In 1950, the Ladies PGA Tour started with just 14 games and $50,000 in prize money. Since then, the tour has grown to 34 events, with total prize money increasing from $67 million in 2019 to $90 million in 2022. While that's a lot of money, it still pales in comparison to the total earnings of male professional golfers, who have earned $427 million in total prize money this season on the PGA Tour.
The LPGA schedule is structured around five main events: the Spring Chevron Championship; the U.S. Women's Open and KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June; the Amundi Evian Championship in July; and the AIG Women's Open in August. The five majors will award a total of $37.3 million in awards through 2022.
For a great player, the LPGA Tour can provide a lucrative career. Stark ranks the 25 highest-earning golfers of all time on the LPGA Tour, according to the tour's official career money list. Total earnings and events entered are current as of July 6, 2022.
A total of 290 golfers have made over $1 million on the LPGA Tour. Total prize money in LPGA history exceeds $1.3 billion. The 25 golfers on this list won about a quarter of that $1.3 billion.
25. Katriona Matthews
- Career Earnings: $9,732,920
- Total Events: 564
- Rookie Year: 1995
- Country: Scotland
Scotland's most successful female golfer Catriona Matthews has won four rounds LPGA Tour champions, including a major, the 2009 Ricoh Women's British Open. She was a nine-time member of the European Solheim Cup team and captained in 2019 and 2021. In 2020, she was awarded the OBE for her service to the sport.
24. In Kyung Kim
- Career Earning: $9,863,911
- Total Events: 286
- Rookie Year: 2007
- Country: South Korea
In Kyung Kim is set to win her first LPGA Major tournament in 2012, But she missed the 14-inch putt at the ANA Inspiration Major, which cost her the victory. Five years later, she won the British Open . King is also an ambassador for the Special Olympics.
23. Jin Young Ko
- Career Earning: $10,185,256
- Total Events: 90
- Rookie Year: 2018
- Country: South Korea
When Jin Young Ko won Rookie of the Year in 2018, it heralded greatness things are coming. She is the only player in the top 100 all-time earners to play fewer than 100 events, and she was named the LPGA Official Moneymaker in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
22. Ariya Jutanugam - Career Earning: $10,343,149 That includes 12 wins. She welcomed in 2018A banner year came, winning the U.S. Women's Open, the Kingsmere Championship and the Aberdeen Standard. She is also the first player to win all five of the LPGA Year-End Awards: Player of the Year, Vare Trophy, Money Title, CME Globe and ANNIKA Awards.
21. Amy Yang
- Career Earning: $10,515,477
- Total Event: 303
- Rookie Year: 2008
- Country: South Korea
When she was 15, her family chose to move to Australia to help her play golf. The move paid off handsomely as she quickly rose to prominence in the sport, becoming the youngest winner on the Women's European Tour. On the LPGA Tour, she has 4 wins and 80 career top 10 finishes.
20. Yani Tseng
- Career Earnings: $10,551,388
- Total Events: 276
- Rookie Year: 2008
- Country: Taiwan
Yani Tseng was a big hit in her first year on the LPGA Tour, not only winning 2008 by 267 points Rookie of the Year, and earned more than $1 million that season. In 2010, at the age of 21, she won the Tour's Player of the Year award, the first player from Taiwan and the second-youngest player ever. She's earned more than $8 million faster than any other player in LPGA history, and even though she's off the 2020 season, she's still in the top 20 in career earnings.
19. Choi (Na Yeon Choi)
- Career Earning: $10,977,145
- Total Events: 297
- Rookie Year: 2008
- Country: South Korea The reason is that she won 5 races in a four-year period from 2010 to 2014, finishing second 12 times and third place 7 times. She then fell into a slump and suffered a back injury that affected her ball handling in 2015. Choi ended up taking an 11-month break from touring, which allowed her to recover.
18. Anna Nordqvist
- Career Earning: $11,461,265
- Total Events: 303
- Rookie Year: 2009
- Country: Sweden
Anna Nordqvist is close to winning a Pro Grand Slam or at Winning four different LPGA majors throughout his career is three-quarters away. Nordqvist's three Grand Slam wins came in different decades, the first for a non-American player.
17. Sei Young Kim
- Career Earning: $11,572,180
- Total Events: 172
- Rookie Year: 2015
- Country: Korea
After turning pro at age 17, Sei Young Kim tours LPGA Korea Five years have passed in the game. She has won four more-win seasons since joining the LPGA in 2015. Kim also holds a third-degree black belt in taekwondo.
16. Minjie Lee
- Career earnings: $11,776,158
-Total Events: 187
- Rookie Year: 2015
- Country: Australia
By winning the 2022 U.S. Women's Open, Minjie Lee went home with a $1.8 million salary, the largest tournament winning salary in LPGA history. It was her second major victory in two years, with a total of eight wins on the LPGA Tour.
15. Yeon Ryu
- Career Earnings: $11,916,126
- Total Events: 227
- Rookie Year: 2012
- Country: South Korea
So Yeon Ryu, who has 6 LPGA Tour titles and 2 major victories, is also known for her generosity. Just before the 2020 pandemic hit, she donated her winnings from two races in Australia to wildfire relief. She waited out the pandemic in South Korea, won the 2020 Korea Women's Open, and chose to donate $206,000 of her earnings to COVID-19-related charities.
14. Feng Shanshan
- Career Earning: $11,981,365
- Total Events: 260
- Rookie Year: 2008
- Country: China
China's highest paid female golfer Feng Shanshan has 10 wins and 93 in her 14-year LPGA career Second top 10 result - this is a 2020 sabbatical due to the pandemic. Feng won the bronze medal when golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 after a 112-year hiatus. She also competed in the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the pandemic, and placed eighth.
13. Angela Stanford
- Career Earning: $12,101,441
- Total Events: 502
- Rookie Year: 2001
- Country: USA
Despite the American golfer's many victories, Angela Stanford didn't win until 2018 Her first major was when she won the Evian Championship by one stroke. Stanford University , another golfer known for giving back to the community, founded her eponymous foundation in 2009 to award scholarships to students whose families are affected by cancer. Her own mother died of cancer in early 2022.
12. Paula Creamer
- Career Earning: $12,134,840
- Total Events: 339
- Rookie Year: 2005
- Country: USA
Paula Creamer starts her first ten professional golf career In 2005, she won 10 LPGA Tour victories between the 2005 and 2014 seasons. Creamer won her only major US Open less than four months after undergoing thumb surgery. In 2017, she ended the season early with surgery to repair an inflamed tendon in her wrist. Creamer announced she was pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in January 2022.
11. 朴世莉(Se-Ri Pak)
- 职业收入：12,583,713 美元
- 总赛事：365
- 新秀年份：1998
- 国家：韩国
1998 年，朴世莉(Se-Ri Pak)赢得美国女子公开赛冠军， Inspired a generation of Korean girls to take part in the sport. The epic victory came after a 20-hole playoff victory over amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn, which gave Pak her second big win of the year — her rookie year. In 2007, Pak was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame , the youngest player and the first Korean player to receive this honor.
10. Lexi Thompson
- Career Earning: $13,326,872
- Total Tournament: 231
- Rookie Year: 2012
- Country: USA
Lexi Thompson comes from a golf family - her two older brothers are also pro golfers and think she's a ball Child is famous. Thompson made history in 2007 when she became the youngest woman to compete in the U.S. Women's Open at age 12. Thompson won one event each season from 2013 to 2019, which at the time was the longest active winning streak on the tour.
9. 高宝璟 (Lydia Ko)
- 职业收入：13,554,224 美元
- 总赛事：211
- 新秀年份：2014
- 国家：新西兰
高宝璟(Lydia Ko)在2014 年的新秀赛季确立了自己的地位，赢得With three tour wins, he became the youngest LPGA Rookie of the Year ever. The following year, she won five events (including a Grand Slam), became the youngest ever Player of the Year, and the 2015 Tournament Moneymaker. Gao is the only golfer on the list to have won medals at two Olympics - she won silver at the 2016 Rio and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
8. Julie Inkster
- Career Earning: $14,038,081
- Total Events: 716
- Rookie Year: 1983
- Country: USA
Juli Inkster is the only top 25 player in history to start a career before 1990, At 62, she still does the occasional tour. In her rookie year, Inkster won two majors, earning her Rookie of the Year award, and she won a total of 31 wins throughout her career. A member of the LPGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame, Inkster received the 2022 USGA's highest honor, the Bob Jones Award.
7. Stacy Lewis
- Career Earning: $14,075,270
- Total Event: 320
- Rookie Year: 2009
- Country: USA
Stacy Lewis was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11 Period wearing a back brace, only to take it off to play golf. Once she stops growing, she will need a risky surgery to straighten her spine and hopefully play golf again. Lewis persevered through surgery and rehab to become one of the game's greatest players, winning 13 LPGA Tour victories and two majors. The LPGA also chose her to captain the U.S. team for the triennial Solheim Cup in 2023.
6. Susan Petersen
- Career Earning: $14,837,579
- Total Events: 315
- Rookie Year: 2003
- Country: Norway
Top Norwegian on this list with 15 LPGA Tour victories, Susan Pete Sen ends her professional golf career with a big putt to win 2019European Solheim Cup. She was selected to captain the European team for the 2023 transatlantic race against the United States. After retiring, Pettersen joined the GEO Foundation as the sport's sustainability ambassador.
5. Lorena Ochoa
- Career Earning: $14,863,331
- Total Events: 175
- Rookie Year: 2003
- Country: Mexico
Lorena Ochoa has been on the LPGA Tour for less than 8 seasons, but She has amassed 27 titles during that time. Ochoa spent 158 weeks at the top of the Women's World Golf Ranking, longer than any other player in the ranking's 16-year history.
In 2022, the LPGA changed its Hall of Fame eligibility requirements, requiring players to be on the tour for 10 years. After doing so, the organization immediately honored her with admission to the institution.
4. Inbee Park
- Career Earning: $18,197,343
- Total Event: 302
- Rookie Year: 2007
- Country: South Korea
Inbee Park is known on tour for her putting ability, 49.4% of her putts from 10 feet to 15 feet, compared to the Tour average of 29.8 percent. One of seven players to complete a pro major, Park only needs to win the Evian Championship to become the second player to win a super major.
Park Geun-hye added a different piece of hardware to her collection in 2016 when she landed on the Olympic podium, winning gold at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
3. Christy Cole
- Career Earnings: $20,154,962
- Total Events: 582
- Rookie Year: 1997
- Country: USA
Christie Cole has 20 victories and two in her career as a former world number one Second Grand Slam. In 2020, Cole was injured in a golf cart accident and had a miserable run at the U.S. Women's Open a week later. Kerr is an advocate for breast cancer and opened a women's health facility in 2009 with the Jersey City Medical Center to provide imaging services.
2. Kelly Webb
- Career Earning: $20,276,503
- Total Events: 492
- Rookie Year: 1996
- Country: Australia
Kelly Webb is the only player on the LPGA Tour to win a Super Pro Grand Slam, while She won the event in just five years. Her 41 tour victories make her the most active player on the LPGA career money list. In 2018, she withdrew from the Evian Championship to earn the title of Officer of the Order of Australia.
1. Annika Sorenstam
- Career Earning: $22,577,025
- Total Events: 305
- Rookie Year: 1994
- Country: Sweden
Annika Sorenstam has won 90 championships in her career, including 72 victories on the LPGA Tour to top the list. Sorenstam cemented her legendary status in the '90s when she won 18 LPGA tournaments, more than any other player. In 2001, she shot a second-round 59 on the par, the best round of golf at the LPGA Championship to date. The LPGA's annual ANNIKA Awards are named in her honor and are given to the best player in a year of five majors.
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