LPGA Tour Announces Big Changes To Year’s First Major

As part of a new deal with Chevron, it's all change at the LPGA Tour's first major of the year

LPGA Tour Announces Big Changes To Year’s First Major

The LPGA Tour has announced a host of big changes are to be made to the year’s first major, previously known as the ANA Inspiration.

It includes a new title sponsor in Chevron as well as a bumper prize pot, with the multinational energy company signing a six-year deal and increasing the purse for the event by over 60 per cent to $5 million. 

What will become the Chevron Championship in 2022 is also set to move away from Mission Hills Country Club in California for the first time since its inception in 1972. From 2023, a yet undisclosed course in the Houston area will play host to the best female players in the world.

And with that, gone will be the winner’s tradition of jumping into Poppie’s Pond - the lake beside the 18th green - which began with Amy Alcott in 1988.

Also new will be the tournament’s place on the calendar. While it is to remain the first major of the year, the tour has said it will be played later than its usual end of March slot to make it more appealing for TV companies.

“We could not be more excited to announce our partnership with Chevron,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. 

“Welcoming another leading global company to our portfolio of sponsors that believes in the power of the LPGA to inspire women leaders, to showcase human performance at the highest level and to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion in all facets of life, is truly game-changing for us.

“Obviously, the history and the traditions at Mission Hills and the partnership there are very important to all of us and to everyone. So we have talked through that and, overall, the response has been extremely positive.”

As well as Alcott, past winners of the event include Dottie Pepper, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko.

Andrew Wright
Staff Writer

A lifelong golf fan, Andy graduated in 2019 with a degree in Sports Journalism and got his first role in the industry as the Instruction Editor for National Club Golfer. From there, he went on to enjoy a spell freelancing for Stats Perform producing football reports, and then for RacingNews365 covering Formula 1. However, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to get back into the sport he grew up watching and playing and now covers a mixture of equipment, instruction and news for Golf Monthly's website and print title.


Andy took up the game at the age of seven and even harboured ambitions of a career in the professional ranks for a spell. That didn’t pan out, but he still enjoys his weekend golf at Royal Troon and holds a scratch handicap. As a side note, he's made five holes-in-one and could quite possibly be Retief Goosen’s biggest fan.


As well as the above, some of Andy's work has featured on websites such as goal.com, dailyrecord.co.uk, and theopen.com.


What's in Andy's bag?

Driver: Callaway Mavrik Sub-Zero (9°)

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15°)

Driving iron: Titleist U500 (17°)

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro '19 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50°, 54° and 58°)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider X

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x