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LPGA Championship

Women's PGA Championship
Women's PGA Championship.png
Location Olympia Fields, Illinois, U.S.
Established 1955, 62 years ago
Course(s) Olympia Fields Country Club (2017)
Par 70 (2017)
Length 7,343 yards (6,714 m) (2017)
Organized by PGA of America
Tour(s) LPGA Tour
Format Stroke play – 72 holes
Prize fund $3.5 million
Month played June – July
Aggregate 267 Betsy King (1992)
To par −19 Cristie Kerr (2010)
−19 Yani Tseng (2011)
−19 Inbee Park (2015)
Canada Brooke Henderson
2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship

The Women's PGA Championship is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. Founded in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the Ladies European Tour, which does not recognize any of the three majors played in the United States.

Formerly the "LPGA Championship," it became the "KPMG Women's PGA Championship" in 2015, conducted by the PGA of America.

Prior to 2005, the LPGA Championship had a "professionals only" rule. This is similar to the men's PGA Championship, but contrasts with the U.S. and British Opens, which have long had both amateur and professional entrants through qualifying (henceforth the term "open"). Until its 2015 takeover by the PGA of America, the tournament was the LPGA's own event, and the LPGA was created specifically to provide opportunities for women in professional golf. In 2005 this rule was revoked, effectively to allow then-amateur Michelle Wie of the U.S. to compete, in order to attract more media coverage and sell more tickets, though this was not publicly acknowledged by the LPGA. Some professionals objected to this move, as they felt that places given to amateurs would come at the expense of the LPGA Tour's less successful professionals, who need to play regularly to make a living. One of the leading professionals, Laura Davies, stated objections to the change were shortsighted. In 2006, the LPGA Championship reverted to its "professionals only" status, with only pros in the field. Michelle Wie participated that year as a professional, having turned pro the previous October upon signing multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts with Nike, Sony, and other sponsors.


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