Over the next few days, we will look at the athletes who defined the year in women’s golf, measuring success compared to expectations, and what the seasons meant for their careers. Today, we start with Nos. 17 – 20:
No. 20 – Lauren Coughlin – Coming off one of the great breakout seasons, Coughlin got off to a bit of a slow start in 2025. She had a couple good finishes in a row at the T-Mobile Matchplay and JM Eagle LA Championship, but hit a bit of a slow streak in the middle of the year, missing 4/5 cuts at one point, three of which were in majors. She bounced back well though at the end of the season with a good performance at the International Crown and a dominant win at the Grant Thornton Invitational alongside Andrew Novak.
No. 19 – Lindy Duncan – Speaking of breakout years, Lindy Duncan was a revelation on the LPGA Tour at 34-years-old. While she didn’t win, she did grab a career-high six top-10 finishes and nearly won the Chevron Championship, going to that large playoff. She finished No. 30 in the CME standings, and finished the season in strong form, which should set her up nicely for 2026. She also should be in contention to make the United States Solheim Cup team for the first time in her career.
No. 18 – Nelly Korda – Nelly’s season is of course tough to rank here because from an objective view point, it was a great year. For the first time in her career, Korda made every cut of the season, 19/19. She also finished top 10 in almost half of them with nine. She finished No. 5 in the CME Standings and played phenomenal golf down the stretch, even through the PNC Championship. The problem? Coming off the greatest season of the past decade, a winless year is a disappointment for the biggest star in the game.
No. 17 – Gina Kim – In her three seasons on the LPGA Tour, Gina Kim was frankly pretty overmatched. In 54 starts, she made just 22 cuts and had only one top-10 finish. Her best CME finish was No. 89 in a year where she had just two top-25 finishes. She went back to the Epson Tour in 2025 and was phenomenal. The 25-year-old won three times on the developmental tour and started to create the discussion of a mid-season path to the LPGA Tour for Epson Tour stars. She earned her card back and should be coming back to the LPGA Tour with a lot more confidence.
No. 16 – Sei Young Kim – After a somewhat disappointing 2021-2023 stretch, Kim has come back with two really good years. In 2024 she had four top three finishes and ended up No. 10 in the CME Standings. In 2025, she finally got back in the win column with her first title since her Player of the Year 2020 season. She also doubled her top 10 total from 2024, ending the season in real stride with three top-six finishes and five in her last six tournaments. It is bizarre to say Kim was quietly great in 2025, considering she is one of the most explosive players on Tour, but it was the case in a great bounce back year.
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