Women’s PGA Championship doubles prize money to $9M
The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is doubling the size of its purse to $9 million, another boost to the women’s game that brings prize money for the five majors to nearly triple the amount from a decade ago.
The purse for the LPGA Tour’s second-oldest major is now 300 percent higher than it was in 2014, the year before KPMG and the PGA of America partnered with the LPGA Tour to raise the prize money and the profile by taking it to fabled courses.
The Women’s PGA Championship starts Thursday at Congressional Country Club, which has hosted the U.S. Open three times. The winner will get $1.35 million.
The USGA signed up a presenting sponsor (ProMedica) for the U.S. Women’s Open in nearly doubling the prize money from what already was the largest of the LPGA majors. Minjee Lee won $1.8 million from a $10 million purse earlier this month at Pine Needles.
The Amundia Evian Championship in France already announced a $2 million increase to $6.8 million, while the AIG Women’s British Open has seen steady increases with a new title sponsor and now is up to $6.8 million. The Chevron Championship had a $5 million purse, nearly $2 million more than the previous year.
That brings prize money for the five majors to $37.3 million. In 2012, the same five tournaments had combined prize money of $13.75 million.
All but the U.S. Women’s Open have corporate sponsors as part of the title.
“We are accelerating the advancement, development and empowerment of women both on and off the golf course,” said Paul Knopp, the U.S. chairman and CEO of KPMG. “The significantly increased purse size — along with top courses in major markets, network TV coverage, and advanced data and analytics capabilities provided via KPMG Performance Insights — are tangible examples of our commitment to elevate the world-class athletes on the LPGA Tour.”