Chandni Canan BauerThe KPMG Women’s PGA Championship arrives at Hazeltine National Golf Club from June 25-28 with the sort of heavyweight credentials that make a major feel properly major: a $13 million purse, a 156-player field, all top 100 players in the current Race to CME Globe Rankings, and enough technology to make a caddie briefly wonder whether the yardage book has developed a law degree.
This is not merely another week on the LPGA Tour calendar. It is a pointed statement from KPMG, the PGA of America and the LPGA Tour about where women’s golf is heading: bigger money, better data, broader coverage and fewer excuses for anyone still pretending the women’s game is waiting politely outside the clubhouse.
Hazeltine Gives The Championship A Proper Stage
Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, is not exactly short of gravitas. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., it has hosted two PGA Championships in 2002 and 2009, the 2016 Ryder Cup, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2019.
Now it welcomes the championship for a second time, with the added distinction of being on the road to another American golf first: Hazeltine will become the first course in the United States to host the Ryder Cup for a second time in 2029.
That is a fairly serious CV. Some courses whisper history. Hazeltine tends to clear its throat and make the room sit up.
A Record $13 Million Purse Sends A Clear Message
The headline number is unavoidable: $13 million. That is the highest purse in women’s golf history, and the 156-player field will be competing for more than a trophy, a polite handshake and the traditional emotional resilience test served up by a major championship.
It gives the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a sharper commercial edge and a clear sporting message. Elite women’s golf is being backed with serious money, serious infrastructure and serious visibility.
There is a difference between saying the game deserves investment and actually putting the cheque on the table. This week, the cheque is very much on the table.
AI, Shot Data And A Smarter Way To Watch Golf
The championship is also being positioned as the most tech-forward event on the LPGA Tour, which is not a phrase golf would have used comfortably in the age of pencil scoring and men in cardigans squinting at distant fairways.
KPMG is adding new AI-enhanced features to KPMG Performance Insights, giving LPGA athletes access to detailed shot-level data that can help them diagnose and improve performance. It will also provide media and spectators with a richer understanding of how players compare across the field.
New for 2026 are AI-powered player reels, available privately to every player at the end of each round. These will include analysis, hole-by-hole breakdowns and shot-level data, allowing players to assess performance and adjust strategy before the next round.
For media, real-time shot-level data should make the storytelling sharper. For players, it should make the post-round debrief rather less dependent on memory, mood and whether the putter has already been placed in temporary exile.
NBC and Golf Channel coverage will also feature an AI-powered live outcome prediction engine. That will deliver predictive analytics across broadcast and digital platforms, tracking probability shifts and the shot-by-shot impact on scoring.
Used properly, it should help viewers understand pressure as it builds. Used badly, it risks telling us that hitting it into a lake has reduced a player’s chances. One assumes the former.
KPMG CHAMPCAST Brings Every Player Closer
For the third consecutive year, KPMG CHAMPCAST will use ShotLink Pro technology to give fans an immersive view of each player in the field.
That means 3D imagery, radar data, shot trails, green views and individual shot video highlights. In plain English, viewers should be able to follow more golf, more closely, with far less guesswork.
Combined with KPMG Performance Insights, CHAMPCAST will provide real-time shot-level analytics for every player, alongside historical performance data. For a sport built on tiny margins and large emotional detonations, that is useful territory.
Broadcast Coverage Goes Big
The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will have nearly 100 hours of live, streaming and ancillary coverage across NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock, making it the most comprehensively covered event on the LPGA Tour this year.
Featured Groups powered by T-Mobile will stream live on YouTube, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship website and the mobile app, with syndication on Peacock and GolfChannel.com.
The Featured Groups offering has also been expanded, doubling the number of groups so fans can follow more of their favourite players. Several caddies will be mic’d up for the first time, bringing viewers inside the ropes for real-time conversations about strategy.
That last detail could be gold. Golfers talk endlessly about process, but caddies often deal in the more urgent dialect of wind, nerve, club selection and occasionally not saying the thing everyone is thinking.
The Field Has Depth Where It Counts
The championship annually attracts one of the strongest fields in women’s golf, and this year’s edition brings all top 100 players in the current Race to CME Globe Rankings to Hazeltine.
That matters. A major should feel like the best have turned up, not like a prestige event with asterisks hiding in the long grass. With that field, that purse and that venue, this has the bones of a defining week.
The People Behind The Push
“We’re proud to deliver the premier Major on the LPGA Tour, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship,” said Tim Walsh, KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO. “Working with the PGA of America and the LPGA Tour, we’re combining a record purse with technology that gives players better, real-time insight into their performance, along with broader, more dynamic coverage for fans. It’s all about continuing to build momentum for women’s golf.”
“Together with KPMG and the LPGA Tour, we are excited to once again present a world-class experience at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship,” said Terry Clark, PGA of America CEO.
“This Championship is a testament to our continued investment in growing the women’s game, setting new standards with a record purse, innovative technology enhancements and comprehensive broadcast coverage. We look forward to seeing 156 of the world’s best players compete at an iconic venue in Hazeltine National Golf Club this week.”
“The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship continues to raise the bar for women’s golf,” said Craig Kessler, LPGA Commissioner. “Record purse increases, enhanced broadcast coverage, and one of the strongest fields of the year makes this tournament a can’t miss event for fans.
We are proud to partner with KMPG and the PGA of America to continue to elevate this major championship and are looking forward to a great week at Hazeltine National Golf Club.”
A Major With Money, Muscle And Modern Nerve
There is a danger, in golf, of confusing tradition with standing still. Hazeltine’s championship history gives this week its old-world weight, but the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is clearly leaning forward: record prize money, AI-powered insights, deeper broadcast access and a field that gives the event proper competitive authority.
The result is a major that looks increasingly comfortable in its own skin. Big course. Big purse. Big audience. Big ambition.
And if the golf matches the stage, Hazeltine may be in for a week that speaks rather loudly — even before the mic’d-up caddies get involved.
