It’s been a strange season on the LPGA Tour. Twenty-six winners in 25 events. Impressive on paper, maybe, but for fans trying to follow storylines? Exhausting. No one’s really standing out, which insiders say might be the biggest threat to the tour’s visibility. It’s not slow play, course conditions, or even star power alone.

Speaking to Meg Adkins and Matthew Galloway on the Mixed Bag podcast, The Athletic’s Gabby Herzig didn’t mince her words when she was asked about the LPGA’s season-long streak of parity. “I think it’s terrible for the LPGA,” she said bluntly. “They need stars desperately, and in order to create stars, someone’s gotta be winning multiple times a year, being at the top of the leaderboard, multiple times a year. I feel like we haven’t even necessarily seen, like, runs from players… It’s been very one-off,” she added.

Her point hits hard. This season has been a masterclass in parity. A record-matching list of winners, equaling streaks only seen in 1995, 2018, and 2022. On paper, it’s a stat to brag about. In reality, it’s a headache for anyone trying to follow the narrative of the tour. “It’s hard for storylines to develop when things change so rapidly week to week,” Herzig explained. It’s also a stark contrast to last season,

Last year, Nelly Korda dominated with seven wins and took the golfing world by storm. Her phenomenal season created a story, a star for fans to latch on to, which is exactly what’s missing this season, according to Herzig. And if the same 26 different winners stat was on the men’s side? It would have been a completely different story.

“If this was happening on the men’s side, I feel like there would be a lot of talk about the course setups and how they distinguish the best players in the field and separate the talent,” Herzig continued. There’d be questions about whether the courses are challenging enough or whether there’s a lack of dominance. But on the women’s side, that scrutiny rarely comes. And Gabby Herzig doesn’t just think that this is a player issue. She highlighted that on the women’s side, too, course setup is another reason for poor visibility among fans.

“Maybe there’s a conversation there to be had about LPGA course setups,” she suggested. “There’s gotta be a way for tournament organizers to set up golf courses to really favor bold play and those players that have everything dialed at once… maybe more risk-reward opportunities and shorter par fives. There’s a lot of things that could be done to make things more interesting, and I feel like it would probably also lead to the best players in the world winning more often,” she added.

This sentiment echoes Amanda Balionis’s recent message to new LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler. She also offered a solution similar to what Herzig offered: Better courses, better visibility. “Fans are turning on the PGA Tour because they want to look at Pebble Beach… Augusta… TPC Scottsdale,” Balionis said. “It’s just as much about the vibe in the course as it is about the competitors.”

But besides the course setup, there’s a secondary issue that quietly follows the LPGA’s visibility problem. It’s the scheduling of the broadcasts of the events, or more specifically, an overlap in schedules with the PGA Tour.

Broadcast conflicts and calendar overlap may be costing the LPGA its spotlight

If you’ve tried to watch an LPGA final lately, you know the struggle. Men’s and women’s events often run side by side, and on Sundays, that clash for TV time is real. Matthew Galloway brought it up on the Mixed Bag podcast, asking Gabby Herzig, “I think it’s almost weird that the schedules align so overtop of each other… Do you think that if they got together and maybe didn’t stack the majors against each other, it would make it easier for you guys covering it?” Herzig didn’t hold back, though.

“Yeah, I’ve always said it,” she replied. “And I don’t know if this is actually a possibility at all, but it would be cool if LPGA events ended on Saturdays. Competing TV windows for final rounds are such a hard thing. Time zones, broadcast schedules… there’s just so much conflict.”

It’s a simple point with a big impact. Trying to shine next to a PGA Tour finale is an uphill battle for the LPGA. Shift schedules even slightly, and suddenly, fans, media, and storylines all get a bit more room to breathe. Herzig’s suggestion isn’t just about logistics. It’s about giving the women’s game the spotlight it deserves.