The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship returns to Hazeltine National Golf Club this week with a record $13 million purse, the largest in professional women’s golf.The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship trophy is displayed on the eighth hole at Hazeltine National Golf Club on August 25, 2025 in Chaska, Minnesota. (Photo by Gary Kellner/PGA of America via Getty Images)
PGA of America via Getty Images
A record $13 million purse, a new high-water mark in professional women’s golf, is up for grabs at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis.
The fact that escalating prize money has become a par-for-the-course storyline in women’s sports speaks to how much the landscape has shifted. And while the sticker-shock factor of ever-larger purses may be in the rearview mirror, the pace of growth remains remarkable.
In 1996 Australian rookie sensation Karrie Webb became the first woman to bank seven figures in a season. Five years later, Annika Sörenstam pushed frontiers again, becoming the first LPGA Tour player to top $2 million.
Then the march of money milestones appeared to stall after Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa set an LPGA single-season earnings record of $4.3 million during a torrid eight-win season in 2007. That record would remain untouched for the next 17 years.
Lydia Ko came agonizingly close in 2022, finishing just $591 shy of setting a new earnings mark. Two years later the floodgates opened. In 2024, Nelly Korda earned $4,391,930 inside the ropes, while Jeeno Thitikul sailed well past the longstanding benchmark when she captured the season ending CME Group Tour Championship, earning its $4 million winner’s prize and setting a new single season high-water mark at $6,059,309. She leapfrogged that record in 2025, tallying $7,578,330.
As the pace of new highs continues to accelerate, the ever-larger figures underscore just how dramatically the economics of women’s golf have evolved.
At the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, tournament leaders say the most meaningful signs of progress are increasingly found outside the prize pool ledger—from sponsor demand and television audiences to participation rates among the next generation of golfers.
“I think there are a few signs of progress that really matter,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler said. “Purse growth is one of them. Two is demand from partners who want to get involved … grassroots participation in the game is another metric. I think a fourth metric is TV viewership.”
Dialing Into Data
KPMG is also rolling out a new suite of AI-enhanced tools at this year’s championship. Additions to its Performance Insights platform include automatically generated post-round player reels that provide each competitor with shot-level analysis and hole-by-hole breakdowns, along with a live prediction engine that will deliver probability-based scoring projections during NBC and Golf Channel broadcasts.
The professional services giant says the daily recap reels delivered to players provide actionable intelligence, helping competitors maximize practice time, address weaknesses and make more informed strategic adjustments between rounds.
“Our players never have the benefit of stepping off the course and getting the level of performance insights that KPMG is providing for them this week,” Kessler said.
The AI-generated reports identify precisely where players are gaining and losing strokes relative to the field, breaking down performance by shot type, distance range and other difference-making metrics.
A competitor, for example, can quickly ascertain whether she excelled on approach shots from inside 100 yards, struggled from 175-200 yards, or consistently missed left by an outsized percentage off the tee.
“This is tech that is often provided on the men’s tour and they’re getting that tech here,” KPMG U.S. CEO Tim Walsh said.
The updates build on KPMG’s broader efforts to lean into data and analytics to bolster the modern sports ecosystem’s trifecta of player preparation, broadcast storytelling and second-screen fan engagement.
The Visibility Dividend
Broadcast reach in women’s sports has emerged as a vital growth metric and this area is also poised for gains. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is slated to receive nearly 100 hours of live, streaming and ancillary coverage across NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock, placing it among the most extensively covered events on the LPGA calendar.
As media exposure becomes increasingly important to sponsors and commercial partners, executives view expanded coverage not merely as a production enhancement but as a leading indicator of the championship’s long-term value.
PGA of America CEO Terry Clark said growing audience demand is increasingly influencing how organizers think about media distribution.
“We are trying to look at how to expand broadcast rights because we have so many interested fans and they want to consume and engage in the women’s game and this championship,” he said.
Despite the growth in coverage for the majors, Kessler believes discoverability remains one of the tour’s biggest overall opportunities.
“Candidly I still think it’s hard to find the LPGA on TV,” he said. “If you want to watch the LPGA you have to Google where to find us and how to watch us.”
For KPMG, the value proposition extends beyond broadcast impressions and logo placement. Walsh said the championship continues to deliver significant brand-elevation benefits while strengthening the firm’s connection to clients, employees and communities.
“This is a two-way sort of arrangement,” Walsh said. “KPMG is all over this course, in conjunction with the PGA of America and LPGA Tour.”
The bull run in corporate interest in women’s sports in recent years is being driven by both business outcomes and the continued momentum and rise in overall popularity of the women’s game.
Kessler recalled a recent LPGA partner summit where a CEO described the tour as “the most undervalued asset in sports today,” citing both the growth potential of the league and the unique ability to create meaningful client experiences at their events.
“I think corporations are realizing there is so much untapped potential here and they can create incredible client experiences that lead to business outcomes by sponsoring the LPGA,” Kessler said.
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