The 2026 LPGA season is shaping up to be wide open, especially after what happened last year.
Few would have expected Nelly Korda to go the entire 2025 campaign without a single victory, considering her reputation as one of the top players on tour.
If you had told fans there would be 29 different winners across the season, most would have confidently picked her as one of them.
Yet, despite playing some quality golf throughout the year, she was somehow not one of them. It is an incredible stat that highlights just how unpredictable last season was.
Brandel Chamblee picks LPGA’s top ball-striker ahead of 2026 season
As it turned out, only Jeeno Thitikul managed to win more than once. The world number one ended the year with three victories, though she’s still searching for her first major title.
That wait may not last much longer. Speaking on the Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee backed Thitikul to break through in one of the five biggest events this season.
But what stood out from his remarks was the player he picked as one to watch in 2026, noting that she has a clear edge over both Korda and Thitikul in a specific area of the game.
“Maybe my favourite ever LPGA player since I’ve been covering the game was Lorena Ochoa. There was just something about her game and her personality that was so magnetic. It really was. And I see that same sort of magnetism, that same sort of talent in Jeeno Thitikul,” the analyst began by saying.
“I talked at length last year at the CME Group Tour Championship and the early part of the week and all through the week about how impressive she was. And then she went on to win for a second year in a row, that $4 million winner’s purse right there. She is the dominant player. Way ahead of Nelly Korda in the number one world ranking, by five points. That’s going to be tough for anybody to topple her off of that.
“She hasn’t yet at 22 won a major championship. Looked like she was going to win Evian last year. I still can’t believe she didn’t. Grace Kim in the most magnificent way, eagles, eagles, chip ins, toppled her out of the playoff. But Jeeno’s going to win a major championship this year.
“Nelly Korda, shocker, didn’t win at all last year in spite of playing great golf. Seven wins the year before. It’s hard to believe Nelly Korda didn’t win. No doubt she’ll get back on the winning track.
“But a player to watch for me is Hae Ran Ryu. Hae Ran Ryu has won in each of the last three years, but by far the best ball-striker out there. When you put her golf swing up there and you watch her and you go out at an LPGA event, stand up and watch this woman hit a golf ball, you will absolutely have your jaw drop. It is long, it is high, it is powerful. She is, and it’s not even close, from off the tee and into the green the best ball-striker on the LPGA tour. So this could be a big breakout year for her.”
Hae Ran Ryu has work to do on her short game if she wants to make an impact in the majors
Ryu picked up a win at the Black Desert Championship last year, and as Chamblee pointed out, she now has a victory in each of the past three seasons on tour.
Despite that consistency, her 2025 major campaign did not really match up to expectations. She started well enough with a T6 finish at Chevron but could not carry that form through the rest of the big events.
That sixth-place finish ended up being her only major top 10 of the season. Her next best result was a tie for 23rd at the Women’s British Open.
Statistically, she excelled in ball-striking again – leading the tour in strokes gained approach and ranking third off the tee. But her putting continued to be an issue, finishing outside the top 150 with the flat stick.
If she can find some improvement around and on the greens, there is every chance we will see her contend more often this year.
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