The LPGA released a memo to players on Friday evening that was obtained by Golfweek, informing them of an administrative error that resulted in a member being placed in the wrong spot on the original 2025 Priority List. As a result, the member competed in three tournaments for which she was not otherwise qualified: Founders Cup, Honda LPGA Thailand and HSBC Women’s World Championship.
To correct the error, the memo, written by Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer Ricki Lasky, said the member’s CME points, earnings and Aon Risk Reward Challenge points will be removed from official standings. The member has also been moved to the correct position on the Priority List, which determines how fields are filled.
The domino effect of such an error means, of course, that the first alternate for each of these events missed out on an opportunity she had rightly earned.
“We will share more details as we work internally to best remedy the situation for the three players who were inadvertently impacted and left out of these tournament fields,” said Lasky. “We apologize to those that have been directly affected and sincerely regret the error.”
The LPGA did not release the names of the players involved, but according to the Final Entry Lists for each of the events in question, the three players listed as the first alternate for each field include Saki Baba (Founders Cup), Hira Naveed (Thailand LPGA) and Peiyun Chien (HSBC).
Sophia Popov confirmed to Golfweek that she was the player who was improperly placed on the Priority List. Popov was listed as 57th on the LPGA Priority List to start the season with a double asterisk by her name for maternity leave. Popov, however, competed in 17 events in 2024 and finished 136th on the CME points list. She went to the final stage of LPGA Q-School in December and finished T-58th, which means she failed to improve her status.
A player is entitled to the equivalent of one full season of events upon returning from maternity leave.
While the LPGA wouldn’t confirm any of the players involved, the tour did say in a statement to Golfweek that the error was related to a calculation of return to play following a combined medical and maternity leave absence. Popov had taken a medical leave in 2022 to heal her right shoulder and, not long after, found out she was pregnant.
The error was discovered during the review of another member’s maternity leave.
The HSBC and Thailand events are limited and don’t have a cut. Popov earned a paycheck in all three starts as well as CME points.
The tour noted that it is “immediately implementing additional layers of audit and review.”
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