The LPGA Tour’s 2025 season is careening toward its thrilling conclusion, and all eyes turn to Belleair, Florida, where The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican kicks off Thursday at the stunning Pelican Golf Club. More than just another tournament, this week is a pressure cooker: $3.25 million on the line, 108 of the world’s best vying for supremacy, and one last shot at cracking the top 60 for a coveted berth in the CME Group Tour Championship. For players teetering on the edge, this is do-or-die. For others, it’s a chance to solidify dominance or stage a late-season surge. Let’s dig into the key players and plotlines that make this stop one of the most compelling on the LPGA calendar.
Nelly Korda’s Fortress: The Reigning Queen Returns
Nelly Korda returns to her fortress. The LPGA No. 2-ranked player in the world has turned Pelican Golf Club into her personal trophy shelf, notching victories here in 2021, 2022, and 2024. Now, after a break from competition since early October and a handful of near-misses this season, she’s chasing her first win of 2025, and it couldn’t come at a more strategic moment. Her last win came here; her next one might, too.
But Korda won’t have the course to herself. Rising superstar Miyu Yamashita, already a double winner this year, is looking to crash the party in her debut at Pelican. With a major victory and ten additional top 10s, she has proven she’s more than just a flash in the pan. And don’t sleep on Hannah Green, who’s been quietly building momentum and boasts a strong history at this event. She tied for fourth here in 2022 and arrives with back-to-back top-five finishes.
Veterans, Rookies, and a Trump on the LPGA Tee
Lexi Thompson also reappears for the first time since mid-September. While her 2025 schedule has been light, her history at Pelican is anything but; she’s logged two second-place finishes and a T7 over the years, with only one missed cut marring her record. Meanwhile, Charley Hull, another major player making her post-LOTTE return, nearly won here last year. Could this be her redemption arc?
And then there’s the youth movement: Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, Lauryn Nguyen, and Kai Trump. All three are sponsor exemptions and looking to make waves against the LPGA elite. Trump, in particular, brings extra buzz as both an 18-year-old standout and the granddaughter of President Donald J. Trump. She’ll join a field stacked with talent and history, and with the world watching.
Off the course, WNBA star Caitlin Clark makes her second appearance at the Wednesday pro-am, teeing it up again with legends like Korda and Annika Sorenstam. The crossover appeal? Electric.
Bubble Watch: Final Push for the CME Showdown
But beneath the headlines and returns, the real drama is simmering at the bubble. With the Race to the CME Globe boiling down to this one final shot, players like Rose Zhang, Lilia Vu, and Julia Lopez Ramirez are in scramble mode. Zhang, sidelined much of the season, is in danger of missing the Tour Championship entirely, a jarring contrast to her top-five finish here last year. Vu, the 2023 champ at Pelican, has fallen to 74th in points. And Lopez Ramirez, who dazzled at Erin Hills, has only one top-10 to her name this season.
Add in Gemma Dryburgh, Cassie Porter, and Wei-Ling Hsu, all on or around the 60-player cutoff, and this week becomes less about fairways and greens and more about survival. One strong round can shift everything. One poor hole can end a season.
The stakes are sky-high. The names are marquee. The setting is familiar. The ANNIKA at Pelican isn’t just the last tournament of the regular season; it’s a final judgment.
