Report: Tour Player Features In Three LPGA Events Despite Not Being Qualified As Circuit Takes Action

Golfweek has reported that Sophia Popov competed in three events this season despite not being qualified due to an administrative error

Signage at the HSBC Women's World Championship
One of the affected events was the HSBC Women's World Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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An administrative error reportedly led to an LPGA Tour player competing in three events for which she had not qualified.

Per Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, the error concerned the circuit’s 2025 Priority List, which determines who is eligible for LPGA Tour events.

While the LPGA Tour has not released the name of the affected player, who competed in the Founders Cup, Honda LPGA Thailand and HSBC Women's World Championship, Sophia Popov has confirmed to Golfweek that it was her.

In the three events, which were the only ones the German has competed in this season, she finished T59th, 62nd and T52nd, which helped her accumulate Race to CME Globe points, Aon Risk Reward Challenge points and prize money. However, with the error identified, those will now be removed from the official standings.

The situation doesn’t only affect Popov. Another issue is that the first alternate at each of the three tournaments she played in couldn’t compete despite being eligible.

Golfweek reports that players received a memo written by the LPGA Tour’s Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer Ricki Lasky on Friday explaining the error and apologizing to those affected by the mistake.

The memo also vowed to “share more details as we work internally to best remedy the situation for the three players who were inadvertently impacted and left out of these tournament fields.”

Per Golfweek, the first alternates at each of the affected tournaments were Saki Baba at the Founders Cup, Hira Naveed at the Honda LPGA Thailand and Peiyun Chien at the HSBC Women's World Championship.

Saki Baba takes a shot at the Blue Bay LPGA

Saki Baba was first alternate for the Founders Cup

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Popov was 57th on the Priority List for the 2025 season, which was published in January, along with a notification of maternity leave. That is identical to the position she held on the 2024 list, which also featured a double-asterisk alongside her name to denote maternity leave. However, a revised list dated March 10th now shows Popov in Category 19 for players finishing between 126th and 150th (and ties) on the previous season's Race to CME Globe rankings. Meanwhile, her name appears without the maternity leave indicator.

Sophia Popov watches her tee shot

Sophia Popov has confirmed to Golfweek she is the player who was in the wrong position on the Priority List

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2020 AIG Women's Open champion had a prolonged absence from the LPGA Tour between 2022 and 2024. It began soon after an MRI at the 2022 AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield revealed an injury to her right shoulder.

After playing one more event that August, she took the rest of the year off on medical leave to recover before discovering she was pregnant.

In early January 2023, she announced on Instagram that she wouldn’t return until after the birth of her daughter, who was due in June. In the end, Popov didn’t play at all in 2023, but she made 17 LPGA Tour appearances in 2024.

The top 80 and ties on the Priority List are determined by the the top 80 and ties on the previous season's Race to CME Globe rankings. Popov finished 136th in the 2024 rankings, and she was unable to improve her status at LPGA Q-Series in December.

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Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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