As Women’s Sports Continue to Thrive, 2024 Chevron Championship Purse Gets a Big Boost

The LPGA has a star, women’s sports are on fire and the Chevron Championship is offering a jackpot.

It’s all coming together for the LPGA and Nelly Korda, age 25 and the top-ranked player in the world, is at the center of it. She enters this week in Houston chasing a fifth straight title and second major championship. Korda is the first U.S. player to win four straight events since Nancy Lopez won five in a row during her nine-win rookie season in 1978. (Lopez event landed on the cover of SI for it.)

The Chevron has given its purse a significant boost this year — more than 50% — to $7.9 million after last year’s event paid $5.2 million. On Tuesday the LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said the new purse is in line with the event’s star power and the sponsor’s commitment to it.

“This is about the best players in the world coming together to play for something that really matters, so that’s first and foremost,” Marcoux Samaan said during a news conference. “But I think them playing for a purse that is commensurate with their world-class talent, which I say all the time is really important. I think it’s a symbol of how Chevron views the value of our athletes and of the LPGA. It’s how the world views the talent of our athletes, and so it’s practical because obviously playing for more money when you’re the best in the world is important.

“By getting a purse to 7.9, to having a long-term commitment with a partner that sees it’s about building something that matters over a long period of time. And it takes time to change things. It takes time to move mindset. It takes time to bring fans into a community.”

Women’s sports have received some extra juice thanks in part to former Iowa guard and newly drafted WNBA player Caitlin Clark, who spurred record TV ratings for women’s college basketball this season. The women’s national championship game, where Clark’s Hawkeyes fell to South Carolina, recorded a higher TV rating than the men’s championship the following night.

The Chevron’s purse bump also continues a trend in women’s golf. Earlier this year the USGA announced that the total purse for this summer’s U.S. Women’s Open would be raised to $12 million, up $1 million from last year’s event at Pebble Beach.

This year’s Chevron winner will receive a $1.2 million first-place check, a jump from last year’s $780,000 claimed by Lilia Vu, who enters this week No. 2 in the rankings.

Players who miss the Chevron cut will also receive $10,000 — the largest stipend on Tour and double from last year’s event.

Current Purses in Women’s Golf Majors

• US Women’s Open – $12 million (2024)
• KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – $10 million (2023)
• AIG Women’s Open – $9 million (2023)
• Chevron Championship – $7.9 million (2024)
• Amundi Evian Championship – $6.5 million (2023)