Last week, the LPGA unveiled its 2026 schedule. 33 tournaments worldwide, a record $132 million in prize money, and the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands towards the latter half of the season. On paper, this development sounds like change is headed in the right direction. More events, more money, more visibility. But the scheduling? It’s screaming chaotic.

On a recent episode of the Mixed Bag podcast, hosts Meg Adkins and Matthew Galloway broke down exactly why players might be bracing for impact with the new schedule. They went over the schedule, starting with the Asian swing to the JM Eagle Championship in LA. It’s all good until players reach the U.S. Women’s Open in June. “Three majors in six weeks… That is a stretch there…” Meg Adkins quipped.

Beginning in the first week of June, players will face the U.S. Women’s Open, the KPMG Women’s PGA, and the Evian Championship jammed into six packed weeks, with regular tour stops threaded between them. Galloway then added, Even though there is a week off between the KPMG and the Evian, it’s hard for the players.

“Yeah, it’s tough… It’s hard with the players that have this gripe of having to go twice to Europe within a span… I hear you. I hear you; that’s the problem, and it seems like, I think, and then you throw an Olympic here, and it gets really wacky,” he said.

The two constantly pointed out that with the schedule of events for next year, players basically have no time to breathe. Meg Adkins even noted that “it’s so congested” that it kills the storytelling of each event. With almost every major right next to each other, “it constricts the feeling of a bigness that these events should have when it’s three and six weeks.”

And 2026 is also the year of the Solheim Cup, as Adkins reminds us. So, not only do players have some of the biggest events squeezed in, but they also will need to perform their best in every event if they’re looking to make the team.  So the calendar doesn’t just get tight but is also getting squeezed from all angles. Then, there are the travel demands.

The way the schedule has been planned screams how demanding the travel is going to be for the players. Sure, Galloway admits the sequencing is “actually a little better” than some past years, but the challenges remain. He admits that players are almost “coast-hopping” through the year. Players like Nelly Korda had already complained of being physically worn out this year because of the schedule.

And even she agrees with Adkins and Galloway’s point about the majors being really bunched up together. For her and other players, recovery becomes a huge problem. If they take a week off, they can lose ground and potential points/rankings. If they grind it all out, there’s a risk of burning out.

Many fans and players were skeptical of the schedule when it came out, stating that ‘it sounds exhausting’ and there’s a ‘lot of travel,’ similar to what Adkins and Galloway were pointing out. But Commissioner Craig Kessler seemed to be very proud of the work the LPGA has done so far.

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Craig Kessler Is Confident in the LPGA’s New Direction

Craig Kessler, who stepped in as commissioner in July, sees the 2026 schedule as a sign of real momentum, even if players and insiders see a different side of the story.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built, and even more excited about where we’re headed… This schedule reflects the work we’ve put into elevating our courses, improving our routing, and continuing to grow purses… We’ve made real progress, and we’re clear-eyed about where we can keep getting better in 2027 and beyond.”

His focus is on newer and better courses and elevating the prize money, and from the outside, the tour’s expansion and record purses certainly deliver that. The question is whether the players can keep up with the very ‘flow’ he promises.

Despite Kessler’s confidence, there are a few loose ends that remain. The Chevron Championship, 2026’s first major, still doesn’t have a confirmed venue. After Golfweek reported the move from Carlton Woods to Houston’s Memorial Park, the tour hasn’t confirmed the switch, with negotiations reportedly still ongoing. It’s a small example of the larger balancing act the LPGA is juggling—ambition in full swing while the details are still falling into place.

But there is one big positive for the next season.  Starting in 2026, every single round of every LPGA event will air live, something that hasn’t happened since Golf Channel began covering the tour in 1995. More cameras, more interviews, drones, Trackman integrations, etc. It’s a major step toward giving the LPGA the visibility it deserves.