The 2019 LPGA Tour schedule has been released, and the 34-event docket boasts $70.55 million in prize money, an all-time record.
The new schedule, released Dec. 6, features four new tournaments and three new formats for the LPGA schedule, including a team event in Michigan.
New events
The 34-event tally includes the Solheim Cup, which will be played at Gleneagles in Scotland. New events on the schedule include:
- The Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Club at the Four Seasons in Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla. The event will feature LPGA tournament winners from the prior two seasons, as well a mix of celebrity golfers.
- The Vic Open in Australia joins the LPGA schedule, adding the LPGA's star power to the innovative format featuring a men's and women's event unfolding on the same course at the same time with the same purse.
- The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, played at Michigan’s Midland Country Club in July, will be the first official team competition in Tour history.
- The BMW Ladies Championship, to be played in South Korea at International Busan, will be a part of the fall Asian swing.
Purse increases
Two tournaments will share the honor of having the largest purse on the LPGA -- at least for now. The USGA has not announced the purse for the 2019 US Women's Open, conducted by the USGA and played in Charleston, S.C. this year, but they have confirmed to the LPGA the minimum purse is $5 million. The CME Group Tour Championship will also have a $5 million purse, with a smaller 60-player field all having a chance to win the Race to the CME Globe and an enhanced $1.5 million first-place prize that goes to the winner of the tournament.
The purses will increase for the other four majors as well:
- ANA Inspiration ($3 million, up $200,000 from 2018)
- KPMG Women’s PGA Championship ($3.85 million, up $200,000 from 2018)
- The Evian Championship, which moves to July from September, ($4.1 million, up $250,000 from 2018)
The AIG Women’s British Open purse isn't confirmed yet but will be at least $3.25 million.
The purse at the LPGA Mediheal Championship will increase $300,000 to $1.8 million, and the purse at the Marathon Classic will grow to $1,750,000, up from $150,000 from 2018.
There will also be two season-long races to play for apart from the Race to the CME Globe:
- The Aon Risk Reward Challenge is a new competition on both the PGA and LPGA Tours, with each Tour having separate $1 million prizes for the player who scores best on the most challening holes on each tour.
- The Leaders Top-10s competition will award $100,000 to the player with the most top-10 finishes.
Leaving the schedule are the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic in the Bahamas, with Pure Silk stepping in to sponsor the long-running event at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Va.; the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, ostensibly replaced by the BMW event; the Blue Bay LPGA, which will be replaced by a TBD event still being finalized; the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia; and the LPGA Volvik Championship in Michigan.
2019 LPGA Tour schedule
- Jan. 17-20: Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Four Seasons Orlando, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., $1,200,000
- Feb. 7-10: Vic Open, 13th Beach Golf Links, Victoria, Australia, $1,100,000
- Feb. 14-17: ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, The Grange Golf Club, Grange, Australia, $1,300,000
- Feb. 21-24: Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam C.C. Chonburi, Thailand, $1,600,000
- Feb. 28-March 3: HSBC Women's World Championship, Sentosa G.C., Singapore, $1,500,000
- March 21-24: Bank of Hope Founders Cup, Wildfire G.C., Phoenix, Arizona, $1,500,000
- March 28-31: Kia Classic, Aviara G.C., Carlsbad, California, $1,800,000
- April 4-7: ANA Inspiration, Mission Hills C.C., Rancho Mirage, California, $3,000,000
- April 18-21: LOTTE Championship, Ko Olina G.C., Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii, $2,000,000
- April 25-28: HUGEL-Air Premia LA Open, Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, California, $1,500,000
- May 2-5: LPGA Mediheal Championship, Lake Merced G.C., San Francisco, California, $1,800,000
- May 23-26: Pure Silk Championship, Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia, $1,300,000
- May 30 - June 2: U.S. Women's Open, Country Club of Charleston, Charleston, S.C., $5,000,000
- June 7-9: ShopRite LPGA Classic, Stockton Seaview Hotel and G.C. Galloway, New Jersey, $1,750,000
- June 13-16: Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Blythefield C.C., Grand Rapids, Michigan, $2,000,000
- June 20-23: KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Hazeltine National G.C., Chaska, Minnesota, $3,850,000
- June 27-30: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle C.C., Rogers, Arkansas, $2,000,000
- July 4-7: Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, Thornberry Creek at Oneida, Oneida, Wisconsin, $2,000,000
- July 11-14: Marathon Classic, Highland Meadows G.C., Sylvania, Ohio, $1,750,000
- July 18-21: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan, $2,000,000
- July 25-28: The Evian Championship, Evian Resort G.C., Evian-les-Bains, France, $4,100,000
- July 26-29: Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland, $1,500,000
- Aug. 1-4: AIG Women's British Open, Woburn Golf Club, Milton Keynes, England, $3,250,000
- Aug. 22-25: CP Women's Open, Magna Golf Club, Aurora, Ontario, Canada, $2,250,000
- Aug. 29 - Sept. 1: Cambia Portland Classic, Columbia Edgewater C.C., Portland, Oregon, $1,300,000
- Sept. 13-15: Solheim Cup, The Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland
- Sept. 26-29: Indy Women in Tech Championship, Brickyard Crossing G.C., Indianapolis, Indiana, $2,000,000
- Oct. 3-6: Volunteers of America Classic, Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas, $1,300,000
- Oct. 17-20: Buick LPGA Shanghai, Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club, Shanghai, China, $2,100,000
- Oct. 24-27: BMW Ladies Championship, LPGA International Busan, Busan, South Korea, $2,200,000
- Oct. 31-Nov. 3: Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship, TBD, Taiwan, $2,200,000
- Nov. 7-10: TOTO Japan Classic, Seta G.C., Shiga, Japan, $1,500,000
- Nov. 14-17: TBD, $2,100,000
- Nov. 21-24: CME Group Tour Championship, Tiburon G.C., Naples, Florida, $5,000,000
