nelly korda announce unexpected announcement

Jeeno Thitikul broke the LPGA’s single-season prize money record on Sunday by winning the CME Group Tour Championship. The tournament’s $4 million winner’s check raised Thitikul’s 2024 haul to $6.06 million, surpassing Lorena Ochoa’s mark of $4,364,994 won in 2007.

The 21-year-old Thai player birdied the 18th hole in the final round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., to edge out American Angel Yin by one stroke. Thitikul also won this season’s Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which came with its own $1 million bonus, meaning she has earned more than $7 million on the course this season.

But Thitikul wasn’t the only player to surpass Ochoa’s mark. The $227,500 No. 1 ranked Nelly Korda earned for a fifth-place tie puts her at $4,391,930 on the season—less than $27,000 past Ochoa. Korda won seven tournaments this season.

The Tour Championship had an $11 million purse, the second-highest LPGA payout this year behind the $12 million offered at the U.S. Women’s Open. CME Group just signed an extension of its title sponsorship that will keep the tournament’s prize money in place next year.

The LPGA Tour’s total prize money in 2024 amounted to a record $125.95 million, up from $101.4 million in 2023. In 2025, there is slated to be at least $131 million up for grabs, pending any further individual event increases announced next year.