After a week off to watch the Masters, the LPGA Tour is back in action at the El Caballero Country Club in Los Angeles for the JM Eagle LA Championship. It’s the first stop in the tour schedule after the Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek in Nevada, and the final event before the first major championship of the year, the Chevron Championship.

The 120-player field is headlined by the likes of Hyo Joo Kim, Hannah Green, Miyu Yamashita, Minjee Lee, Sei Young Kim, and more. Four past champions and six of the top-10 players in the world, including 15 of the top 25, are on hand, playing for the $3.75 million purse. The World Nos. 1 and 2, Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda, respectively, are not playing. Hyo Koo Kim, who won the Fortinet Founders Cup and the Ford Championship this year, leads the pack at No. 3.

Last year, Ingrid Lindblad won her first LPGA title here by beating Akie Iwai by a shot. Lindblad has struggled since that, but with that win, she won the winner’s share of $562,500 for a victory. But besides the winner, the field also offers prize money for the top 65 contenders. Below is the full breakdown of how the purse is distributed for the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship:

The champion also earns 500 Race to the CME Globe points to help reach the season-ending finale. They also move up in the world rankings via Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking points and earn a two-year Tour card for security. The top 60 players in the standings at the end of The Annika in November also got into the season-ending JM Eagle LA Championship. And most importantly, because next week is a major, everyone wants to win right now to feel confident.

Who can win the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship is always a mystery until the final round, but there are several names notably missing from the El Caballero Country Club this week.

Some big names absent from the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship

The World #2, Nelly Korda, is sitting outside due to pure schedule management. With the Chevron Championship kicking off next week,  Korda is taking a strategic break. She is also managing her physical and mental fatigue in a grueling and highly successful start to the season. Had she teed it up at the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship, she would’ve undoubtedly been the heavy favourite. She finished here T16 last season with a  14-under 274 score.

Another massive absence from the Los Angeles field is Jeeno Thitikul. Like many other top-tier players, the World #1 is utilizing the week before a major championship to rest before the first major of the season. Though the Thai sensation didn’t win any majors last season, she won three events and defended her CME Group Tour Championship title.  And this season, Thitikul began with a T7 finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, before winning at the Honda LPGA event in Thailand.

Charley Hull is among the big names missing this week at El Caballero.  Despite winning the Ladies European Tour’s season-opening PIF Saudi Ladies International in February with a final-round 65, the season hasn’t been quite as successful for the world number four. At the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Hull ended up with a T17 finish. And after securing a top 10 finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, Hull missed the cut for the Ford Championship. And at the Aramco Championship, she finished T15.

Most importantly, Hull has come close to winning a major several times, with her best performances including runner-up finishes at the U.S. Women’s Open (2023) and the AIG Women’s Open (2023, 2025), but never won one. So, at this moment, she is probably focused on achieving her first major championship victory at the Chevron Championship.

Apart from them, names like Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson are also missing from the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship field.