Ladies European Tour

The U.S.-based LPGA was founded in 1950, but women's professional golf was slower to get established in Europe. In 1978 the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA) was formed as part of Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland. A tour was established the following year with Carlsberg as the main sponsor, supporting 12 36-hole tournaments, with several other tournaments including the Women's British Open on the schedule.[1][2] For the first two seasons, the majority of tournaments were held over 36-holes; in 1981, that increased to 54-holes. Total prize money on the tour was planned to rise to £250,000 in 1981, from £80,000 in the inaugural season,[3] but several tournaments and pro-ams were lost after sponsors withdrew.[4]

Carlsberg ended their sponsorship after the 1981 season,[5] and despite initial optimism,[6] the tour experienced further problems during its fourth season in 1982 as several more events were cancelled. The circuit was left with just ten tournaments, from which few players could make a living, and the future of the WPGA was being questioned.[7]

In 1988 the tour members decided to form an independent company, the Women Professional Golfers' European Tour Limited. This new company moved away from the PGA's headquarters at The Belfry and set up its own headquarters at the Tytherington Club in Cheshire. In 1998 the Tour changed its name to European Ladies' Professional Golf Association Limited and again in July 2000 to Ladies European Tour Limited. In 2008 the tour relocated to offices at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club, which is just outside London.[8] In 2010, the LET Access Series (LETAS) was launched as the official development tour.

In January 2020, the Ladies European Tour entered into a joint venture arrangement with the LPGA Tour, with the stated aim of "increasing playing opportunities for female golfers in Europe". The board of directors of Ladies European Golf Venture Limited, which assumed control of the tour, includes high level representatives from the LPGA Tour, European Tour, and The R&A. The 2020 season is the first edition of the Race to Costa Del Sol.

Unlike in men's golf, the European and American tours do not share a common set of majors, although the Women's British Open and The Evian Championship are currently recognised as majors by both organisations.

The Ladies European Tour organises The Solheim Cup when in Europe and in 2011, the Tour received a boost when the European side won for The Cup for the fourth time on home soil at Killeen Castle in Ireland. The success continued when Europe earned an historic first away victory at Colorado Golf Club, winning The Cup for the fifth time in 2013.

A record 26 official money events were scheduled for the 2008 season, which also saw the introduction of a new team competition called the European Ladies Golf Cup. Also, for the first time in several years, the LET scheduled an event opposite one of the LPGA's majors, with the ABN AMRO Open held opposite the LPGA Championship. The schedule dropped to 23 official money events in 2009, but increased to 25 for 2010. In both years, the Ladies Open of Portugal was scheduled opposite the LPGA Championship.

The 2016 schedule featured 21 events including the Olympic Golf Competition in Rio de Janeiro (the biennial Solheim Cup, held in odd-numbered years, is also an official LET event but will next be played in 2017 in Iowa).[9] The total of events has been in steep decline since 2016; the peak was 28 in 2008. The two richest events by far are the two European Majors: The Evian Championship (historically the Evian Masters) and the Women's British Open. In 2016, 10 other events (in Australia, China, Morocco, England, Scotland, Germany, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Japan and Dubai) had prize funds in excess of €450,000, with the remainder having prize funds of between €200,000 and €400,000. Total prize money from the 2016 events passed €14 million.

Individual LET tournaments have purses fixed in a mixture of Australian dollars, British pounds, euro, New Zealand dollars and U.S. dollars, so year on year changes in the total prize fund reflect exchange rate fluctuations as well as prize fund movements in constant currencies.

The Order of Merit is awarded to the leading money winner on the tour, though for some years in the past a points system was used. The Player's Player of the Year award is voted by the members of the Tour for the member they believe has contributed the most to the season on the Tour. The Rookie of the Year (known as the Bill Johnson Trophy from 1999 to 2003 and now the Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year) is awarded to the leading first-year player on the Order of Merit rankings.

Year	Order of Merit		Player of the Year	Rookie of the Year	Lowest stroke average
2020	Emily Kristine Pedersen	1249.35 pts		Stephanie Kyriacou
2019	Esther Henseleit	743.06 pts	Marianne Skarpnord	Esther Henseleit	Carlota Ciganda	69.08
2018	Georgia Hall	667.73 pts	Georgia Hall	Julia Engström	Carlota Ciganda	69.31
2017	Georgia Hall	€368,935	Georgia Hall	Camille Chevalier	Anna Nordqvist	68.18
2016	Beth Allen	€313,079	Beth Allen	Aditi Ashok	Shanshan Feng	68.80
2015	Shanshan Feng	€399,213	Nicole Broch Larsen	Emily Kristine Pedersen	Shanshan Feng	69.78
2014	Charley Hull	€263,097	Charley Hull	Amy Boulden	Suzann Pettersen	70.25
2013	Suzann Pettersen[10]	€518,448	Lee-Anne Pace	Charley Hull	Suzann Pettersen	68.20
2012	Carlota Ciganda[11]	€251,290	Carlota Ciganda[11]	Carlota Ciganda[11]	Shanshan Feng	69.00
2011	Ai Miyazato	€363,080	Caroline Hedwall	Caroline Hedwall	Suzann Pettersen	69.36
2010	Lee-Anne Pace	€339,518	Lee-Anne Pace	I.K. Kim	Suzann Pettersen	69.75
2009	Sophie Gustafson	€281,315	Catriona Matthew	Anna Nordqvist	Catriona Matthew	70.83
2008	Gwladys Nocera	€391,840	Gwladys Nocera	Melissa Reid	Suzann Pettersen	68.60
2007	Sophie Gustafson	€222,081	Bettina Hauert	Louise Stahle	Sophie Gustafson	70.96
2006	Laura Davies	€471,727	Gwladys Nocera	Nikki Garrett	Annika Sörenstam	68.33
2005	Iben Tinning	€204,672	Iben Tinning	Elisa Serramià	Laura Davies	70.35
2004	Laura Davies	777.26 pts	Stéphanie Arricau	Minea Blomqvist	Laura Davies	70.31
2003	Sophie Gustafson	917.95 pts	Sophie Gustafson	Rebecca Stevenson	Sophie Gustafson	69.93
2002	Paula Martí	6,589 pts	Annika Sörenstam	Kirsty S. Taylor	Sophie Gustafson	70.59
2001	Raquel Carriedo	10,661 pts	Raquel Carriedo	Suzann Pettersen	Catriona Matthew	70.08
2000	Sophie Gustafson	8,777 pts	Sophie Gustafson	Giulia Sergas	Sophie Gustafson	71.21
1999	Laura Davies	£204,522	Laura Davies	Elaine Ratcliffe	Laura Davies	70.50
1998	Helen Alfredsson	£125,975	Sophie Gustafson	Laura Philo	Laura Davies	71.96
1997	Alison Nicholas	£94,590	Alison Nicholas	Anna Berg	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	72.20
1996	Laura Davies	£110,880	Laura Davies	Anne-Marie Knight	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	71.39
1995	Annika Sörenstam	£130,324	Annika Sörenstam	Karrie Webb	Annika Sörenstam	69.75
1994	Liselotte Neumann	£102,750	n/a	Tracy Hanson	Liselotte Neumann	69.56
1993	Karen Lunn	£81,266	n/a	Annika Sörenstam	Laura Davies	71.63
1992	Laura Davies	£66,333	n/a	Sandrine Mendiburu	Laura Davies	70.35
1991	Corinne Dibnah	£89,058	n/a	Helen Wadsworth	Alison Nicholas	71.71
1990	Trish Johnson	£83,043	n/a	Pearl Sinn	Trish Johnson	70.64
1989	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	£77,534	n/a	Helen Alfredsson	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	70.84
1988	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	£109,360	n/a	Laurette Maritz	Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	72.30
1987	Dale Reid	£53,815	n/a	Trish Johnson	Dale Reid	72.70
1986	Laura Davies	£37,500	n/a	Patricia González	Laura Davies	72.09
1985	Laura Davies	£21,735	n/a	Laura Davies
1984	Dale Reid	£28,239	n/a	Kitrina Douglas	Dale Reid	73.01
1983	Muriel Thomson	£9,225	n/a	n/a	Beverly Huke	74.98
1982	Jenny Lee Smith	£12,551	n/a	n/a	n/a
1981	Jenny Lee Smith	£13,518	n/a	n/a	n/a
1980	Muriel Thomson	£8,008	n/a	n/a	n/a
1979	Catherine Panton	£4,965	n/a	n/a	n/a

• Women's sports
• List of golfers with most Ladies European Tour wins
• Ladies European Tour records
• Women's World Golf Rankings
• Professional golf tours

• Official site of the Ladies European Tour