As the LPGA Tour begins a yearlong celebration of its 75th anniversary, there are many unanswered questions about the premier women’s professional circuit in the world.
What will Nelly’s Korda’s 2024 encore look like?
It’s hard to imagine Korda topping her 2024 LPGA campaign. She won seven times, including five tournaments in a row from January through April, and captured her second major despite falling into a mid-season slump during which she missed three consecutive cuts, two of them majors. That said, she is in the prime of her career at age 26, so look for another big year from the player who is the face of the tour.
Who will succeed Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan?
It’s anybody’s guess at the moment. Marcoux Samaan will step down effective Thursday, and LPGA executive Liz Moore will serve as interim commissioner while the tour’s board works with an executive search firm to find a permanent successor. If the LPGA learned anything from Marcoux Samaan’s three-plus-year term, it’s that it’s awfully difficult to have someone take this job without extensive golf industry experience. Marcoux, who previously served as Princeton University’s athletic director, came to the LPGA without a deep understanding of the organization or its place in women’s sport. It took considerable time to get up to speed and build relationships, time that might have been better spent attending to sponsors and LPGA partners.
How high is up for Jeeno Thitikul?
Despite all the attention Korda garnered in 2024, 21-year-old Jeeno Thitikul finished as the leading money winner in 2024, banking more than $6 million. The Thai player was the 2022 LPGA Rookie of the Year and has won four times in her three years on tour. She owns an amazing 41 career top-10s in that brief span. Most LPGA observers think she is just getting started and has long-term potential to achieve on par with Ko.
What has become of Maria Fassi?
The 2019 NCAA champion, who put on quite a display at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur that same year, was thought to be the next big thing in women’s golf. Stylish, fit, charming off the course and very talented on it, she was a can’t-miss prospect, many believed.
Six years in, the 26-year-old Mexican pro is struggling. She is in good health according to a source close to the LPGA, and she is a hard worker, but so far in her career she has little to show for it. She has not won and has only eight career top-10s.
The LPGA hopes for a breakthrough for the long-hitting Fassi in 2025.
Can the LPGA secure a better American TV presence?
After her historic five-victory streak ended last May, Korda observed what the LPGA needs: “It's a stage. We need a stage. We need to be on prime-time TV, and we need to showcase the talent we have out here, which is a lot.” She has a point.
Too often, LPGA events are shown on tape delay on Golf Channel, taking a back seat to the PGA Tour Champions. And even their biggest events seem to be secondary in the television marketplace; CME Group CEO Terry Duffy complained loudly that the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship, which delivers the largest paycheck in women’s golf, was shunted aside to tape delay.
Lexi Thompson was not wrong in observing, “Our TV coverage has increased (but) I think there is a lot more room for improvement. There are so many talents out here and so many stories that we can really focus on and really bring in a bigger fan base than what we have."
Will this be Lydia Ko’s last year?
Knowledgeable sources around the LPGA suspect that 2025 could be Lydia Ko’s final full-time year on tour. The 27-year-old from New Zealand, who turned pro at 16 in 2013, enjoyed a memorable 2024 season, winning the AIG Women’s Open on the Old Course at St Andrews, claiming the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and earning enough points to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Now married, she has hinted more than once about her hopes to begin a family. Enjoy this young talent while we still can.
How much of Lexi Thompson will we actually see?
Unlike Ko, who has not officially commented on her future, Lexi Thompson has. Last summer, she announced that she was stepping away from a full-time schedule, and she got engaged over the holidays. She indicated she may play in selected events, but what’s clear is that her days as a top-ranked threat to win every week are behind her.