$3.6 Billion LPGA Sponsor Drops Prize Money Bombshell During Live Broadcast as Players React

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Four years ago, the $3.6 billion sponsor Walter Wang wrote a $3 million check that changed how LPGA sponsors thought about prize money. On Saturday, with cameras rolling on Golf Channel, he made clear he was not done yet with the JM Eagle LA Championship.

“Our purse, you said earlier, this year is $3.75 million. So I’d like to increase the purse by a million dollars. So this tournament, the purse will be $4.75 million,” said Walter Wang.

Wang and his wife, Shirley, have been building the JM Eagle LA Championship into one of the LPGA’s most significant stops since taking over the title sponsorship in 2023. That year, they doubled the prize fund from $1.5M to $3M, then raised it again to $3.75 million. Eleven other tournaments followed, crossing the $3 million threshold, and the LPGA’s average purse rose by roughly 70 percent during that period, per Wang.

The players on the leaderboard didn’t hold back their reactions. Hannah Green, sitting at T2 after Round 3, put it plainly.

“Amazing news for all of us players. I really think when they jumped on board, all the other tournaments felt like they had to also increase their purses. They’ve definitely been the trendsetter for other events on tour.”

Patty Tavatanakit, who is sitting at T6, also echoed the same sentiment.

“That’s amazing. Women’s golf is growing so much, and there are so many young girls that just picked up the sport. So thank you for raising the purse and making it more meaningful for us out there.”

Players noticed every step of that climb. Back then in 2023, 2x U.S. Solheim Cup member Alison Lee recalled the reaction when the Wangs first announced the $3 million purse.

“All the girls’ jaws just dropped to the floor, because when I first came on Tour, a lot of our major events purses were $3, $4 million. I think with them stepping up, you see a lot of our purses going up. I think everything has been a snowball effect.”

That momentum stretches across the entire tour. The LPGA’s total prize money crossed $131 million in 2025, nearly 90 percent higher than in 2021, with the 2026 season set at $128.5 million across 31 events. The Aramco Championship doubled its purse from $2 million to $4 million, the HSBC Women’s World Championship now offers $3 million, and the Blue Bay LPGA features a $2.6 million prize pool.

The U.S. Women’s Open grew from $5.5 million to $12 million by 2024, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship matched that figure, now tied for the largest purse in women’s golf. The CME Group Tour Championship reached $11 million, with its winner taking home $4 million.

At $4.75 million, the JM Eagle LA Championship sits above all of them outside the majors and CME, the direct result of a sponsor who has raised the purse every time he has had the chance to do so.

Wang Family’s Investment Off the Course

In 2025, when wildfires burned through Los Angeles, the Wang family gave $6.5 million and tools to help with the relief efforts. In 2026, they went one step further by working with the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Association to help firefighters who lost their homes in the fire rebuild them.

Walter Wang Jr., who was in Los Angeles during the fires, described what the family witnessed firsthand.

“The firefighters are there day in, day out, fighting these fires and leaving their homes. We needed to help rebuild LA.”

The players who compete at the JM Eagle LA Championship have seen that commitment up close. Allisen Corpuz, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open champion who attended USC and had friends affected by the Eaton and Palisades Fires, said: “The investment that the Wang family has put into not just women’s golf but also the local community has been really inspiring.”

Hermosa Beach native Andrea Lee, who met with firefighters during the 2025 season, added: “What they do every day is incredible. It reminds us to be so grateful for you guys who continue to preserve our community.”

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