2025 LPGA Season Odds and Ends

[ChronicSlicer]

Just saw that Georgia Hall is ranked 97th in the world. Thanks Ryann. 

[18majors]

 

2025 LPGA Priority list after the first reshuffle on May 27 2025:

 

Priority List

[Seamus_McDuff]

33 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

2025 LPGA Priority list after the first reshuffle on May 27 2025:

 

Priority List

The first reshuffle was in early May after Black Desert

 

https://www.lpga.com/-/media/files/priority-list/2025/2025-lpga-tour-priority-list_reshuffle1.pdf

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[postfold]

Pretty sure that I read today that crazy Lucy Li just graduated from Penn summa cum laude with a 4.0.

 

Says Lucy:  "I'm a huge nerd".

 

https://golfweek.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/lpga/2025/06/05/lucy-li-graduates-ivy-league-school-4-0-while-playing-lpga/84047302007/

[JungleJimbo]

4 hours ago, postfold said:

Pretty sure that I read today that crazy Lucy Li just graduated from Penn summa cum laude with a 4.0.

 

Says Lucy:  "I'm a huge nerd".

 

https://golfweek.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/lpga/2025/06/05/lucy-li-graduates-ivy-league-school-4-0-while-playing-lpga/84047302007/

With that stats/ nerd background ... could you see Lucy Li following Matt Fitzpatrick's / Bryson's/ DECADE  data-driven approach to training/ collecting stats about her game? 

 

Quote: 

"Li, 22, recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. Li now boasts an LPGA card and a degree in data analytics and psychological sciences from an Ivy League institution.

 

Li started her professional golf career around the same time she started taking online courses at Penn.

"While COVID set me back a few years in my golf career, it also gave me the time and space I needed to really dig into my pursuit of higher education," Li posted on Instagram. "It’s a reminder to me that not all bad is bad, and that life will endlessly take you down funny paths and winding roads until you reach where it intended you to be. 

 

"Before anyone asks me why I did any of this to myself while already having a full time job as a pro golfer let me answer: I’m a huge nerd. I’ve always been driven by curiosity, love of learning, and self-improvement, both on and off the course. It’s been an honor and privilege to continue that journey at Penn. I am now armed with a lot of useful information, better leadership and communication skills, but more importantly a lot of really interesting but mostly useless facts about a lot of different things."

[ChronicSlicer]

13 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

"While COVID set me back a few years in my golf career

Was she hiding in the basement while everybody else was out playing?

[ChronicSlicer]

Sara Kouskova with back to back wins on the LET. The Order of Merit race is heating up. 

[18majors]

What's happened to Danielle Kang over the last 2-3 years are well documented, but not Brooke Henderson.

 

Brooke has played 12 events this year and her best and only Top-10 finish was at the match play in Las Vegas.  She's missed 3 cuts and is currently #50 on CME ranking and has earned only $223,600.00 this year.  This follows another disappointing 2024 when she didn't win even though she'd 9 Top-10.

 

We've many Canadian posters in this forum and I wonder some may have insight into her situation!

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

What's happened to Danielle Kang over the last 2-3 years are well documented, but not Brooke Henderson.

 

Brooke has played 12 events this year and her best and only Top-10 finish was at the match play in Las Vegas.  She's missed 3 cuts and is currently #50 on CME ranking and has earned only $223,600.00 this year.  This follows another disappointing 2024 when she didn't win even though she'd 9 Top-10.

 

We've many Canadian posters in this forum and I wonder some may have insight into her situation!

 

This is her 11th season. Maybe she's just running out of steam? Her body language and demeanor on the course remind me of Lexi. 

 

She's always been an A+ ballstriker, but she hasn't been dialed in this season. Her strokes gained approach ranks 116th. Oy. Combined with mediocre putting (93rd SGP) and she isn't the birdie machine she was previously. 

 

[18majors]

Rolex Ranking as of Monday June 9, 2025:

1.   Nelly Korda                    10.74             397.54              37
2.   Jeeno Thitikul                8.52              349.20             41
3.   Lydia Ko                          6.62              291.31              44

The gap between Nelly and Jeeno narrowed by quite a bit even though they earned similar points last week.  This is because Nelly's denominator went up; also, her points are expiring at a faster rate.

 

Jeeno still has a slight chance to take over No. 1 next week if she wins KPMG and Nelly slumps.

[ChronicSlicer]

7 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

This is her 11th season. Maybe she's just running out of steam? Her body language and demeanor on the course remind me of Lexi. 

 

She's always been an A+ ballstriker, but she hasn't been dialed in this season. Her strokes gained approach ranks 116th. Oy. Combined with mediocre putting (93rd SGP) and she isn't the birdie machine she was previously. 

 

Burnout is real, especially when you hit the limelight before you can legally drive. Can't help to think even Nelly is feeling the pressure after last year. 

[JungleJimbo]

On 6/9/2025 at 1:23 AM, ChronicSlicer said:

Sara Kouskova with back to back wins on the LET. The Order of Merit race is heating up. 

 

 

 

[Titleist_PT23]

23 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Burnout is real, especially when you hit the limelight before you can legally drive. Can't help to think even Nelly is feeling the pressure after last year. 

One needs specific goals to keep working towards.  Double digit wins and a major or two checks a lot of boxes and likely means these players are financially secure.  

 

At that point, you need to want the HoF, Grand Slam, or chase down the likes of Inbee, Karrie Webb, Annika, etc.

 

Lydia's likely playing for the Grand Slam at this point (or Super Slam if she can get one of the two).  Others may have given up; they know their place in the game is very good but not legendary status.

 

I hope Nelly can qualify for the HoF.  JYK's chances seem to be fading fast.  I don't think there's anyone else worthy of serious consideration.

[ChronicSlicer]

6 minutes ago, Titleist_PT23 said:

One needs specific goals to keep working towards.  Double digit wins and a major or two checks a lot of boxes and likely means these players are financially secure.  

 

At that point, you need to want the HoF, Grand Slam, or chase down the likes of Inbee, Karrie Webb, Annika, etc.

 

Lydia's likely playing for the Grand Slam at this point (or Super Slam if she can get one of the two).  Others may have given up; they know their place in the game is very good but not legendary status.

 

I hope Nelly can qualify for the HoF.  JYK's chances seem to be fading fast.  I don't think there's anyone else worthy of serious consideration.

I got a sneaky suspicion that every single player out there has specific goals. 

The double digit win and a major or two, should damn near propel a player into legendary status 😂 I know that sounds kinda silly, but how many current players can lay claim to that feat 10, 11? 

 

Who's gonna be the next based on what we see right now? Jeeno, Ronni, Hannah, Anna, Celine, Lilia, Nasa, Hyo Joo, Amy are closest right now. Maybe 4 of them make it to ten wins.

 

I gotta be honest a 5 win career in this era sounds really good right now, 10 is probably a stretch for 90% of the current players. We see the glimpses of greatness here and there, and then they flat line the next few years. It's too hard to be a steady 2-4 wins a year player out there.

 

Anybody on that tour right now who's goal is the HoF other than JYK or Nelly, is on track to be completely disappointed.

[Titleist_PT23]

58 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

I got a sneaky suspicion that every single player out there has specific goals. 

The double digit win and a major or two, should damn near propel a player into legendary status 😂 I know that sounds kinda silly, but how many current players can lay claim to that feat 10, 11? 

 

Who's gonna be the next based on what we see right now? Jeeno, Ronni, Hannah, Anna, Celine, Lilia, Nasa, Hyo Joo, Amy are closest right now. Maybe 4 of them make it to ten wins.

 

I gotta be honest a 5 win career in this era sounds really good right now, 10 is probably a stretch for 90% of the current players. We see the glimpses of greatness here and there, and then they flat line the next few years. It's too hard to be a steady 2-4 wins a year player out there.

 

Anybody on that tour right now who's goal is the HoF other than JYK or Nelly, is on track to be completely disappointed.

By goals, I mean there has to be something to really keep the foot on the gas (which is hard to do).  It's very easy to get complacent, and for many, they'll be going backwards rather than maintaining where they are at.

 

I'm not sure what the right metric / cutoff is for different classes of players.  If we look at Minjee, Brooke, SYK, Lexi, they are all 10x winners with 1-2 majors.  Among the top tier of players for 5-10 years on tour.  Is that HoF?  I've always leaned "No."  As good as they all are/were, none were close to the top stretches of Lydia, JYK, or Nelly.

 

Reducing the HoF criteria has been talked about several times.  For me, the more borderline cases are Lewis, Kerr, and Yani.

[ChronicSlicer]

20 hours ago, Titleist_PT23 said:

By goals, I mean there has to be something to really keep the foot on the gas (which is hard to do).  It's very easy to get complacent, and for many, they'll be going backwards rather than maintaining where they are at.

 

I'm not sure what the right metric / cutoff is for different classes of players.  If we look at Minjee, Brooke, SYK, Lexi, they are all 10x winners with 1-2 majors.  Among the top tier of players for 5-10 years on tour.  Is that HoF?  I've always leaned "No."  As good as they all are/were, none were close to the top stretches of Lydia, JYK, or Nelly.

 

Reducing the HoF criteria has been talked about several times.  For me, the more borderline cases are Lewis, Kerr, and Yani.

So you are borderline on Stacy getting in with 13 total wins including 2 majors in 359 events, but are a hard no on Brooke, who has the same in 223 events (as of last year). Kerr and Yani should probably be in there.

I understand setting the bar high, but it's almost like they don't want a new generation of inductees. I have no dog in that fight, but geez.

[Titleist_PT23]

2 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

So you are borderline on Stacy getting in with 13 total wins including 2 majors in 359 events, but are a hard no on Brooke, who has the same in 223 events (as of last year). Kerr and Yani should probably be in there.

I understand setting the bar high, but it's almost like they don't want a new generation of inductees. I have no dog in that fight, but geez.

Lewis' peak was better than Brooke's (2 PoY and 2 Vare).  I think some would put Lewis ahead of Kerr in this race, even though Kerr has more wins and more HoF points.  Whether Yani should be in or not is debatable, but she would likely be in under all scenarios where either of the other two are.

 

JYK and Lewis are fairly close (2 majors, multiple 3x win seasons, 19 and 20 HoF points).  I don't think Brooke is there right now.  At one point, most would have penciled her in for 20 HoF points, but as we've seen, things can change.

[Titleist_PT23]

At the end of the day, the choices are leave the points threshold as is, lower it, or go to some type of vote.  The last option would certainly pick up the relative best during their time, but is also susceptible to becoming a popularity contest / ever lowering standards.

 

I don't have a strong view either way.  I'd just reiterate that at one point the consensus was that no one would ever make it again, but Lydia got over the bar (two monster seasons).  I think I've said the same about JYK a couple of years ago; likely needs one big season (major + awards), wouldn't want to bet on her winning seven more times.

 

Edit to the above:  I guess Nelly is also similar to JYK and Lewis (19 HoF points, 2 majors, 2 monster seasons).  TBD, whether she can continue to win 7x per year, hits a wall, or eight more points is possible but a real grind.

[Titleist_PT23]

Interesting Nelly Korda interview with the CEO of GS.  Talks passion, neck injury, what the tour needs to do, partnerships with leading brands/companies, and meeting amazing people (mentions Tiger Woods).

 

 

[pmcuk]

On 6/11/2025 at 12:45 AM, Titleist_PT23 said:

 

I hope Nelly can qualify for the HoF.  JYK's chances seem to be fading fast.  I don't think there's anyone else worthy of serious consideration.

 

I don't think it's possible any more to accumulate enough points. The points should be reduced to around 20 otherwise it's just vapourware. 

[Titleist_PT23]

1 hour ago, pmcuk said:

 

I don't think it's possible any more to accumulate enough points. The points should be reduced to around 20 otherwise it's just vapourware. 

We'll see.  People said the same thing when Lydia was around high-teens/20 points.

 

That being said, I can see the merits for lowering it to around 20 points.

[ChronicSlicer]

40 minutes ago, Titleist_PT23 said:

We'll see.  People said the same thing when Lydia was around high-teens/20 points.

 

That being said, I can see the merits for lowering it to around 20 points.

Here's my sole argument for lowering the standards a bit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_LPGA_Tour

32 events won by only 9 people, in 1965 (no info for 1966) there was only 41 LPGA members total.

Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright won half the years events 😂

So few players, but basically dominated by a literal handful.

No wonder why these ladies were winning 40, 50, 60, 70 times during a career. 

Now we have what 150 each tournament. The modern LPGA isn't even a fair comparison to 1966. So why use those players achievements as a gold standard, best of the best. Kinda crazy if you think about it.

Edited June 13 by ChronicSlicer

[GolfMoose]

There was a mention online of Brooke having indicated maybe a year ago that motivation/intensity was hard to maintain but I was never able to find the actual interview where that was said.

[Lobby]

On 6/13/2025 at 3:09 PM, ChronicSlicer said:

Here's my sole argument for lowering the standards a bit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_LPGA_Tour

32 events won by only 9 people, in 1965 (no info for 1966) there was only 41 LPGA members total.

Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright won half the years events 😂

So few players, but basically dominated by a literal handful.

No wonder why these ladies were winning 40, 50, 60, 70 times during a career. 

Now we have what 150 each tournament. The modern LPGA isn't even a fair comparison to 1966. So why use those players achievements as a gold standard, best of the best. Kinda crazy if you think about it.

I didn’t know there was going to be math. 
 

 

🙂

[ChronicSlicer]

15 minutes ago, Lobby said:

I didn’t know there was going to be math. 
 

 

🙂

Take it slow, read it twice, it'll make sense 

[18majors]

 

Rose Zhang started the 2025 season with a T-10 out of 32 players at Tournament of Champions; but has since missed all 3 cuts and failed to win a single match at Las Vegas Match Play.

 

She's outside of Top-100 in current CME ranking, although her LPGA card is protected in 2026 because of her Founders Cup win in 2024.

 

Rose's parents bought a mansion at Summit Club of Las Vegas, a community where $10.0 million sticker price is common; presumably assuming Rose's multi-millions income from prizes and endorsements will continue for many years.

 

I'm sure her sponsors will give her grace periods of at least one year but not much longer.  That means she needs to win again before end of 2026 season, or her future will look very grim.

 

I don't know how long it will take for her to be 100% healthy, but the financial burden will unnecessarily add pressure to her life.

 

 

[BadgerLin]

3 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

Rose Zhang started the 2025 season with a T-10 out of 32 players at Tournament of Champions; but has since missed all 3 cuts and failed to win a single match at Las Vegas Match Play.

 

She's outside of Top-100 in current CME ranking, although her LPGA card is protected in 2026 because of her Founders Cup win in 2024.

 

Rose's parents bought a mansion at Summit Club of Las Vegas, a community where $10.0 million sticker price is common; presumably assuming Rose's multi-millions income from prizes and endorsements will continue for many years.

 

I'm sure her sponsors will give her grace periods of at least one year but not much longer.  That means she needs to win again before end of 2026 season, or her future will look very grim.

 

I don't know how long it will take for her to be 100% healthy, but the financial burden will unnecessarily add pressure to her life.

 

 

“or her future will look very grim” seems like a bit of an overstatement!

[JungleJimbo]

On 6/9/2025 at 1:23 AM, ChronicSlicer said:

Sara Kouskova with back to back wins on the LET. The Order of Merit race is heating up. 

 

 

 

Followers of LET golf might've observed another first-time winner (Darcey Harry) ... name reminds me of a 70s pop star.

 

Highlights packages appear to be >70-80% just putting green (presumably a production budget issue ... watch & i guess we won't complain as much about the LPGA TV package).

 

 

 

Edited June 16 by JungleJimbo

[postfold]

On 6/15/2025 at 5:57 PM, 18majors said:

 

Rose Zhang started the 2025 season with a T-10 out of 32 players at Tournament of Champions; but has since missed all 3 cuts and failed to win a single match at Las Vegas Match Play.

 

She's outside of Top-100 in current CME ranking, although her LPGA card is protected in 2026 because of her Founders Cup win in 2024.

 

Rose's parents bought a mansion at Summit Club of Las Vegas, a community where $10.0 million sticker price is common; presumably assuming Rose's multi-millions income from prizes and endorsements will continue for many years.

 

I'm sure her sponsors will give her grace periods of at least one year but not much longer.  That means she needs to win again before end of 2026 season, or her future will look very grim.

 

I don't know how long it will take for her to be 100% healthy, but the financial burden will unnecessarily add pressure to her life.

 

 

 

Not sure what's up with hating on the beloved Rose but come on.  She's been injured, she's finishing her degree.  Her future will be glorious even if she never returns to peak form.