The LPGA Tour’s first major championship of the year tees off this week at a new course with record prize money and an expensive addition to the 18th green.
Houston’s Memorial Park Golf Course is hosting the Chevron Championship for the first time. The course has been the home of the city’s annual PGA Tour stop since 2020.
The LPGA major was played at Mission Hills Country Club in Southern California from 1972 to 2022, when Chevron took over the naming rights deal, and the tournament moved to Texas. The Club at Carlton Woods in the Houston suburbs hosted from 2023-25.
Prize Pot Increase
The Chevron Championship announced Tuesday that this year’s purse is being raised to $9 million, up from $8 million last year. Sunday’s winner will receive $1.35 million, up from the $1.2 million Japanese star Mao Saigo won in 2025.
Still, the Chevron Championship is on the lower end of LPGA major championship purses:
- U.S. Women’s Open: $12 million
- KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: $12 million
- AIG Women’s Open: $9.75 million
- Chevron Championship: $9 million
- Amundi Evian Championship: $8 million
Golf Channel, Peacock, and NBC will split TV coverage of the Chevron Championship, which begins Thursday.
Taking a Dive
The LPGA is spending big to carry on a longstanding tournament tradition.
When the major was played at Mission Hills, each year’s winner would jump into the pond next to the 18th green to celebrate, and then put on a tournament-branded bath robe while receiving their trophy. That continued at Carlton Woods.
But Memorial Park doesn’t have any water on the 18th hole.
So, the LPGA paid $60,000 to build a 25×15-foot plunge pool that’s four-and-a-half feet deep.
The addition will only be temporary, though. Renowned golf architect Tom Doak is scheduled to lead a renovation of the Houston golf course that will add a lake to the right of the 18th fairway and green.
LPGA Season Heating Up
The LPGA is approaching one year since hiring new commissioner Craig Kessler in May 2025. Improving the tour’s media presence has been a priority for Kessler, who led the effort to end tape delays and have coverage of every round of every tournament broadcast live for the first time in LPGA history.
Kessler also oversaw the creation of WTGL, a women’s version of the indoor team golf league founded by Tiger Woods that will launch later this year. Michelle Wie West is coming out of retirement to play in WTGL, and June’s U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
However, some players—like No. 2-ranked Nelly Korda—have criticized the WTGL’s format, arguing a better version would see women’s golf stars compete alongside their male counterparts.
Meanwhile, the uncertainty around the future of LIV Golf may also have an impact on women’s golf. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia sponsors the PIF Global Series on the Ladies European Tour, which in February hosted the $4 million Aramco Championship in Las Vegas that was co-sanctioned with the LPGA.
