The LPGA Tour and FM Global announced that TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., will host the 2024 FM Global Championship. From Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, the newly created tournament will feature a field of 144 players competing for a US$3.5 million purse, the largest prize fund on the LPGA Tour outside of the majors and tour championship.
“Boston is quickly becoming a dynamic home for women’s sports,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We are thrilled to join this incredible movement, as the famed TPC Boston prepares to host the 2024 FM Global Championship, marking a historic return of the LPGA Tour to New England. With this event, the new National Women’s Soccer League team and the new Professional Women’s Hockey League team, the momentum for women’s sports in the Boston area is undeniable. We can’t wait to team up with our newest partner, FM Global, to bring the world’s best female golfers to one of America’s great sports regions. We are truly grateful to FM Global for its commitment to elevating the LPGA and to using our collective platform to inspire, empower and advance young girls and women, on and off the golf course.”
FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, takes a unique preventative approach to helping clients protect their businesses, customers and communities. Through rigorous research and engineering expertise, FM Global forges new standards in loss prevention — and meets them with deep-rooted partnerships and human-to-human understanding. For nearly 200 years, some of the world’s leading organizations have worked with FM Global to build resilience to fire, machinery breakdowns and natural hazards. With offices and experts around the world, FM Global is united in its mission to protect today for a better tomorrow.
“We are proud to partner with the LPGA Tour to support this new, marquee event and bring women’s professional golf back to New England,” said Malcolm Roberts, president and chief executive officer of FM Global. “The FM Global Championship provides a tremendous platform to promote diversity and inclusion on the playing field and in the workplace, raise awareness of FM Global’s unique approach to helping clients protect their businesses and mitigate loss, engage our employees, and drive positive impact in our communities.”
The 2024 competition, which kicks off a five-year partnership between the two organisations, marks FM Global’s first major sports sponsorship. Fenway Sports Management helped secure FM Global’s sponsorship of the championship as part of a commercial alliance with the LPGA formed earlier this year.
Roberts noted that as part of the sponsorship, FM Global will support programs to enable women and the next generation of students in pursuit of education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The 2024 FM Global Championship marks the LPGA Tour’s return to New England for the first time since the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open, held at Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass., and won by Meg Mallon. The last time the Tour competed in the greater Boston area was 1997, when Liselotte Neumann won the Welch’s Championship at Blue Hill Country Club in Canton. Other notable women’s golf events held in Massachusetts include the 1954 and 1984 U.S. Women’s Opens at Salem Country Club in Peabody, the 1967-1968 and 1970-1974 KPMG Women’s PGA Championships at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, and the 1960 U.S. Women’s Open at Worcester Country Club in Worcester.
“We are proud and excited to welcome the LPGA Tour back to Massachusetts,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “Sports play an important role in shaping the lives of women, advancing equity and strengthening our communities. The opportunity to see women perform at the highest levels of the game will bring tremendous excitement and enthusiasm.”
TPC Boston, located 25 miles south of Boston, opened in 2002 with an original layout by Arnold Palmer, followed by a 2007 redesign by Gil Hanse and Brad Faxon. The course has hosted 17 PGA Tour events, including the Deutsche Bank Championship, the Dell Technologies Championship and the Northern Trust. The 2024 FM Global Championship will be the first professional women’s competition held at TPC Boston.
