If you are looking for the LPGA tournament leaderboard today, you might notice something a bit weird. The greens are quiet. The grandstands are still being bolted together. While the guys are over at the Sony Open in Hawaii dodging palm trees and Rory McIlroy is dealing with a nightmare 72nd hole in Dubai, the LPGA is basically in the "calm before the storm" phase.
The 2026 LPGA season hasn't officially teed off its competitive schedule just yet.
Honestly, it’s kind of the perfect time to breathe. We’re currently in that awkward gap where everyone is practicing their putting in Florida or Arizona, waiting for the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to start on January 29th. If you’re refreshing your app looking for live scores right now, you won't find a scorecard. But you will find a massive shift in how the top players are prepping for what looks like the most expensive year in women's golf history.
The January Wait for Lake Nona
The season actually starts in Orlando at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. It’s a limited-field event, meaning you only get the winners from the last two seasons. It's high stakes but low stress—sorta.
We already know the big names are locked in. Nelly Korda is obviously the one everyone watches. After her historic run last year, the pressure on her to perform right out of the gate is immense. Then you’ve got Jeeno Thitikul, who has been absolutely lighting up the stat sheets.
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- Tournament: Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions
- Dates: January 29 – February 1, 2026
- Location: Orlando, FL
- Defending Champ: A Lim Kim
People keep asking about the LPGA tournament leaderboard today because they see the PGA and DP World Tour results popping up. It’s easy to feel like you’re missing out. But the LPGA usually plays a slightly different rhythm. They start later, but they finish with a massive $11 million purse at the CME Group Tour Championship in November.
Why the 2026 Leaderboard Will Look Different
There is a lot of chatter right now about the new talent coming up from the Epson Tour. We aren't just looking at the same five faces anymore.
Specifically, keep an eye on the "Asia Swing" that happens right after Florida. The tour heads to Thailand, Singapore, and China. That’s where the world rankings usually get shuffled like a deck of cards. Last year, the average driving distance across the top 20 players jumped by nearly four yards. That doesn't sound like much until you realize these women are hitting wedges into par-5s.
What You Should Track Right Now
Since there isn't a live LPGA tournament leaderboard today, the real "leaderboard" is the Rolex World Golf Rankings.
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- Nelly Korda: Still the benchmark. If she’s healthy, she’s the favorite every single week.
- Lydia Ko: After her Hall of Fame induction, she’s playing with "house money." That makes her dangerous because she isn't overthinking the mechanics anymore.
- Miyu Yamashita: She’s been dominant in Japan and is increasingly becoming a threat on the global stage.
- Lilia Vu: She’s had some injury bugs, but when her putter is hot, it’s game over for everyone else.
It’s also worth mentioning the 75th Anniversary Pro-Am that just wrapped up. It raised over $4.1 million for the LPGA Foundation. While it’s not a "tour stop" with a leaderboard you’d find on ESPN, it shows just how much money is flowing into the sport right now.
Looking Toward the Majors
The schedule this year is brutal in the best way. We have the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera in June. That is going to be a bloodbath. Riviera is a "shot-maker's course," and if you can't control your spin, the leaderboard is going to swallow you whole.
Then you have the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands in September.
The gap in the LPGA tournament leaderboard today is really just the transition point. Players are switching equipment—there are rumors of two top-10 players changing their ball deals this month—and those changes often lead to "rusty" scores in the first round of the year.
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What to do while you wait
If you're itching for some golf, check out the highlights from the Grant Thornton Invitational from December. It was that mixed-team event where the LPGA and PGA players teamed up. It’s probably the best evidence we have of how the women's game is currently matching up against the men in terms of pure ball-striking.
For those of you planning your fantasy rosters or betting slips for the Orlando opener, watch the social media feeds of players like Charley Hull or Rose Zhang. They’ve been posting practice rounds that suggest they’re already in mid-season form.
To stay ahead of the curve before the first tee shot in Orlando:
- Verify your streaming access: Most rounds will be on Golf Channel and Peacock, but the weekend coverage often shifts to NBC.
- Monitor the Monday Qualifiers: For the Orlando event, the celebrity field is often as fun to watch as the pros, but the "real" leaderboard starts on Thursday morning, January 29.
- Check the Rolex Rankings weekly: Even without a tournament, points drop off and the order can change slightly every Monday.
The wait is almost over. In less than two weeks, the LPGA tournament leaderboard today will finally be filled with under-par scores and the usual Sunday drama we've come to expect from the best players in the world.