After the drama of the first women’s Major of the year, the Chevron Championship, attention turns to another big event on the LPGA Tour this week, the JM Eagle LA Championship.
The profile of the event is higher than ever because of a purse of $3.75m – a new record for a regular-season tournament. That means LPGA Tour players are now competing for an overall prize fund of more than $120m across the season, just two years after it had stood at $70m.
This year’s purse for the Wilshire Country Club event is $750,000 more than the 2023 edition, which had already been doubled from the $1.5m available in its inaugural tournament, when it was known as the Palos Verdes Championship.
In 2023, Hannah Green claimed $450,000 for her win in a dramatic playoff. However, as a result of the latest increase, the victor at this week’s tournament will claim $562,500.
Following the announcement of the latest increase, which came courtesy of the CEOs of JM Eagle and Plastpro, Walter and Shirley Wang, LPGA Tour commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan explained it would help the organization in its “ongoing pursuit to empower, inspire and advance opportunities for girls and women, on and off the golf course.”
While the increased payout – which is $1.5m more than this week’s purse for one of the big men’s tournaments, the DP World Tour’s ISPS Handa Championship – will assist in that aim, there is more than money at stake at the event.
There are also Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings available and the winner will claim 500 Race to the CME Globe points.
Below is the prize money payout for the JM Eagle LA Championship.
Who Are The Star Names In The JM Eagle LA Championship?
The biggest news ahead of the tournament concerned who wouldn’t be appearing. Nelly Korda had originally been expected to headline the event, but she announced her withdrawal from it following her fifth consecutive win at the Chevron Championship, saying she was ‘exhausted.’
Despite the World No.1’s absence, there are still plenty of the world’s best players in the field this week, including six of the world’s top 10.
The highest-ranked player is Celine Boutier, who is third in the world, and she’s joined other members of the top 10 Ruoning Yin, Jin Young Ko Charley Hull, Hyo Joo Kim and Minjee Lee, who won the tournament in 2019.
There are other former champions in the field, too - Moriya Jutanugarn, who took the title in 2018 when it was named the Hugel-JBTC LA Open, 2022 winner Nasa Hataoka, and Hannah Green, who defends her title.
As well as Green, who also won this year’s HSBC Women’s World Championship, two other LPGA Tour winners in 2024 appear – Honda LPGA Thailand victor Patty Tavatanakit and Blue Bay LPGA winner Bailey Tardy.
Allisen Corpuz, Georgia Hall, Rose Zhang and Ashleigh Buhai are among the other big names in the field, while another notable participant is Angela Stanford.
The 46-year-old is in pursuit of 100 consecutive Major appearances and reached number 98 at last week’s Chevron Championship. However, her target was dealt a double blow when she failed to qualify for the US Women’s Open this week and was denied a special exemption by the USGA.
One of her last remaining chances is to win an LPGA Tour event before the Major at the end of next month. Can she get the win she needs this week?
Who Won The 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship?
The 2023 edition was won by Hannah Green. She holed a 25-foot putt on the last hole to force a playoff with Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin. She eventually claimed the title with a par on the second extra hole.
What Is The Payout For The 2024 JM Eagle LA Championship?
After the 2023 tournament offered a purse of $3m, this year, that increases to $3.75m – a record for a regular-season LPGA Tour event. The winner will earn $562,500, with $353,720 being awarded to the runner-up.
