The 2022 major championship season on the LPGA Tour was historic. The world’s best women golfers competed on the biggest stages with two prestigious courses, Congressional Country Club and Muirfield, hosting for the first time. Other major venues included Mission Hills Country Club, Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club and Evian Resort Golf Club.
Players competed for the largest amount of major prize money ($37.8M), which has more than doubled from 2018. Additionally, four of the five majors awarded winners with at least $1 million in prize money. There were two first-time winners in these events, which has been the trend in six seasons since 2016.
Fifteen players made the cut in all five majors with twelve players remaining under par for the year. Minjee Lee recorded the best cumulative score (-34) of players who made all five cuts. Lee earned her second major title at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, recording the lowest 72-hole score (271) in the championship’s history. This was her second major victory in four major starts. She won her first major title at the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship.
Lydia Ko recorded the best cumulative score (-23) for a player to not win a major this year. Ko recorded three top-seven finishes, a tie for 25th and a tie for 46th. It was the fourth-best performance of any golfer.
| Best Cumulative Score of Players Who Made All Five Cuts | |
|---|---|
| 2022 LPGA Tour Majors | |
| Minjee Lee | -34 |
| In Gee Chun | -26 |
| Brooke Henderson | -25 |
| Lydia Ko | -23 |
Ally Ewing ranked in the top four in ball striking in four of the five majors played. Her rank in both total driving and greens in regulation was the best of any golfer with a minimum of 14 rounds. Ewing led the field in this statistical category at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and The Amundi Evian Championship.
Minjee Lee gained an average of 1.61 strokes on the field on approach shots, which led all players in the five majors. She ranked first in the field at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, gaining a total of 11.98 strokes on her approaches compared to the field average of just 0.21 strokes gained when approaching the green.
Lee also had a scoring average of 3.97 on the par 4 holes in majors. She ranked first in this statistic (3.89) when she won her second major. At the AIG Women’s Open, she was nearly 10 strokes better than the field on these holes.
In Gee Chun made the fewest number of bogeys across all rounds in the majors, averaging 8.4 bogeys per 72 holes played.
| Top Leaders in Key Performance Statistics - Minimum 14 Rounds Played | |
|---|---|
| 2022 LPGA Tour Majors | |
| Ball striking | Ally Ewing |
| Strokes gained approach the green | Minjee Lee |
| Par 4 scoring | Minjee Lee |
| Bogey avoidance | In Gee Chun |
The five major champions rank in the top nine on the official money list while ranking in the top 20 in strokes gained putting statistics. These players combined for a total of 14 three-putts in their victories which was less than one percent of their putts. And they averaged 5.3 birdies or better per round.
| Strokes Gained Putting | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Major Champions | ||
| Average | Rank | |
| Jennifer Kupcho | 2.50 | 1st |
| Minjee Lee | 2.47 | 2nd |
| In Gee Chun | 1.01 | 20th |
| Brooke Henderson | 2.38 | 2nd |
| Ashleigh Buhai | 1.87 | 2nd |
This was the first year that advanced major performance data was captured at all five majors through the KPMG Performance Insights. Previously, the data was collected at three majors in 2021, starting with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. These insights are beneficial for players, fans and media as they provide a solid foundation for the enjoyment of the game.
Our LPGA major champions are proven performers on the course and continue to build excitement for women’s golf worldwide.
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