After the first Major of the year, The Chevron Championship, featured its largest purse of all time at $5.1m, an even more attractive prize fund is on offer for the one that follows it, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Players will compete for a purse of $9m, which matches the money on offer in 2022.
That represented a huge leap for a tournament that offered $4.5m just a year earlier, so even though it hasn’t increased in 2023, it remains one of the most lucrative events in the women’s game. Last year’s purse was also the second highest of the year, with only the US Women’s Open offering more, at $10m.
The tournament has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years following a 2015 alliance between the PGA of America, KPMG and LPGA. As a result, this year's purse is $6.75m more than just nine years ago.
The prize fund is another sign that the status of the women’s game is at an all-time high. That’s also reflected in the venue for the tournament, Baltusrol Golf Club, which is one of the most famous and exclusive in the US, and has hosted a range of Majors over the years including seven US Opens and two PGA Championships.
In 2022, In Gee Chun claimed her third Major title with a one-shot victory over Lexi Thompson and Minjee Lee at Congressional. That achievement banked her $1.35m. Whoever wins this year will surely have her work cut out among a top-class field that includes 19 of the world’s top 20, with only Japanese player Miyu Yamashita missing out.
Other previous winners of the tournament include Nelly Korda, Kim Sei-Young and Hannah Green, while much of the attention will be on the player at the top of the world rankings Jin Young Ko, who already has two wins to her name in 2023.
Here is last year's distribution for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
