The LPGA Tour has just wrapped up its four-week swing through Asia, and now, the best in the women’s game are bound for the United States for the final leg of the 2024 season. The LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei marks one of three events remaining on the schedule, followed by The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and the CME Group Tour Championship. The 12th edition of the LOTTE Championship will see 120 players compete for a share of a $3 million purse and have a chance to make up ground in the season-long points races and to position themselves to win the year’s biggest awards. Here’s a closer look at what you need to know about the LPGA Tour’s trip to Hawaii.

Change in Schedule

This week, the LOTTE Championship is being played for the first time during November, its brand-new spot on the LPGA Tour schedule. Since the tournament’s inception in 2012, the Tour’s annual trip to Hawaii has always been held in April, but for the first time this year the event has moved to November in order to better accommodate players traveling from Asia to the United States for the season’s closing stretch.

The new spot on the calendar is another change for the tournament, which also moved to a new venue in 2022 and for the third year is being played at Hoakalei Country Club in Oahu. The course opened in January 2009 and is the only Ernie Els-designed course in Hawaii. Prior to moving to its new home in 2022, the LOTTE Championship was played at Ko Olina Golf Club from 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the event was contested at Kapolei Golf Club. The tournament was not staged in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The LOTTE Championship will be held Wednesday, November 6 - Saturday, November 9 and you can catch live coverage on Golf Channel each night from 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. ET.

The Field

Brooke Henderson, a two-time winner of the LOTTE Championship, headlines the field at Hoakalei Country Club. Henderson won in commanding fashion in both 2018 and 2019, capturing both titles by a four-stroke margin. She returns to Hawaii in hopes of finding a spark to her season as she remains in search of her first win of the year and will look to keep her winning streak alive as she hasn’t gone without a win on Tour since 2020. The Canadian arrives in Hawaii off a T61 finish at the weather-shortened TOTO Japan Classic and is joined in the field by former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who was in the hunt last week in Japan after an opening round of 65 but faded with a final round of 74 to finish in a tie for 22nd. This week, Ko is returning to the LOTTE Championship for the first time since 2019 when she tied for 17th.

Marina Alex is one of the hottest players in recent weeks on the LPGA Tour. She comes to Hawaii off a second place finish last week at the TOTO Japan Classic, which came on the heels of her T6 showing the week prior in Malaysia. She’ll look to keep that momentum rolling again this week at the LOTTE Championship where she tied for 38th last season. Ayaka Furue and Jasmine Suwannapura, who are both already winners this season on the LPGA Tour at The Amundi Evian Championship and Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, respectively, are also in the field and are looking to add another win to their resumes before the year is out.

Grace Kim Defends

In just her third start as a member on the LPGA Tour and in her debut at the LOTTE Championship, Grace Kim won in Oahu in thrilling fashion in 2023. The Epson Tour graduate began the final round in Hawaii just one stroke back of the lead and birdied both the 71st and 72nd holes to force a three-person playoff with Yu Jin Sung and Yu Liu. On the first playoff hole, Kim rolled in a five-foot birdie putt to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour. Kim returns to Hawaii with three top 10s so far this season and is coming off a tie for 34th last week in Japan.

Korda Claims Player of the Year

While many of the season’s top honors like the Vare Trophy and Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award remain in flux through the closing stretch of the season, the Rolex Player of the Year award has officially been locked up. Nelly Korda, already a six-time winner this season on the LPGA Tour, secured the season’s top honor after the conclusion of the TOTO Japan Classic on Sunday. The race had mathematically come down to Korda and Ayaka Furue, who needed to win in Japan as well as the last three events of the season in order to have a chance of tying Korda. When Furue finished tied for 10th in Japan, Korda secured the Rolex Player of the Year title and became the second consecutive American to receive the honor after Lilia Vu won Player of the Year in 2023. The pair are the first Americans to win the award in back-to-back years since Betsy King and Beth Daniel pulled off the feat in 1993 and 1994, respectively.

The Vare Trophy, Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Money Title and Aon Risk Reward Challenge have yet to be determined.

Race to the CME Globe Bubble Watch

There has always been a need for players to keep a watchful eye on their position in the Race to the CME Globe standings over the closing stretch of the season, but that intensity has been further ratcheted up with the staggering increase to the purse at this season’s CME Group Tour Championship. In order to get into the field at the final event of the season, players must finish inside the top 60 in the Race to the CME Globe point standings to qualify and compete for the $11 million purse, which includes a $4 million first-place prize, the biggest winner’s check in women’s golf. Here are some of the players who are on the bubble at this week’s LOTTE Championship, which is one of just two events remaining for players to secure their spot inside the top 60:

Hinako Shibuno: The major champion sits just inside the top-60 cutoff at No. 58 in the Race to the CME Globe point standings and will need a solid week in Hawaii to maintain her position after a disappointing tie for 47th last week in her native Japan.
Gaby Lopez: Sitting right at No. 60 in the Race to the CME Globe point standings, Lopez is making her first start since the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and will be looking to make up some ground and recapture the magic she found in Hawaii in 2019 when she tied for fifth.
Hyo Joo Kim: The winner of the 2022 LOTTE Championship is positioned at No. 61 in the Race to the CME Globe point standings after struggling to a final-round 74 at the TOTO Japan Classic.
Ashleigh Buhai: The major champion dropped three spots in the season-long race and is currently ranked 63rd after she skipped the trip to Japan.

Georgia Hall: The Englishwoman will need to make up some significant ground over the next two weeks on Tour if she wants to make it into the CME Group Tour Championship as she sits at No. 74 in the standings ahead of the LOTTE Championship, where she tied for sixth in 2023.

Five Things to Know About the 2024 LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei

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