With just the final stretch of the LPGA Tour season left to be played, a totally unique Player of the Year race is starting to take shape. The last time a player won this award without multiple wins in a season was Betsy King in 1993 when she had 11 top-five finishes but only one victory.
2025 is a fitting year for this long streak to be potentially broken. The parity on Tour has never been stronger, as each tournament has had a unique winner. Even with no repeat winners though, there have still been some standout players this season. Here are the current top-five standings for the LPGA Tour Player of the Year.
No. 1 – Jeeno Thitikul – A couple of shots here and there, and we would be seeing one of the most dominant seasons in recent LPGA Tour memory from the 22-year-old from Thailand. Thitikul does have one win at the Mizuho Americas Open, along with 16/17 made cuts, 11 top-10 finishes and four runner-ups. Thitikul finished top five at two of the majors, the Amundi Evian Championship and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and was in good position at times to win both. She has currently finished second the last two events she has played in, including the Kroger Queen City Championship, where she should’ve won.
No. 2 – Minjee Lee – It is a bit startling that Minjee Lee, arguably the best player of the 2020’s, hasn’t yet won a Player of the Year award, but coming off her weakest season as a professional in 2024, she has bounced back in a big way. Lee won her third-career major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and has rode a massively hot putter to some fantastic results. Lee was No. 157 on the LPGA Tour in strokes gained putting in 2024, she is No. 2 in that category so far in 2025. Lee has six top-10 finishes in 2025 along with three top-three finishes in what has been a fantastically consistent campaign.
No. 3 – Miyu Yamashita – It is almost unfair to call Miyu Yamashita, a player who has played a lot of golf against the best competition in the world, including at the Olympics, a rookie, but she is the leader of that incredible 2025 class. Yamashita has a major championship victory at the AIG Women’s Open to her name and nine top-10 finishes to go along with it. Yamashita has benefitted from a phenomenal second half of the season, where she recently had four top-10 finishes in a row.
No. 4 – Mao Saigo – Though she has been a bit quiet since her thrilling major championship victory at The Chevron Championship, Mao Saigo has still consistently played strong golf. She has made 15/17 cuts this season and put together six top-10 finishes, five of those being top-five placements. Saigo played well at the major championships as well, with three top-11 finishes in the five biggest events of the year.
No. 5 – Rio Takeda – The stories of the LPGA season have been the players from Japan and the rookie class, so it is fitting to have another Japanese rookie in the top five. Takeda won early in the season, and has played competitive golf ever since. Takeda has played a lot of golf, 23 events are significantly more than anyone on this list, and has made 21 cuts. While her play in the second half has dipped a bit, she was fantastic early on. She won at the Blue Bay LPGA, and had a chance on the weekend at really all of the majors, despite some tough finishes. She has seven top-10 finishes on the season with four top fives.
