So Long, LPGA Winner Streak

Just like the greens at Qizhong Garden Golf Club, the streak is dead. After 27 events, Jeeno Thitikul is the first repeat winner on the LPGA Tour this year. For most of the final round, it looked as if Minami Katsu was going to keep the streak alive. Up four with five holes to play, Katsu saw the gap close quickly with a birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle charge from Thitikul on the 14th-17th holes. The two would walk off the 72nd hole tied and exchange pars over the ensuing four playoff holes. An approach to gimme range on the 77th hole, even on the broccoli greens in Shanghai, gave Thitikul the birdie she needed to dispatch Katsu and earn her second win of the year.

Against all odds, the streak made it all the way to October, almost ten months since the start of the LPGA season. It's not Fried Egg Golf newsletter practice to just list names of players, but when put together, the absurdity of the streak really shines.

A Lim Kim. Yealimi Noh. Angel Yin. Lydia Ko. Rio Takeda. Hyo Joo Kim. Madelene Sagstrom. Ingrid Lindblad. Mao Saigo. Haeran Ryu. Jeeno Thitikul. Chisato Iwai. Maja Stark. Jennifer Kupcho. Carlota Ciganda. Minjee Lee. Somi Lee. Jin Hee Im. Grace Kim. Lottie Woad. Miyu Yamashita. Akie Iwai. Brooke Henderson. Miranda Wang. Charley Hull. Youmin Hwang.

All kidding aside, this was a horrible trend for the Tour. Sure, there are recognizable names on that list, and the season has given us some memorable moments. Minjee's triumph at Frisco. Grace Kim's spectacular finish at Evian. The Lottie Woad show in Scotland. But there are some events and winners that are already blurry to recall. We may not hear from more than a few of those players ever again. That list screams Trivia Night tiebreaker, where the team that can name the most players is declared champs.

I'm confident in saying that no matter what happens for the remainder of the 2025 season, the story of the year is the streak. This level of parity is the exact opposite of what you want if you're Craig Kessler, trying to grow the reach of the Tour and develop better storytelling around the players. The top 10 week in and week out all year long has had way too many moving pieces. Expecting fans to keep up and build a rooting interest is far too much to ask.

Let's end on a positive note, though. A pendulum swing this far in one direction has to move the other way at some point, right? Movement in the other direction in the form of repeat winners, consistent performances from the Tour's best and most marketable players, and the return of some semblance of predictability would be welcome with open arms from Tour leadership and fans.

Is that too much to ask?