LPGA Majors: The 5 Major Championships of Women's Pro Golf
Below we take at look at the five current LPGA majors, plus three tournaments that once were (but aren't any longer) women's majors. After that is a timeline of the number and identity of women's golf majors since the founding of the first one to the present day.
(Related: Golfers with the most wins in women's majors)
U.S. Women's Open
The oldest of the women's professional majors, the U.S. Women's Open was founded in 1946. At that time, it was operated by the WPGA (Women's Professional Golf Association), a short-lived precursor to the LPGA. The LPGA took over the tournament in the tour's inaugural year of 1950, making the U.S. Women's Open the only major championship that has been part of the LPGA Tour schedule every year of the LPGA's existence.Today, the USGA runs the U.S. Women's Open. It took over the tournament from the LPGA in 1953. This major rotates to golf courses around the United States from year to year. See the list of U.S. Women's Open winners.
Women's PGA Championship
The Women's PGA Championship was founded by the LPGA Tour in 1955. It was known as the LPGA Championship then, and every year through 2015. Beginning in 2015, the LPGA passed ownership of the event to the PGA of America and the tournament was renamed the Women's PGA Championship.The Women's PGA Championship rotates to different golf courses in the United States annually. See the list of Women's PGA Championship winners.
Chevron Championship
The Chevron Championship was played on the LPGA Tour as a regular tour stop from 1972-82. In 1983, the LPGA elevated the tournament to a major championship, a status it has had ever since.This major has gone by many different names over the years: Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle (1972-80), Colgate-Dinah Shore (1981), Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational (1982), Nabisco Dinah Shore (1983-99), Nabisco Championship (2000-01), Kraft Nabisco Championship (2002-14) and ANA Inspiration (2015-21).
The Chevron Championship is played each year at The Club at Carlton Woods (Jack Nicklaus Signature Course) in The Woodlands, Texas. It took place annually at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., from 1972-2022. See the list of Chevron Championship winners.
Women's British Open
The Women's British Open was first played in 1976, run by the Ladies Golf Union. It was not counted as an LPGA major at that time — in fact, it wasn't even an LPGA Tour event. It was first recognized as an official tournament on the LPGA Tour in 1984, lost that status in 1985, then regained it, permanently, in 1994. Since 2001, the LPGA Tour has recognized the Women's British Open as one of the major championships of women's golf.The tournament has had many title sponsors over the years, most notably Weetabix, Ricoh and AIG. The R&A took over running the tournament from the LGU in 2017. Today, the official name of the tournament is The Women's Open, but AIG remains as title sponsor.
The WBO rotates to different golf courses around the U.K. year-to-year. But unlike the men's Open Championship, the R&A does not limit the WBO to only seaside links courses. See the list of Women's British Open champions.
Evian Championship
The Evian Championship was founded by the Ladies European Tour in 1994. The LPGA Tour began co-sanctioning the tournament in 2000. In 2013, the LPGA Tour recognized the tournament as the fifth major championship of women's professional golf.The Evian Championship is always played at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France. It was originally named the Evian Masters, until it became a major in 2013 and the name was changed to Evian Championship. See the list of Evian Championship winners.
Tournaments That Used to Be LPGA Majors
There are three other golf tournaments whose winners are recognized as major championship winners by the LPGA, even though two of those events are long-dead, and one of them hasn't been considered a major in decades. Two of these defuct majors pre-date the LPGA Tour's 1950 founding by nearly 20 years.The du Maurier Classic was a women's major championship from 1979-2000. It was "demoted" when the Women's British Open was promoted to major status. The du Maurier is still played today as the Canadian Women's Open, but only its winners from 1979-2000 are credited with wins in a major.
The Women's Western Open was played from 1930 through 1967, and all of its champions are counted today as major winners. The Titleholders Championship existed from 1937-42, 1946-66 and 1972, and all of its winners are counted as major champions today.
Women's Major Championships By Year
As we've seen, the history of major championships in women's pro golf is much more convoluted than that of the men's majors, where the same four tournaments have comprised the majors since 1934. Following is the timeline of LPGA majors, with the number in parentheses after the years representing the number of majors played in those years. (For tournaments that have undergone name changes, we use in all instances the name by which they are known today.)
- 1930-36 (1): Women's Western Open
- 1937-42 (2): Women's Western Open, Titleholders Championships
- 1943-45 (1): Women's Western Open
- 1946-54 (3): Women's Western Open, Titleholders Championship, U.S. Women's Open
- 1955-66 (4): Women's Western Open, Titleholders Championship, U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship
- 1967 (3): Women's Western Open, U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship
- 1968-71 (2): U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship
- 1972 (3): U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, Titleholders Championship
- 1973-78 (2): U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship
- 1979-1982 (3): U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, du Maurier Classic
- 1983-2000 (4): Chevron Championship, U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, du Maurier Classic
- 2001-12 (4): Chevron Championship, U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, Women's British Open
- 2013-present (5): Chevron Championship, U.S. Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, Women's British Open, Evian Championship
