The LPGA Tour will return to New England starting in 2024, with the creation of the new FM Global Championship.
The inaugural edition of the event -- the first in a five-year contract with the commercial property insurance provider -- will be played Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. The former home of the PGA Tour's second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs is not expected to become the permanent home of the tournament, as it is anticipated the event will move around to other New England venues over the course of the deal.
“Boston is quickly becoming a dynamic home for women’s sports,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We are thrilled to join this incredible movement, as the famed TPC Boston prepares to host the 2024 FM Global Championship, marking a historic return of the LPGA Tour to New England. With this event, the new National Women’s Soccer League team and the new Professional Women’s Hockey League team, the momentum for women's sports in the Boston area is undeniable.”
This new tournament is the first negotiated by Fenway Sports Management as part of a joint marketing partnership with the LPGA, and it's a lucrative opportunity for the players. The 144-player tournament will debut with a $3.5 million purse, which will represent the largest purse on the LPGA Tour for a non-major event outside the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. The purse will also increase annually by $300,000, meaning the 2028 edition of the tournament will have a $4.7 million purse.
“We are proud to partner with the LPGA Tour to support this new, marquee event and bring women’s professional golf back to New England,” said Malcolm Roberts, president and chief executive officer of FM Global. “The FM Global Championship provides a tremendous platform to promote diversity and inclusion on the playing field and in the workplace, raise awareness of FM Global’s unique approach to helping clients protect their businesses and mitigate loss, engage our employees, and drive positive impact in our communities.”
The LPGA Tour has not had a regular stop in New England since 1997, and it's been 10 years since the US Women's Open was played at Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass., and won by Meg Mallon.
