Nelly Korda topped the LPGA Tour’s scoring average all season, but finishing with the lowest number was not enough to guarantee her the Vare Trophy. A little-known eligibility requirement has dramatically changed the race, ruling out both Korda and second-placed Haeran Ryu and opening the door for Japan’s Miyu Yamashita to claim the award instead.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek reported on X that the top two players in the standings had become ineligible, leaving Yamashita as the leading eligible contender. Korda finished with a 69.38 average across 53 rounds, while Ryu recorded 69.44 over 61 rounds. Yamashita followed at 69.47, just 0.09 strokes behind Korda, but her greater playing volume could prove decisive.
The LPGA’s eligibility rules require players to complete the lesser of 60 rounds or 60 percent of the season’s official rounds with an individual score. They must also reach the lesser of 70 total rounds or 70 percent of all official rounds, with Olympic rounds counting toward the second requirement in a Games year. The scoring average determines the ranking, but players must satisfy both thresholds to receive the award.
Yamashita had no such eligibility concerns. The Japanese star completed 78 rounds, comfortably clearing the requirements while remaining within a tenth of a stroke of Korda’s season-leading average. Her position in the race was therefore secured not simply by her scoring but also by the consistency of her schedule, which kept her eligible when the two players ahead of her fell short.
Korda’s limited schedule ultimately proved costly. She competed in 15 LPGA events, skipped both the spring and fall Asian swings, and took a deliberate two-month break following the Solheim Cup. Even with four rounds from the team-format Dow Championship included, she could reach only 65 rounds, five short of the required total. The decision to take time away did little to diminish her performances, which included four victories, two major titles and the tour’s lowest scoring average, but it left her unable to collect one of the season’s most prestigious individual honors.
The consequences extended beyond the Vare Trophy. Korda entered the final two events of the season just two points short of the 27 required for LPGA Hall of Fame induction. Her Player of the Year honor added one point, taking her tally to 26, while the Vare Trophy would have supplied the final point. With that opportunity gone, she must now secure another qualifying achievement, such as a victory at The Annika or the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, to reach the milestone.
Ryu’s ineligibility came under very different circumstances. The two-time major champion suffered a finger-ligament injury after riding in a golf cart during Wednesday’s pro-am in Malaysia and withdrew before hitting a competitive shot. She had 61 rounds and eight events remaining in her season, but she ultimately finished one round short of the eligibility requirement. Unlike Korda, who had carefully managed her schedule, an untimely injury derailed Ryu’s hopes.
This isn’t the first time the Vare Trophy has gone to a player who was not the season’s lowest scorer. In 2024, Jeeno Thitikul led the LPGA with a 69.54 average but completed only 62 rounds, allowing Ayaka Furue to claim the award with a 69.988 average. A similar situation unfolded in 2021, when Korda, Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park all finished ahead of Lydia Ko in scoring but failed to qualify. Lydia ultimately won the trophy with a 69.329 average after returning to the Pelican event to ensure she met the playing requirement.
Yamashita now finds herself benefiting from the same system, although her season makes her elevation more than a technicality. The 25-year-old arrived on the LPGA Tour in 2025 after winning 13 times on the JLPGA. She quickly established herself, earning Rookie of the Year honors and winning the AIG Women’s Open before climbing to No. 4 in the world rankings.
She has taken another significant step forward in 2026, collecting three LPGA titles. Her nine-stroke victory in Edmonton was particularly impressive, as she tied the tour’s 72-hole scoring record. She also became the fastest Japanese player to reach five LPGA career victories, doing so in just 46 starts and surpassing Ayako Okamoto’s previous mark of 71.
The circumstances of the Vare Trophy nevertheless highlight how often eligibility, rather than scoring alone, has determined the award. Since 1992, the tour’s lowest scorer has missed out seven times, including Nancy Lopez in 1993, Laura Davies in 1996, Annika Sorenstam in 2003 and 2004, Sei Young Kim in 2020, Korda in 2021, and Thitikul in 2024. The award recognizes the lowest eligible scoring average, not necessarily the player who performed best across the entire season.
For Korda, the disappointment is that a season featuring four victories, two major championships and the LPGA’s best scoring average may still end without the Vare Trophy. Yamashita, meanwhile, has put herself in position to add another major distinction to an already outstanding year. The final standings may reflect the numbers on the course, but this time, the eligibility rules have proved just as influential as the golf itself.