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Lydia Ko moved to No. 2 on the LPGA’s career money list after clinching her 23rd career LPGA victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, moving $301,488 ahead of Karrie Webb. Annika Sorenstam retired from full-time golf after the 2008 season and remarkably still tops the list with $22,583,693 over the course of 307 official starts.
Ko now trails Sorenstam by $1,988,588. Given the hefty winner’s checks that now come at the majors and CME Group Tour Championship, it’s certainly possible for Ko to pass Sorenstam this season. Yuka Saso, for example, won $2.4 million for her 2024 U.S. Women’s Open triumph, and Jeeno Thitikul made a record $4 million at the CME.
Ko ranks second on the career money list with 248 official LPGA starts. For perspective on how much things have changed, consider that Webb, who won 41 times on the LPGA, made $20,293,617 in 497 starts.
In terms of fewest starts, two-time major winner Minjee Lee sits closest to Ko at No. 7 with $14,920,817 in 231 starts. It’s worth noting that some of the legends ranked high on this list made around 600 LPGA starts: Cristie Kerr (599), Juli Inkster (714), Beth Daniel (604) and Laura Davies (613).
Only four players have crossed the $20 million mark in career earnings: Sorenstam, Ko, Webb and Kerr.
Inbee Park, currently on maternity leave after giving birth to her second child, ranks fifth with $18,262,344 in 305 starts. Park last competed on tour in 2022, and while she’s won seven majors, her last one came 10 years ago, so she missed out on those seven-figure checks.
Lorena Ochoa sits eighth on the list with $14,863,331 in only 175 starts. Ochoa retired from the tour in the spring of 2010 at age 28. That she remains in the top 10 after 15 years speaks to her level of dominance in such a short span. Ochoa won 27 times from 2004 to 2009.
Current world No. 1 Nelly Korda ranks 15th with $13,608,579 in 145 starts. Jeeno Thitikul, thanks to CME, ranks 26th after only 66 career starts with $10,101,122.
Twenty-seven LPGA players have crossed the $10 million mark in career earnings.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lydia Ko moves to second, surpassing Karrie Webb in LPGA career money
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