Major purse increase makes this week's LPGA event the richest outside of majors, CME

The JM Eagle LA Championship made a most welcome purse announcement on Saturday.Getty Images

The LPGA Tour has been on a years-long upswing and continues to make positive strides — especially on the financial front.

The latest good news? This week’s tournament, the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, is now the richest purse on the schedule outside of the major championships and season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, thanks to a $1 million infusion that was announced by JM Eagle chairman and CEO Walter Wang live on Golf Channel during Saturday’s third round.

Wang joined Golf Channel’s Grant Boone in the booth to share the news.

“I’d like to make an announcement,” Wang said on the broadcast. “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.”

In the JM Eagle LA Championship’s four-year history, the purse has increased significantly. In the tournament’s debut on the LPGA schedule in 2023, JM Eagle and Plastpro doubled the tournament purse from $1.5 to $3 million, then increased again to $3.75 million in 2024. Now, another million has been added to reach $4.75 million.

This week’s JM Eagle LA Championship winner will receive a $712,500 winner’s check — an increase of $150,000 from the previous winner’s cut of $562,500.

Most non-major, regular-season LPGA tournaments have purses ranging from $2 million to $4 million. The richest prize in women’s golf is the $4 million winner’s check awarded from the $11 million CME Group Tour Championship purse, while the five major championships offer purses ranging from $8 million to $12 million.

You can watch Golf Channel’s coverage of the final round of the JM Eagle LA Championship beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

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