LPGA Tour’s streak of a different winner every tournament heads to Shanghai

By Canadian Press on October 7, 2025.

The story all year on the LPGA Tour is parity like it has never seen in its 75 years. The LPGA has completed 25 official tournaments with different winners every week.

What has kept the streak going?

For starters, Nelly Korda has gone from a seven-win season in 2024 to still searching for her first LPGA win this year and running out of time. She was runner-up in the season opener.

And then there’s Jeeno Thitikul, the new No. 1 player for a reason.

Go back to the Evian Championship in July when Thitikul appeared to be two putts away from winning her first major, and for the second time this year. Instead, Grace Kim chipped in from across a stream for birdie to stay alive in a playoff and eventually win.

That was one of four runner-up finishes for Thitikul this year, which is why the 22-year-old from Thailand has a substantial lead in the Race to CME Globe and the LPGA player of the year.

Even so, it’s an astonishing streak that has a reasonable chance of being extended this week in the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Only 10 of the 26 winners — that includes two players from the Dow Championship team event — are in the 82-player field.

One of them is Thitikul, who is best poised to become the first multiple winner of the year. The list of champions include first-time major champions Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita of Japan, Japanese twins Chisato and Akie Iwai, and Lottie Woad, who didn’t turn pro until July.

Bob from Oban

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland has not done enough to be considered the best player to have never won a major. That falls to the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay or even Tyrrell Hatton.

But the man from Oban has reached a level where winning a major is the next step.

The last 15 months have been the best of his career. MacIntyre held off Adam Scott to win the Scottish Open in July 2024, and he won again in his native country at the Dunhill Links Championship. In between was a 1-1-1 record at the Ryder Cup, where MacIntyre was verbally abused for his fair skin.

“It’s no secret now. A major championship is what I need or what I want,” he said. “But look, if I play every major for the next 10 years, it’s 40 chances. And I’m hoping one of them times I’m going to fall across the line, and if I do that sooner rather than later, we add to that.

“But I’ve got goals. I know I’ve got the game,” MacIntyre said. “It’s now just about piecing it all together.”

His victory Sunday moved him to No. 8 in the world, a career best. Only two other Scotsman, Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie, cracked the top 10 since the world ranking began in 1986.

Nelly Korda out

The LPGA posted an update to the International Crown — players have been locked in since Aug. 4 after the majors were over — and it included a surprise. Nelly Korda has withdrawn with an unspecified injury and was replaced by Yealimi Noh for the U.S. team.

Korda has not spoken about a specific injury except to say last week in Hawaii that it’s tough to find a balance between going full tilt and taking time to rest and recover.

“I would say by this time of the year my body is definitely worn down,” Korda said Sunday. “I do have some injuries I’ve had in the past that kind of linger that are never really fully resolved, that you still do … therapy. So making sure you’re 100% with your body — or as 100% as you can be — is always the end goal going into kind of the first day of the event.”

The injuries are not believed to be serious but require time for rest and treatment so she can return at full strength. There is no timetable, though it’s likely Korda will take off the entire Asia swing — Malaysia and Japan follow the International Crown — and return for the final two tournaments in Florida.

She is the defending champion at The Annika on Nov. 13-26, and the CME Group Tour Championship is the following week.

PGA Tour cards on the line

The Korn Ferry Tour has reached the final event with more pressure than ever. The top 75 players on the points list qualified for the season finale at French Lick Resort in Indiana, but only the top 20 after this week — down from 30 — get PGA Tour cards.

There’s really only 12 cards available because the leading eight players already have clinched their spots among the top 20.

Among those on the bubble is Marty Dou, a runner-up last week in Oklahoma that moved him from No. 30 to No. 19, narrowly ahead — 1.813 points — of Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Canada.

The downsizing falls in line with the PGA Tour reducing the number of full cards from 125 to 100 for 2026. The reason was to give those with cards a full slate of tournaments instead of having to wait to see if there was room in the field depending on their status.

Fewer cards for Korn Ferry Tour players means they are assured of getting into all 17 tournaments that are not signature events, and four opposite-field events. That doesn’t include the fall schedule, which has not been released.

Of the 30 players who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour last year, seven of them won on the PGA Tour. That includes Matt McCarty, who won last fall after the KFT season ended. Two of them, Ryan Gerard and Aldrich Potgieter, qualified for the postseason.

Through two fall events, Korn Ferry Tour graduates average just over 22 starts in 2025.

Different perspective

The PGA Tour is in Japan and the LPGA Tour is in Shanghai this week, meaning the live broadcast in the United States will be in the wee hours of the morning. Golf Channel will televise live the Baycurrent Classic in Japan, while live coverage of the LPGA is on the NBC Sports app.

Leave it to Hyo Joo Kim to consider the plight of her fans in South Korea.

“It was a shame that many Korean fans cannot actually watch other LPGA tournaments held worldwide because of the time zone and time difference,” Kim said.

Last week was an exception. The LPGA was in Hawaii for the LOTTE Championship, meaning it was broadcast in prime time in South Korea. “I think it’s a great chance for our Korean fans to support our Korean women golfers,” Kim said.

She finished runner-up to Youmin Hwang of China.

Divots

Danny Walker made eight putts of 25 feet or longer in the Sanderson Farms Championship, the most in a PGA Tour event since ShotLink began tracking distances in 2003. … Youmin Hwang of China won her first LPGA title in Hawaii as a sponsor exemption. Instead of taking up membership, she is deferring that until 2026 and will play next year as an LPGA rookie. … Blades Brown, the 18-year-old who turned pro a year ago, earned the 75th and final spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. That gives him full exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour for next year.

Stat of the week

Steven Fisk became the first player this year on the PGA Tour to win after being outside the top 50 following the first round.

Final word

“I try to do the same thing every week, and it finally worked.” — Steven Fisk after winning on the PGA Tour for the first time at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press