LPGA 2026 preview: 15 players to watch

The LPGA Tour has a tall task in topping the history-making season of one year ago, but with such young talent and a global reach, it’s a season with promise and possibilities.

Last year, there were a record 29 different winners, and only two of those players won more than once—World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul and No. 2 Miyu Yamashita. Parity definitely described the season.

Seven rookies won in 2025, tying a record, and Japan was the country with the most winners, seven.

Mao Saigo (Chevron Championship), Minjee Lee (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), Miyu Yamashita (AIG Women’s British Open), Grace Kim (Amundi Evian Championship) and Maja Stark (U.S. Women’s Open) all won majors. Lee and Lydia Ko are looking to capture the career Grand Slam, and maybe this is the year.

Craig Kessler began his new role as the tour’s commissioner and already has instituted plenty of much-needed upgrades. Perhaps the biggest are the television activations. Each round of every tournament will be broadcast live in the U.S. for the first time since the Golf Channel started live coverage of the LPGA in 1995. The enhanced broadcasts will have more cameras and equipment among other new features that will be implemented after the Asia swing.

After a year like last season, we’ll expect more must-see TV.

Jeeno Thitikul

Age: 22 Rolex Ranking: 1 LPGA seasons: 5 LPGA wins: 7

Outlook: Thitikul had the most successful season on tour last year and has done everything to indicate she’ll pick up right where she left off. She was the Rolex Player of the Year after winning three times, including the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. She set the all-time single-season scoring record at 68.681, breaking Annika Sorenstam’s previous record. The only question left is if she can win a major this year, the lone glaring omission on her impressive resume.

Nelly Korda

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Stuart Franklin

Age: 27 Rolex Ranking: 2 LPGA seasons: 10 LPGA wins: 15

Outlook: Korda didn’t win an event last year and lost her No. 1 world ranking, but she still played some of the best golf in the world. She was second in scoring average at 69.87. She’s newly engaged and surely is ready to show off the adjustments she’s made to her game in the offseason to raise another trophy again.

Lottie Woad

Kate McShane

Age: 22 Rolex Ranking: 11 LPGA seasons: 1 LPGA wins: 1

Outlook: Woad burst onto the tour by winning her first LPGA start at the ISPS Handa Women’s Open. One week before that, she tied for third at the Evian Championship. The future is bright for the Englishwoman who earned her tour card through the LEAP (LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway) while starring at Florida State. She was obviously ready, as she had four top-10s in nine starts, and it will be interesting to see what she can do in a full season.

Yana Wilson

Sarah Stier

Age: 19 Rolex Ranking: 273 LPGA seasons: 0 LPGA wins: 0

Outlook: Wilson earned her LPGA card for the first time after a two-win season on the Epson Tour. She locked up a spot in the top 15 of the season-long points race with three remaining events. She hopes to carry the momentum of her fine play on developmental circuit, on which she finished the season with five straight top-10s among her total of 12.

Chizzy Iwai

Christian Petersen

Age: 23 Rolex Ranking: 30 LPGA seasons: 2 LPGA wins: 1

Outlook: One noticeable difference for the sensation from Japan is that she is officially listed this season as Chizzy, her nickname, instead of her given name of Chisato. What’s not expected to change is her game after she won the Mexico Riviera Maya Open to get a title in her rookie season before her twin sister, Akie. She has a built-in best friend to travel the world with while playing golf, and that comfort has proven to be extremely beneficial.

Akie Iwai

Katelyn Mulcahy

Age: 23 Rolex Ranking: 22 LPGA seasons: 2 LPGA wins: 1

Outlook: Akie won the Standard Portland Classic and joined Chizzy with a history-making victory. They are the first set of twins (identical at that) to both win on tour, and they’re the first twins to have played together in a round as well (at the JM Eagle LA Championship). Akie dreams of playing together with Chizzy in a major championship and wouldn’t that be something if it happened in their sophomore seasons. Akie had seven top-10s last season, including two second-place finishes.

Miyu Yamashita

Richard Heathcote/R&A

Age: 24 Rolex Ranking: 4 LPGA seasons: 2 LPGA wins: 2

Outlook: Yamashita’s first victory in her rookie year was a major, the AIG Women’s British Open, and she won another event at the Maybank Championship. She joined Jeeno Thitikul as the only players with multiple wins, while also having12 top-10s. The Japanese star is one of the best putters on tour and was first in strokes gained/putting with 1.31, and she ranked first in bogey-free rounds.

Mao Saigo

Zhe Ji

Age: 24 Rolex Ranking: 9 LPGA seasons: 3 LPGA wins: 1

Outlook: She thrived in a five-woman playoff to win the Chevron Championship and had six top-10s. Saigo will defend her major title in Houston, but not at The Club at Carlton Woods because the first major of the season moved to Memorial Park. She’s got five top-10 finishes in majors in 19 starts, so that bodes well for her to contend for more.

Minjee Lee

Ryan Lochhead/PGA of America

Age: 29 Rolex Ranking: 3 LPGA seasons: 12 LPGA wins: 11

Outlook: The Australian won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first victory in two years. Now, she needs to win either the Chevron Championship or AIG Women’s British Open to earn the career Grand Slam (four of five majors). Lee won the Annika Major Award for most points in majors in 2025, adding a third in the Evian, T-14 in the Chevron, T-22 in the U.S. Women’s Open and T-13 in the Women’s Open.

Lindy Duncan

Julio Aguilar

Age: 35 Rolex Ranking: 45 LPGA seasons: 11 LPGA wins: 0

Outlook: After almost quitting golf, Duncan had a remarkable year, even though she didn’t win a tournament. She had six top-10s, including a second in the Chevron Championship, where she played her way into the final group but lost to Mao Saigo in a five-way playoff. Duncan won the Heather Farr Perseverance Award and gave an unforgettable acceptance speech at the season-ending Rolex Awards.

Charley Hull

Icon Sportswire

Age: 29 Rolex Ranking: 5 LPGA seasons: 12 LPGA wins: 3

Outlook: The British star kept shining last year, winning the Kroger Queen City Championship in her first start after a heartbreaking T-2 finish in the AIG Women’s British Open. She posted four top-10s and overcame a plethora of injuries, including collapsing on the tee box in France, causing her to withdraw from the major. Seems nothing can keep Hull down for long.

Gaby Lopez

Gregory Shamus

Age: 32 Rolex Ranking: 33 LPGA seasons: 11 LPGA wins: 3

Outlook: The Mexican standout didn’t have a victory last year, but she played great golf and ended the season with plenty of momentum and a career-low round of 62 in the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship. She finished third and fourth, respectively, at The Annika and Tour Championship to end the year. Lopez had seven top-10s and is hoping to get her first win since 2022.

Sei Young Kim

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Age: 33 Rolex Ranking: 10 LPGA seasons: 12 LPGA wins: 13

Outlook: Other than a stretch in which she missed three consecutive cuts, Kim played exceptionally. She had 10 top-10s and won late in the year at the BMW Championship. She led the tour in par-5 scoring average at 4.55.

A Lim Kim

Julio Aguilar

Age: 30 Rolex Ranking: 27 LPGA seasons: 6 LPGA wins: 3

Outlook: Kim got her season off to a great start last year by winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Championship. She didn’t win again, but she put herself into contention often with nine top-10 finishes. She won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open during the COVID season, and she came close to another major with a T-4 in the Women’s British Open.

Hye-Jin Choi

Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

Age: 26 Rolex Ranking: 16 LPGA seasons: 5 LPGA wins: 0

Outlook: Choi is still looking for her first career victory, and she’s giving herself every opportunity. She had nine top-10s last year (the most without a win) and 29 in her career. The Korean standout led by four strokes after 54 holes at the Maybank Championship but couldn’t close it out and lost in a three-way playoff. Maybe this year is her year to hoist a trophy.

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