Megan Khang was profiled as a likely LPGA winner since her rookie season in 2016. Before breaking through for her maiden victory at last year’s CPKC Women’s Open, the 26-year-old American amassed 15 top-5 finishes.
Even as Khang consistently contended, earning at least one top-5 a season since joining the tour, she witnessed 55 players earn their first victories before she bested World No.3 Jin Young Ko in a one-hole playoff in Canada at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club. The title shed Khang off the unwanted label of one of the best players on tour without a victory.
“It did help that I did win,” Khang said. “So it’s like, I know I can do it and I see my friends doing it, and it’s just making me more hungry.”
Through 19 events this season past winners have dominated, with only two first-time champions in Bailey Tardy’s Blue Bay LPGA title in February and Linnea Strom’s victory at the Shoprite LPGA Classic. Ahead of Khang’s title defence that begins on Thursday at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary, here’s a look at five of the most talented winless players on the LPGA.
Gabi Ruffels
Gabi Ruffels lines up a putt during 2020 Pelican Women’s Championship. [Mike Ehrmann]
Of course we’re starting this list with an Aussie. The talented rookie, who played her way onto the LPGA this season by winning the 2023 Epson Tour money list on the back of her three victories on the developmental circuit, has already recorded three top-3 finishes in her first tour campaign. The 24-year-old finished T-3 in the SeRi Pak Championship, then earned a New Jersey top-3 sweep with a solo third in the Founders Cup and a T-3 in the Mizuho Americas Open in back-to-back weeks.
Xiyu Lin
Xiyu Lin lines up a putt. [Victor Fraile]
The 10-year LPGA veteran stands out as next in line to win an LPGA event. Lin has had five runner-up finishes in the last three seasons, including two playoff losses. Australia’s Hannah Green bested Lin in the 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship on the second extra hole, and Nanna Koerstz Madsen beat the Chinese native in the 2022 Honda LPGA Thailand on the second playoff hole. The World No.17 learned how to contend since 2022, earning 12 of her 14 career top-5s over the past three years, including a T-5 in last week’s Dana Open.
Alison Lee
Alison Lee hits a shot during the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup. [Mike Stobe]
Lee was arguably one of the best players on tour to finish the 2023 season. Between three runner-up finishes on the LPGA, including a playoff loss to Australia’s Minjee Lee in the BMW Ladies Championship, Lee shot consecutive 61s in the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series event in Saudi Arabia to win her second LET title.
Despite Lee being bitten by a dog in the offseason to delay the start of her 2024 campaign, she notched a pair of top-10s in her first three starts of this year, including a T-3 in the SoCal native’s backyard of Palos Verdes, Calif. The 28-year-old climbed to No.14 in the World Rankings before her results slowed down, not finishing inside the top 20 again until seven events later with a T-8 in the Meijer LPGA Classic in June.
Hye-Jin Choi
Hye-Jin Choi hit a driver during the Queen Sirikit Cup. [Stanley Chou]
As an amateur, Choi stamped herself as a likely future LPGA winner seven years ago. She’s still searching for that first title. Choi finished runner-up in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open to former World No.1 Sung Hyun Park in her second-ever major start. Since the South Korean joined the LPGA in 2022, she’s earned six top-3 finishes, including a solo third at the 2022 US Women’s Open and a T-2 in the 2022 CP Women’s Open.
Sarah Schmelzel
Sarah Schmelzel hits a shot during the 2019 Women’s Australian Open. [Mark Brake]
Schmelzel is having a banner year in her sixth season on tour. She posted four consecutive top-10s in March, including a runner-up in the Blue Bay LPGA. That stretch alone is nearly 25 percent of her 13 career top-10s. The American had a rough stretch through the middle of the season, but earned a T-9 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to find form.
