Five Things: LPGA Bubble Watch and Rounding Out the Asia Swing

Former LPGA caddie and Fried Egg Golf contributor Matthew Galloway riffs on the five things he's thinking about this week in golf.

In Praise of Amateur Events

Fifa Laopakdee successfully defended his Asia-Pacific Amateur title at Te Arai Links last week, wrapping up the major worldwide amateur events for the year. My Fried Egg Golf colleague Kevin Van Valkenburg was on-site in New Zealand and had some delightful dispatches from the event, so I won’t rehash the birdies and bogeys, but I will say the championship was a delightful late-night watch (full rounds are available on YouTube). 

It just furthers the thought that mixing interesting venues, good competition with high stakes — the winner earns a spot in the Masters and Open Championship — along with thoughtful commentary is a slam dunk. Whether it was the U.S. Amateur at Merion, the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool, the U.S. Mid-Am at the Lido or the Asia-Pacific Amateur at Te Arai, this year has proven how compelling amateur events can be.

My hope is to shed more light on the amateur golf world in 2027 as more attention shifts in that direction. Next up on the calendar is the Latin America Amateur in January at El Camaleon at Mayakoba. There’s a lot of stinky smoke around most grow the game initiatives (cough cough LIV Golf), but Augusta National and the R&A deserve their flowers for standing up major amateur events on opposite sides of the world. 

Rounding Up the Asia Swing

The LPGA’s four-week fall tour around Asia wraps up this week with the Toto Japan Classic at the Taiheiyo Club Minori Course. For those that haven't indulged in the cocktail golf broadcasts, let me catch you up on what you have missed. 

At the Buick LPGA Shanghai, Ruoning Yin outdueled Hye-Jin Choi — who was poised to finally earn her first LPGA win — for her seventh career win and second in her home country, and the new venue at Sheshan Golf Club proved to be a massive upgrade over the previous host. In other news out of Shanghai, the LPGA showed some backbone as noted human rain delay Carlota Ciganda and Yealimi Noh were both handed two-shot penalties for slow play. 

An even rarer occurrence came at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea, where an American did not finish in the top 10. Hye-Jin Choi was once again the bridesmaid in her home country alongside Haeran Ryu, whose late-round stumble in typhoon conditions allowed the affable Yuri Yoshida to capture her maiden LPGA victory. I should also note that this was Choi’s ninth runner-up finish, the most by any player since 1981. She’s destined to get one across the finish line soon, right? 

Last week in steamy Malaysia, Miyu Yamashita put on a masterclass of a performance, comfortably defending her title at the Maybank Championship. The world No. 4 has been on a tear this fall. Just look at her last seven worldwide starts:

• Win: Maybank Championship (LPGA)
• Win: Aramco Korea Championship (LET)
• Third: Lotte Championship (LPGA)
• T-8: Walmart NW Arkansas (LPGA)
• Win: Sony JLPGA Championship (JLPGA)
• T-6: FM Championship (LPGA)
• Win: CPKC Women's Open (LPGA) 

With Nelly Korda inactive for two months now, it’s easy to say that Miyu might be the hottest player in the women's game. I have to admit, I'm impressed! When Miyu broke out at the AIG Women's Open last year, I was somewhat skeptical of her staying power at the top of the women's game as one of the shortest hitters on tour. She's proving this fall that when she gets her ball-striking and putting lined up, it’s hard to beat her repeatable output. 

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Looking at the Toto this week, one of the longest-running events on the LPGA schedule dating back to 1975, I’d love to see another rising JLPGA standout take advantage of the co-sanctioned event and get her first LPGA victory in her homeland. We’re also seeing 2026 AIG Women's Open champion Shiho Kuwaki back in action, as well. 

Bubble Watch

With only two events left on the LPGA schedule before the top 60 in the season-long standings advance to the winner-take-all CME Group Tour Championship, there are a few bubbles to watch. The top 60 is the obvious one, but there are a few other cutoffs that are important for players looking to next season. The top 80 grants players fully exempt status for the next season and is crucial for the priority list that helps fill out weekly tournament fields.

Without getting too granular, the LPGA priority list looks like this:

• Top 80 in the previous season’s standings
• Major champions
• LPGA tournament winners 
• Top 10 on the Epson Tour in the previous season
• Nos. 81-100 in the previous season’s standings
• The top 25 from Q-Series 
• Nos. 101-125 from the previous season’s standings and Nos. 11-15 on the Epson Tour in the previous season 

There's a bunch of other carve-out spots for those on the career money list, the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway, non-member wins, etc., but I didn't want to lose you in the sauce. The next major threshold is the top 100. Players 101-125 on the points list will still carry LPGA status, but will gain access to significantly fewer events. After No. 125, you’re essentially off the tour. Let’s break down the three thresholds to see who’s fighting for their jobs and who’s playing for a $4 million payday at the CME.

Top 60

• In: Yealimi Noh (54), Angel Yin (57), Jodi Ewart Shadoff (59) 
• Out: Nataliya Guseva (63), Julia Lopez Ramirez (64), Ayaka Furue (66), Lucy Li (69), Lindy Duncan (74) 

Top 80 

• In: Andrea Lee (77), Minjee Lee (79), Manon De Roey (80)
• Out: Ryann O’Toole (81), Linn Grant (83), Nastasia Nadaud (84), Melanie Green (91)

Top 100 

• In: Jin Young Ko (92), Hinako Shibuno (97), Dongeun Lee (100)
• Out: Lilia Vu (101), Brianna Do (103), Mimi Rhodes (104), Megan Khang (105), Ingrid Lindblad (118)

What's Happening on the LET?

With only two events remaining on the schedule, the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit title was locked up last week at the Wistron Ladies Open with Casandra Alexander’s third win in five weeks, capping a breakout season for the long-hitting South African who also has five runner-up finishes alongside those three victories. Alexander started the year 64th in the Rolex Rankings and has climbed all the way to 23rd in the world, her lowest-ever ranking. The dominant season has sparked debate among LET fans on whether there should be a pathway for the top LET player to avoid Q-School and go directly to the LPGA, especially when that player is in the world top 25. Clued-in fans would recall there was a proposed vote on a joint tour merger between the LPGA and LET that would give top players a pathway to the LPGA, but that vote was squashed late in the proceedings due to Aramco’s rising involvement in the LET. It might be time for LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler to revisit that partnership. 

LPGA Player of the Year

Speaking of locking things up early, it was announced this week that Nelly Korda won the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year award with three events remaining on the schedule. You might be thinking it’s a little early to make that announcement, but unlike the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year, the LPGA’s award is given based on a strict points-based system. No other player could mathematically catch up to Nelly after Miyu Yamashita didn’t enter next week’s event, the Annika. 

It was a pretty clear-cut case: four wins, two of which were majors, and only four finishes outside the top 10 in 15 starts is remarkable stuff from the world No. 1. Nelly clearly deserves the award, and the accolade brings her one step closer to the Hall of Fame. The POY honor earned Nelly another Hall of Fame point, bringing her total to 19, just one shy of qualification. It’s worth noting that Nelly likely would have gotten that point by winning the Vare Trophy — an annual prize given to the player with the lowest scoring average on the tour for the season — but Korda will be just short of the minimum threshold of 70 rounds. Whether it happens this year or next, Nelly’s place in the LPGA Hall of Fame is inevitable. When she earns the crucial final point, she’ll cement her place as one of the most dominant female players of the era.