Shiho Kuwaki won the AIG Women’s Open by defeating Esther Henseleit in a playoff. Not having any popular names in the playoffs reminds us how the LPGA Tour can produce dramatic, unpredictable theater. And it’s good to have new faces win tournaments because loyalists would love to see emerging golfers make their name. But what about casual fans who are there to watch their favorite players win? That’s the branding problem women’s golf has not yet fully solved.

The LPGA boasts more international depth than the PGA Tour, yet lacks continuity for casual fans. Consider the examples of Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul.

Korda’s dominance was erratic: 4 wins in 2021, 1 in 2022, 0 in 2023, 7 in 2024, 0 in 2025, and 4 in 2026. Meanwhile, Thitikul has been consistent with wins: 2 wins in 2024, 3 in 2025, and 2 in 2026.

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Yet Korda and Thitikul still contended at the AIG Women’s Open 2026, finishing T4—proof that star power exists but doesn’t guarantee visibility. In fact, the World No. 1 even won the first two majors of the season, but there’s no continuity.

Both playoff participants were new names to many fans watching the event on the course or from the comfort of their homes.

Kuwaki turned professional in 2021 and developed on the Japan LPGA Tour. She has two JLPGA wins this year and finished T14 at the U.S. Women’s Open—credentials that don’t yet register with casual fans.

Henseleit tells a similar story. She has been part of the LPGA landscape since 2020, when she played nine events. She then got membership in 2021, but her profile still reflects a player known more for steady presence than star-making moments.

This is not a small issue because visibility matters as much as victory. Every sport needs recognizable anchors. These are players who can carry a broadcast and give audiences a reason to return the next week. Take, for example, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who are doing this for men’s golf.

In the WNBA, Caitlin Clark carries broadcasts and drives attendance—a model the LPGA lacks. She even brought her stardom to the LPGA when she played The ANNIKA last year and the year before that. And on both occasions, fans arrived in large numbers to see her play golf.

The LPGA has some names, like Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Lexi Thompson, and others, that can carry the organization. Korda even proved it at the 2024 Chevron Championship, when her fifth straight win got 1.9 million views on NBC. That made it the most-watched Chevron since 2010. In fact, NBC’s final-round audience for the event averaged 657,000 viewers, more than twice the viewers that the Golf Channel drew in 2023.

The problem is not that the LPGA lacks winners. It is that it has too many winners and too few repeat stories. The LPGA had 29 different winners, including 11 first-time champions last year.

Besides the lack of power, the LPGA needs to work on its marketing. Having new winners is not a bad sign for the tournament because it increases competitiveness. However, the tour needs to do a better job of spotlighting these players before they become champions. Both Korda and Charley Hull are showing their off-course personalities during media interactions and through social media, and fans are loving it. The LPGA can take a hint and start building its players’ profiles, both on and off course.

The LPGA’s global depth—stars from the U.S.A., Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and beyond—is a strength, yet the tour can’t build their profiles before they win. This makes the tour a healthier international product. With such rising talent and diversity, the LPGA has an opportunity to create grounding stories that act as the center of gravity for marketing the tour.

That’s exactly what Kuwaki’s and Henseleit’s AIG Women’s Open week showcases. The organization is already making so many contenders, but it fails to make them instantly recognizable.

The LPGA’s paradox: parity drives unpredictability, but without star consistency, the tour will struggle to attract casual fans. Until that happens, women’s golf will continue to produce excellent champions, yet it will still look for the golfers who can attract eyeballs and more fans to the sport.