LPGA gets major revamp, new event and prize money boost for 2015

It’s shaping up to be a good year for female golfers on the LGPA next year after it emerged that it will feature a revamped major tournament, new event and a $4 million cash injection in total prize money, according to Tour Commissioner Mike Whan.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s season-ending LPGA Titleholders tournament, Whan divulged details of the 33-event schedule for 2015, which includes a new opener in Florida as well as a new name and sponsor for the first major of the year.

The former Dinah Shore tournament, a major known since 2002 as the Kraft Nabisco Championship, will be renamed the All-Nippon Airways (ANA) Inspiration – with a 25 percent purse to boost prize winnings to $2.5 million.

The event will still be held at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, and will also still be staged the week before the first men’s major event of the year, the Masters at Augusta National.