[PHOTO: Katelyn Mulcahy]

The trend for rising LPGA Tour major championship purses continued overnight, Australian time, when the circuit announced that it was raising the prizemoney for this week’s Chevron Championship to $US7.9 million. That’s up from the $US5.2 million it gave out last year, when the first major of the season was played for the first time outside Houston.

The LPGA and Chevron also announced that the company has extended its title sponsorship deal until 2029. In the three years since Chevron became the sponsor, purses for the tournament, previously held in California’s Palm Springs area and best known as the Dinah Shore, have risen by $US4.8 million.

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Raising the Chevron purse brings the LPGA’s combined total prizemoney for the 2024 season to $US123.25 million. According to the tour, that’s a rise in the money offered of 78.6 percent since 2019.

The purse increases seen in the past few years for the LPGA’s majors have been significant. The USGA, with the highest payout in women’s golf, will award $US12 million for the US Women’s Open this year, up from $11 million in 2023. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship has not yet announced its 2024 purse, but last year it was $US10 million – a steep rise from the $4.5 million in doled out in 2021. Last year, the AIG Women’s Open in Britain elevated its purse by 23 percent to $US9 million, while the Amundi Evian Championship in France offered $US6.5 million.

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At the Chevron this week, even those who don’t make the cut will be decently compensated with $US10,000, up from $5,000 last year.

“From the beginning of our partnership with Chevron and now with this extension, increased purse and enhanced support for athletes, the evolution of the Chevron Championship is a symbol of our collective dedication to advancing women’s sports and driving the game toward equity,” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a press release.