Women's PGA Championship

Professional-amateur controversy

Prior to 2005, the LPGA Championship had a "professionals only" rule. This is similar to the men's PGA Championship, but contrasts with the U.S. and British Opens, which have long had both amateur and professional entrants through qualifying (henceforth the term "open"). Until its 2015 takeover by the PGA of America, the tournament was the LPGA's own event, and the LPGA was created specifically to provide opportunities for women in professional golf. In 2005 this rule was revoked, effectively to allow then-amateur Michelle Wie of the U.S. to compete, in order to attract more media coverage and sell more tickets, though this was not publicly acknowledged by the LPGA. Some professionals objected to this move, as they felt that places given to amateurs would come at the expense of the LPGA Tour's less successful professionals, who need to play regularly to make a living. One of the leading professionals, Laura Davies, stated objections to the change were shortsighted. In 2006, the LPGA Championship reverted to its "professionals only" status, with only pros in the field. Michelle Wie participated that year as a professional, having turned pro the previous October upon signing multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts with Nike, Sony, and other sponsors.

Tournament names and locations

Tournament names through the years:

Winners

Source:

Multiple champions

This table lists the golfers who have won more than one LPGA Championship.

The defending champion has retained the title on seven occasions, most recently in 2015:

Through 2015, three consecutive championships has been achieved only twice, by Sörenstam in 2005 and Park in 2015.

Champions by nationality

This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality.

Future sites

M = Denotes men's PGA Championship hosted at the course. S = Denotes PGA Seniors Championship hosted at the course.