The updated rules on gender policy, which were announced by the LPGA on December 4, will apply to the LPGA Tour, the Epson Tour (which operates a tier below the LPGA Tour in the US), the Ladies European Tour, and all other elite LPGA events, including the US Women’s Open.

Previously, the LPGA allowed players to compete if they had undergone gender-affirming surgery after puberty and met hormone therapy requirements. But these rules have now been changed.

“The LPGA has updated its gender policy for competition eligibility, effective starting with the 2025 season,” the LPGA said in a statement. “The policy – informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law – was developed with input from a broad array of stakeholders and prioritises the competitive integrity of women’s professional tournaments and elite amateur competitions.

“This working group has advised that the effects of male puberty confer competitive advantages in golf performance compared to players who have not undergone male puberty.”

The statement added that players recorded as male at birth and who have gone through male puberty “are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events”.

R&A expected to follow LPGA’s lead

The R&A, which governs golf’s rules outside the US and Mexico, is expected to adopt the same policy from 1 January next year for its women’s championships, including the AIG Women’s Open.

The changes to the rules will prevent Scottish-born American Hailey Davidson from seeking membership of the LPGA Tour. The 31-year-old, who transitioned after playing men’s college golf in the United States, failed to qualify for a card on the leading women’s tour when finishing 95th at the second stage of LPGA Q School in October.

Davidson’s participation prompted widespread protest, with 275 female players signing a letter asking for changes to policies which allowed people recorded male at birth to compete in women’s events.

Davidson played on the men’s team at Wilmington University in Delaware before transferring to the men’s team at Christopher Newport in Virginia.

Responding to the rule change on Instagram, Davidson said: “I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.”

Announcing the changed rule for 2025, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, the commissioner of the LPGA, said: “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach. The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organisation, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.”

In updating its policy, the LPGA follows other governing bodies from sports including swimming and athletics in banning transgender women from competing in the female category at elite level if they have gone through male puberty.

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The Spanish star held a four-shot lead overnight, but it was a rocky start to the final day as she made two bogeys in her opening three holes at Real Club Guadalhorce Golf.

After just four holes her lead evaporated with back-to-back birdies from Belgium’s Manon De Roey as the duo battled it out.

Ciganda made her first birdies of the day on the fifth and added another on the seventh to have a one-shot lead over De Rosy, who also birdied the seventh

On the back nine, Ciganda made a clutch approach shot and putt after finding the water on 10 to walk away with a par but De Roey drew level on -17 with a three-foot birdie on 12.

However, on 14 the Spanish star went back in front with a short birdie putt of her own and extended her advantage to two shots with a birdie on 17 and although she made a bogey at the last, she won with a total of 18-under-par.

“I’m very happy to win here in Spain in front of so many people and my family” said Ciganda. “It wasn’t easy, sometimes when you have a four-shot lead it’s not easy. I haven’t been up there in a while, so I had some adrenaline going on and started with a couple of bogeys, so things were pretty tight those first few holes.

“I fought hard and I love when we are right there, I love to hit good shots, so I made a really good birdie on 14 and the putt on 17 was great too. I’m really happy to win here in Spain.”

DE ROEY PUTS UP A FIGHT

Belgium’s De Roey put up a great fight on the final day firing a bogey-free 68 to finish in outright second

“I knew I had to make a lot of birdies today, I got off to a good start and Carlota didn’t start that well,” said the two-time LET winner.

“It was up and down the whole round; I got really close. I’m very happy with how I played, I played bogey-free again and didn’t really make any mistakes. I’m still really happy.

Indiia’s Pranavi Urs recorded her best-ever finish on the LET with a solo third after a final round of 69.

In the LET Order of Merit, the top three in the rankings finished as Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini with 2,718 points, Belgium’s Manon De Roey with 2,216 points and England’s Charley Hull with 1,742 points.

Ciganda jumped from 81st up to 28th in the rankings, while France’s Celine Herbin secured the crucial 70th spot in the Order of Merit to keep her full LET card for 2025.

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Trailing Pia Babnik by two shots before the start of play, the Solheim Cup star got off to a hot start at Riyadh Golf Club, birdieing five of her first seven holes to go out in 31 and lead by four.

With her opponents unable to follow in her wake – Babnik, Luna Sobron Galmesand Fatima Fernandez Cano all carding over-par rounds – Hull was able to cruise to victory on the back-nine, combining three more birdies with two bogeys to complete a comfortable three-shot victory.

“I feel like my game’s been pretty good all season,” the 28-year-old said after finishing on 18-under-par for 54 holes. “I’ve been knocking on the door quite a lot of late and this week it finally all came together.”

“It feels really good to win again”

The triumph is Hull’s first in just over two years, and remarkably only her fourth win on the Ladies European Tour. Since her last win, which came on the LPGA Tour in Texas in October 2022, Hull has recorded eight runner-up finishes.

“It feels really good to win again,” she continued. “Especially here in Saudi, it’s my sponsored event with Golf Saudi. It’s just great to be here and get that win. I felt really sharp and played really solid out there – 18-under across three days is a pretty good score.”

After a sensational display Hull jumps to third in the Order of Merit. Chiara Tamburlini, who was on won in the winning team in the event, clinched the season-long standings on Saturday after finishing tied 7th. She becomes the first Swiss player in history to win the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year honours.

Nicole Broch Estrup finished second behind Hull after closing with a 66.  The Dane put last year’s demons to bed having signed for a wrong scorecard in 2023 carding a 67 on Saturday to finish runner-up on 15-under par. Babnik ended the day in solo third on 14 under.

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The 24-year-old from St Gallen has enjoyed an impressive first year on Europe’s top tier professional women’s circuit,  accumulating 2,623 points from 23 events and now has an unassailable lead in the season-long competition to crown the best new player on Tour.

Tamburlini played on the LET Access Series in 2023, turning professional in August and securing two victories which saw her finish third on the Order of Merit and clinch her LET card for the 2024 season.

It was a good start to the year for the Swiss player as she had top-10 finishes at the Kenya Ladies Open and in the individual event at the Aramco Team Series Tampa, before capturing her maiden LET title at the Joburg Ladies Open.

Over the summer, the 24-year-old recorded a T2 finish at the Jabra Ladies Open, T10 in her homeland at the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open and a fourth-place finish at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.

Tamburlini secured her second victory of the season winning via a playoff at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France and followed that up with a T3 in the individual event at the Aramco Team Series Shenzhen.

The University of Mississippi graduate then clinched her third title of the season at the Wistron Ladies Open in Taiwan to all but seal her Rookie of the Year title.

“Winning the Rookie of the Year award  is a goal I set myself at the start of the year – a very high goal – but one that I thought was achievable, and I can’t believe I’ve done it,” said Tamburlini. “To see the list of players who have won Rookie of the Year is great and to be the first player from Switzerland to win the title is an honour. I have really enjoyed my first season on the LET getting to know all the players and staff.”

She added: “Winning a tournament is special, so to be able to win three times in my first year on Tour has been unbelievable and I’m looking forward to the last couple of events and hopefully, being in a position to win the Order of Merit as well.”

With the LET Order of Merit still in the balance, Tamburlini can become the seventh player to win both titles in the same season following in the footsteps of Laura Davies, Carlota Ciganda, Esther Henseleit, Jeeno Thitikul, Linn Grant and Trichat Cheenglab.

The LET season continues this week with the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Riyadh before the year culminates in the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at the end of November.

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Trailing De Roey and compatriot Alice Hewson by one shot heading into Sunday’s final round at DLF Golf & Country Club, the 42-year-old from Brockenhurst was still a shot behind De Roey after 14 holes, but the turning point came at the par-5 15th when Young’s patience paid off and she carded an excellent birdie.

Two holes later and the treacherous 17th proved decisive again as De Roey dropped a shot to give Young the lead heading down the last.

LAST HOLE DRAMA

Then, drama. Young’s third shot from the rough found the water as a playoff looked to be on the cards in Delhi. But after De Roey was unable to get up and down from short of the green, Young dialled in a fantastic wedge shot from the drop zone to salvage a bogey and clinch a one-stroke victory with a closing level-par 72.

I’m in shock,” said Young, whose only other LET victory came at the Swiss Ladies Open in 2022. “It’s my second win, but it’s still as important as any other. They don’t happen very often as a professional golfer.

“Manon is a great friend of mine and we were battling all day. It’s never easy to beat a friend, but she had one a win earlier this year, so it was my turn!”

“I know I had a good round (on Saturday) and I was feeling good about (Sunday), but I actually didn’t hit it great all day. Putting was the key. Me and my caddie were reading the greens great all day.”

The result saw Young climb to 12th on the LET Order of Merit.

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The Swiss star, who only turned professional 14 months ago, has been in a rich vein of form of late on the LET, having won her second title of the year at the Ladies Open de France just two weeks ago.

Tamburlini then captained her team to victory at last week’s Aramco Team Series in Shenzhen before finishing in a share of third place in the individual event.

Having been in a share of the lead from the start of the Wistron Ladies Open, the 24-year-old produced rounds of 66, 73, 68 and 69 to win with a score of 12-under-par.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Tamburlini. “It’s been a long week and to see the video of them engraving my name on the trophy is an incredible feeling. I’m just so proud to have won this tournament.”

Taiwan’s Yu-Sang Hou finished in outright second after a closing 68, while France’s Perrine Delacour fired a final round 67 to take third on seven-under par.

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The pair finished second and fourth respectively in the Order of Merit following the conclusion of the season at the weekend, which saw Smith lose out in a play-off to fellow Englishwomen Ellie Gower at the Calatayud Ladies Open in Spain.

The duo will be joined by Kajsa Arwefjall, Tina Mazarino, Anna Magnusson, Natacha Host Husted and Ariane Klotz on Europe’s top tier professional women’s tour in 2025 after enjoying successful seasons on the Access Series.

Arwefjall topped the LET Access Series order of merit after winning two events and securing seven top-five finishes during the season, while Billie-Jo Smith was a worthy runner-up in a season which saw her beaten three times in a row in play-offs.

The Lincolnshire star, who has fought back from injury to secure her place on the ladies’ top tier circuit, was delighted with her performances this season, despite so many near-misses, and was especially grateful to win the Players’ Player of the Year Award.

“This just means everything – I don’t really have any other words than that,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting the players player award. A couple of people said they voted for me but it’s special to have their support even when I’ve not quite got it over the line this year.

 “It’s unbelievable given last season I was injured. To go from such a difficult place to this is just amazing and hopefully the success can continue.”

Woburn’s Megan Dennis will join Smith on the Ladies European Tour next season following a year that saw her win the inaugural Get Golfing Women’s Golf Championship, and secure five other top-10 finishes.

“It’ such a relief to be standing with my LET card. I was stressed coming into this week so it’s good to finally get to this point,” she said. “Two years go I almost gave up golf when I was going through a rough patch with it mentally. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I met a few new people and changed coaches, and it was the best thing I ever did. I’ve never looked back – so a big thank you to my team.”

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The Frenchwoman began the day in a share of the lead alongside China’s Xiyu Lin on 12-under-par on the World Cup Course at Mission Hills China.

Major winner Boutier had a flawless final day firing a seven-under 66 to seal her sixth victory on Tour with a score of 19-under-par.

“It was a great round,” said the Solheim Cup star. “I definitely feel like we started really hot with Janet, so it was fun to be able to battle it out.

“I’m very happy with my round, I wish a few putts dropped. I was honestly super happy with how I handled today. I feel pretty good. I like China, so hopefully I can win some more tournaments here.”

It was neck and neck between Boutier and home star Lin but a birdie on 12 put the Frenchwoman one stroke ahead and she rolled in her birdie putt at the last to capture the individual title in Shenzhen.

Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard finished in a share of third place after they both fired 65s on the final day.

LET Order of Merit leader Tamburlini, who captained her team to victory on Saturday, went bogey-free, rolling in three birdies on her front nine before making four in a row on holes 13 thru 16 and a final birdie at the last.

“I played really solid all week I just hadn’t been making many putts on day one and day two. Today on the back nine especially my putter decided to heat up a little and I made a couple, it was really nice to see.”

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With the pair locked at seven-under-par it was back to the 18th hole at Golf Barriere where the Swiss rookie produced an excellent birdie after her Australian opponent’s effort came up short.

The victory is Tamburlini’s second of 2024 after she dominated in South Africa earlier in the season to claim the Joburg Ladies Open.

“It was way too stressful!” she said afterwards. “Kirsten played so well today, especially on the back nine, she really lit it up and it was tough for me to keep up. The birdie on 17 in regular play was huge to keep up with her. And then the birdie on the playoff hole was incredible. I can’t really believe it right now. It all went so fast!”

Tamburlini started the day one shot clear of recent winner Annabel Dimmock, with Rudgeley four shots behind in Deauville. A nervy start saw the Swiss star drop three shots on the front nine.

Three birdies in a row from the 8th moved Tamburlini two clear before Rudgeley got her game going on the back nine, making birdies on 11, 12, 15 and 16 to move into the lead.

Then, the shot of a champion. Tamburlini stiffing her approach on the par-3 17th to tie things up and force a play-off with an even par round of 71.

Magical approach

After splitting the fairway at the first extra hole, Tamburlini produced more magic when almost holing her approach as it spun back to seven feet. Rudgeley did well to hit the green after pulling her drive left, but with the birdie effort coming up short, Tamburlini was able to hole her putt for victory.

“It was a rollercoaster day,” she continued. “I did not have my A-game. Especially at the beginning. I couldn’t make a putt but I just kept telling myself it’s not over until 18. It all worked out in the end.”

Belgium’s Manon de Roey took third, a shot behind the leaders, with a closing 66, while Dimmock closed with a one-over 72 to finish in a tie for fourth alongside Noora Komulainen and Virginia Elena Carta.

For all the scores from the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, click here. 

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Dimmock held a two-shot lead at the 54-hole mark and produced three-under par 70 to be in the playoff alongside the Frenchwoman on the O’Meara Course at Carton House.

The duo headed back down to 18 for the playoff and both made pars on the first hole, but on the second hole Roussin-Bouchard took a 3-wood off the tee, however, it went left into the deep rough and she had to scramble and ended up making a bogey.

Meanwhile, Dimmock – who has come back from eight months out of the game with a thumb injury – went down the middle of the fairway with her driver and left herself two putts to win as she duly rolled in her two-foot putt to secure her second LET title.

“I am a bit shell-shocked at the minute,” said Dimmock, whose mother is from Cork. “I’m standing here and I think I’m in a dream honestly. I’m just shell-shocked and over the moon right now.

“This is pretty cool to do it in Ireland. The fans out there and the people watching were amazing to me this week and they really cheered me on. It’s kind of what I needed because I haven’t had an easy couple of weeks.”

Dimmock got off to a good start on the final day as she made birdies on her first two holes but dropped a shot on the 12th hole.

A birdie on 13 saw her just one shot behind Roussin-Bouchard and she rolled in another birdie on 17 for her round of 70 and to finish alongside the Frenchwoman on 19-under-par.

Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom finished her week with another round of 69 for a total of 18-under-par and to miss out on the playoff by one shot and end the week in third place.

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