Can 2026 Be The Year of Women's Golf?

The wait is finally over. The 2026 LPGA Tour schedule is here and there are a few noticeable changes—though none come as a surprise.

Craig Kessler, who took over as commissioner in July of this year, has been vocal about the tweaks he'd want to make where he can. Is the schedule perfect? Certainly not, and Kessler knows this.

In a September story for Golfweek, the commissioner was candor when asked about developing the schedule, "What I'm learning is that the schedule is critical, but not solvable overnight because you're locked into geographies, multiyear agreements, and you can't unwind everything at once."

Related: For New LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler, "There's no Silver Bullet Solution" to the Tour's Growth

The season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, is a small limited field comprising of winners from the previous two years—so we likely won't see a full-field of players until the middle of March at the Fortinet Founders Cup—which will begin what Kessler has coined the "west coast swing".

Four events over the course of five weeks, highlighted by the new Aramco Championship, which will be co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and Golf Saudi.

And then we move into a jam-packed summer of majors. Kicking off the major season is The Chevron Championship in late April. Then the Tour will travel to the Pacific Palisades for the first time ever to play Riviera Country Club for the 81st U.S. Women’s Open. At the end of June, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will return to Hazeltine National Golf Club, which last hosted the women in 2019. Rounding out the summer, the LPGA will head overseas to Europe for the Amundi Evian Championship, taking place once again at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France. And the final major championship, the AIG Women's Open, will be contested at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes in England.

Next season will also feature the 20th edition of Solheim Cup at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands from Sept. 11-13.

Related: LPGA Solheim Cup Captains Were at Bethpage Taking Notes

There are still the two multi-event Asia swings at the beginning and latter half of the year. But for Kessler, he believes that even with the Tour traveling to 13 different countries and regions and 13 states across the United States they're not "ping-ponging players across the country and the world as much as in the past".

"I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built, and even more excited about where we’re headed,” Kessler said in the official schedule release. "This schedule reflects the work we’ve put into elevating our courses, improving our routing, and continuing to grow purses. Coming off our 75th anniversary season, we wanted a calendar that gives our athletes great stages, better flow, and even more opportunity—and I think 2026 delivers that. We’ve made real progress, and we’re clear-eyed about where we can keep getting better in 2027 and beyond."

It feels like 2026 is the foundational year for what's to come in Kessler's plan.

And he can already check off one major win for himself with the news of enhanced broadcast coverage.

Starting next year every LPGA Tour event and every round will be presented live across the U.S. for the first time since Golf Channel began televising the LPGA Tour in 1995.

This is huge.

In partnership with U-NEXT and FM, who already host a championship on the schedule, this deal will transform the television footprint of the Tour’s North American events with added coverage enhancements from Golf Channel and Trackman.

Non-major events will have a 50 percent increase in the total number of cameras used to cover an event, increasing hole and shot coverage capabilities. Slow-motion cameras and three times more microphones will also be added to bolster broadcasts. It's said that there will also be a heightened focus on athlete storytelling with more walk-and-talks with players and caddies during rounds.

Buckle up golf fans, there's a new era on the horizon.