Jeeno Thitikul out-dueled Angel Yin and her hot putter to take home the CME Group Tour Championship’s $4 million prize. It took an eagle-birdie finish combined with nerves of steel to clip Yin by one after trailing most of the final round. This marks Thitikul’s fourth LPGA win, a number that doesn’t match her talent and consistently high level of play. This is a player who made her first appearance on the LPGA Tour just a few days after her 13th birthday and proceeded to beat almost half of the field. A mainstay in the top ten for most of her professional career, she’s often in the hunt but not out in front. That was the case until her birdie putt dropped on 18, finally leaping Yin on the leaderboard and securing the biggest win of her career.

All due respect to Jeeno and her well-earned victory, but the 2024 season will be remembered for Nelly’s streak and Lydia’s resurgence. Fans were treated to a historic year from its most marketable American star and two crowning achievements from its last true prodigy. Let that sink in for a minute. After recent years have seen relative unknowns winning majors and big names disappearing from leaderboards, the dream season finally showed up.

A lengthy offseason (in professional golf terms) now begins. With only one full-field event from today until late March, it’ll be a while before the full talent of the Tour gets the spotlight again. This week served as a microcosm for the opportunities and challenges the LPGA faces going into its 75th season. The $4 million winner’s check raises the bar for future investment in the sport. A commercial-free finish on NBC elevated the feel and high stakes of the Jeeno/Angel duel. It gave a glimpse, a short glimpse, at what a broadcast that cares about its product looks like.

The opposite could be said for Saturday’s third round. A domino effect that the LPGA should be closely monitoring demoted the round to tape delay. NBC’s afternoon programming consisted of Premier League soccer followed by a women’s basketball documentary series on USC’s JuJu Watkins. That bumped the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic to Golf Channel, and the Tour Championship was left without a window for a live broadcast.

There’s no argument that the rise of women’s sports is good for the LPGA. A rising tide lifts all boats so they say. Premier broadcast windows are finite though. This weekend might not be the first time additional programming for other sports pushes golf off network TV. More concerning, the LPGA, handcuffed by a media rights deal brokered by the PGA Tour, might not have much say in the matter. A concerning turn of events was called out by CME Group CEO Terry Duffy who said Saturday’s broadcast was “bullshit”.

The big-name players did their job this season. Nelly, Lydia, and Hannah Green (has there ever been a more low-key, three-win season?) won in bunches. The leaderboards at every major were dominated by top players. After two years of double-digit, first-time winners, there were just three in 2024. Let’s hope these trends continue. In a sports landscape that’s never been more crowded, the LPGA is going to need its best players playing their best in order to compete.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.