Hannah Green’s big purse

Hannah Green won the JM Eagle LA Championship on April 19 after the LPGA event’s purse jumped to $4.75 million. (lpga.com) Green finished at 17-under 271 at El Caballero Country Club in Los Angeles and beat Jin Hee Im and Sei Young Kim with a birdie on the first playoff hole. The winner’s check was $712,500. (lpga.com) The purse increase came mid-tournament, when JM Eagle chief executive Walter Wang announced an extra $1 million on Saturday. Golfweek reported the move surprised players and LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler. (golfweek.usatoday.com) That made the Los Angeles stop one of the richest events on the 2026 LPGA calendar outside the majors and the CME Group Tour Championship. The LPGA said in November that its 2026 schedule would carry more than $132 million in total prize money, with more than $82 million at non-majors. (lpga.com) The money jump fits a broader push by the tour to sell a bigger commercial stage. Kessler said the 2026 season would be the first in which every LPGA event and every round is shown live in the United States. (lpga.com) Kessler told Golf Digest on April 17 that current sponsors were “excited” and prospective partners said the LPGA was making “positive noise.” He pointed to live TV for every round, added broadcast features and new executives as evidence of that sales push. (golfdigest.com) Green’s win was also a course-and-event statement. LPGA final-round notes said she became the first three-time winner of the JM Eagle LA Championship and recorded five birdies on the back nine to force the playoff. (lpga.com) The tournament now rolls straight into the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, which the LPGA schedule lists for April in Houston. Green arrives there with another big check and another reminder that LPGA purses are still climbing. (lpga.com)