wildly popular in Asia, thanks in large part to the number of Korean players on the tour.)
The LPGA made the right call in hiring Craig Kessler as its CEO. Kessler, in his first full season in charge, is reportedly making all the right tweaks to demonstrate accountability and to bring the Tour closer in line with the wishes of its players.
As detailed in this great story from The Athletic’s Gabby Herzig, those moves are much-needed. The LPGA itself had been stalling out due to mismanagement and apathy from previous regimes.
Kessler went out and recruited Chad Coleman, who was the chief brand officer of YouTube sensation Dude Perfect, to become the LPGA’s chief marketing officer. He’s tasked with revving up the audience growth and finding a way to raise the profile of athletes and reach younger audiences.
But who exactly is the audience for the LPGA?
The National Golf Foundation reports a 45 percent increase in women golfers from 2020 to 2025, thanks to the game’s overall growth during the COVID pandemic. Those women are an easy target, but historically, women’s sports audiences are about 50 percent men.
Does the LPGA want to draw in the boorish Barstool bros who walk the course at the Waste Management Open? (I hope not.)
Maybe it will emphasize its lower prices and target families to get out to tournaments? In-person attendance is still a big issue, even at majors, but the LPGA’s longterm plan to place more tournaments at legendary courses that are typically reserved for men.
Can it ride this rocketship of women’s sports, or is golf too hard to get into? If you’re not already a golf fan, what would get you to pay attention?
When it comes to the men’s tour, fans are drawn in by the personalities. The LPGA needs to figure out how to tell its own stories. And it can’t rely on Korda, who’s great on the course but is much more subdued off it.
Consider how women’s basketball has blossomed over the past five years. We’ve seen college athletes using social media organically then adapt their personal brands into the perfect platform for sponsors to jump on board. It’s time for women’s golfers to get on board. With bigger purses come bigger responsibilities. No more sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the LPGA’s social team to show up.
Of course, influencer marketing and content creators could be an avenue. Fashion and beauty are a natural fit for the sport, and at this point, men’s majors are part sporting event, part see-and-be-seen fashion show. (I’m talking about you, Masters merchandise TikTokers.) It’s a tough line to walk. There’s a lot of objectification of women in golf, too, and that can be amplified on social media.
One thing that seems obvious: Crossover with the PGA Tour. Golfers have said they’d like to see this, too.
The most important thing, though: The LPGA can’t copy what the WNBA and NWSL do – hell, it can’t copy what upstarts like LOVB Volleyball and the Athletes Unlimited Softball League do. It needs to walk its own (cart) path.