The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship returned to having the largest purse in the history of women’s golf, announcing Monday an increase to $13 million along with adding artificial intelligence to elevate its analytics features.
This is the ninth consecutive year the purse has increased, the largest coming in 2022 when the prize money doubled to $9 million.
The U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month at Riviera raised its purse to $12.5 million.
The Women’s
PGA, which starts Thursday at Hazeltine National, is attracting more attention this year as Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, tries to become the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 — and only the second female in history — to win three straight majors to start the season.
The field is the strongest for the women’s majors, with all top 100 from the LPGA points list. NBC, Peacock and Golf Channel combine to provide 26 hours of television coverage, equal to the amount devoted to the Women’s Open.
“We’re proud to deliver the premier major on the LPGA Tour,” said Tim Walsh, the U.S. chair and CEO for KPMG. “Working with the PGA of America and the LPGA Tour, we’re combining a record purse with technology that gives players better, real-time insight into their performance, along with broader, more dynamic coverage for fans.
“It’s all about continuing to build momentum for women’s golf.”
The major dates to 1955. The PGA of America began jointly running it with the LPGA, with KPMG providing major corporate support and behind big upgrades in prize money and data enhancements to help players and the broadcast.
The Women's PGA has been going to some of the most established courses in history. Hazeltine has hosted the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, along with the Ryder Cup in 2016, with another Ryder Cup set for 2029. Next year it goes back to Congressional.
Beyond the boost in prize money, AI-enhanced features are being added to the “KPMG Performance Insights,” launched five years ago to give players access to detailed statistics and to provide an extra layer of storytelling on the broadcast.
That includes reels available to each player that provide a breakdown of their rounds, and shot-level data for the media. There also is an AI-powered live outcome prediction engine. Also, several caddies will wear microphones to allow viewers to hear live interactions on course strategy.
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