By: Max Bechtoldt
Major season is back! While the PGA Tour is playing its first major this week in Augusta, the LPGA is in action next week at its first major the Chevron Championship. So who are the best LPGA players without a major? I take a look at it here.
To set some ground rules for eligibility: Every player on this list has had an opportunity to play in each of the five LPGA Tour majors. Also, to establish what active actually means, every player has played at least once in the last 365 days. Here are the top-10 players who have not yet won a major:
10. Ally Ewing – Ally Ewing has had a really solid career thus far. Ewing is a three-time Solheim Cup player while also winning three LPGA Tour events. Ewing has four-career top-10 finishes in majors and has proven herself to be one of the best ball-strikers on tour.
9. Rose Zhang – Is it hard to compare Rose Zhang to the rest of this list? Yes. The newest member of the LPGA Tour included here, Zhang hasn’t been on tour for a full year, but her amateur career has afforded her major appearances. We have to believe that Zhang’s star power will maintain and she will continue to play good golf. She has been inconsistent but that win at Mizuho in her first professional event remains relevant to this day.
8. Leona Maguire – Like Zhang, Maguire was an amateur superstar while representing Duke, her LPGA career has had huge moments, but is missing that major. She has two LPGA Tour victories, three top-10s in majors and 21 total LPGA top-10s. Maguires’s greatest accomplishment’s though are in the Solheim Cup, where she has a 7-2-1 record.
7. Megan Khang – Megan Khang may not have a lot of career wins, she only has one, but she’s been solid her whole career. At this point last year she was the best player on tour without a win. After her victory in Portland, she’s entered a new territory. Since 2010 Khang has 10 top-10s in majors and in her career has 37 career top-10 finishes. Khang is much better than her win total.
6. Carlota Ciganda – Ciganda’s greatness is mostly defined by her play on the Ladies European Tour. Like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter in the men’s game, Ciganda hasn’t achieved a ton of success stateside, but has shown her greatness in Europe. Ciganda has seven career wins on the LET with two on the LPGA Tour. Ciganda also has 10 career top-10 finishes in majors and has been a spectacular Solheim Cup player with an 11-8-4 record.
5. Atthaya Thitikul -Thitikul is only 21-years-old and is already an elite player on the LPGA Tour. The Thai superstar is currently injured, but she still won twice in 2022 and is ranked No. 11 in the Rolex Rankings. Thitikul also has four LET victories and was the 2021 Ladies European Tour Player of the Year. Since 2021, Thitikul has six top-10 finishes in majors and was a part of the 2023 International Crown champion Thailand.
4. Charley Hull – Hull’s recent play has moved her up this list significantly. Hull has two LPGA Tour victories and three LET victories. She has a career 12-7-3 record in the Solheim Cup and had four runner-up finishes in 2023. Hull has nine-career top-10 finishes in majors and 33-career top-10 finishes overall.
3. Jessica Korda – The sister of world No. 1 Nelly Korda has had a fantastic career herself, missing just one thing, a major. Korda has six career victories on the LPGA Tour and has 50 top-10 finishes in her career. In the majors Korda has performed just as solidly with nine major top-10s, including in the 2022 Chevron Championship. Korda has missed the better part of a year because of pregnancy and maternity leave.
2. Amy Yang – Amy Yang had the biggest moment of her career in 2023, winning the CME Tour Championship. It was her fourth LPGA title of her career, but her professional record goes much deeper than that. Yang has three wins on the Ladies European Tour, 21 top-10s in majors and 85 top-10s overall. Yang is one of the most underrated players on the tour, and a major title would likely change that.
I. Nasa Hataoka -Hataoka feels like a player who should have a major at this point. In her eight full years on tour she has six career LPGA Tour victories with 41 top-10s. In majors Hataoka has been just as solid, with nine top-10s. Nasa has established herself as one of the power players in the LPGA and had two top-five major finishes in 2023.
