Every LET Order Of Merit Winner Since 1979

The LET Order of Merit has been awarded to the top player on the circuit since 1979 - here is who has won it over the years

Lee-Anne Pace with the LET Order of Merit trophy
Lee-Anne Pace won the LET Order of Merit in 2010
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The LET has had an Order of Merit in place since its first season in 1979, and over the years, the award has employed different systems to determine the winner. 

For the first 20 years, the player who earned the most money over the season took the honor, but that changed in 2000 with the introduction of a points system.

It proved relatively short-lived, with the money list once again being used between 2005 and 2017 before a points system was reintroduced in 2018, and which is still used today.

The first LET Order of Merit winner was Scot Catherine Panton, who claimed the honor thanks to earning £4,965 from the circuit's 18 events in 1979. 

By the final year of the Order of Merit's first spell where money earned was the crucial metric, Laura Davies claimed the prize thanks to having earned £204,522 in the 1999 season - one of a record six Order of Merit wins for the English player.

The first year with the points system, which came in 2000, saw Swede Sophie Gustafson take the honor, the first of four times in nine years she was named Order of Merit winner.

Dane Iben Tinning then won €204,672 in 2005 to win in the Order of Merit's first year back using the money list, before Georgia Hall won €368,935 12 years later in the final year before it reverted back to a points system. For the record, Hall then won it again in the first year the points system came back.

Georgia Hall takes a shot at the AIG Women's Open

Georgia Hall won the Order of Merit in 2017 and 2018

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nowadays, points earned on the LET count towards the season-long Race to Costa Del Sol rankings, culminating in the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana, which offers the final chance to earn points before the winner is crowned.

Below is the list of every LET Order of Merit winner since 1979.

Every LET Order Of Merit Winner Since 1979

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YearWinnerPoints/Prize Money
1979Catherine Panton£4,965
1980Muriel Thomson£8,008
1981Jenny Lee Smith£13,518
1982Jenny Lee Smith£12,551
1983Muriel Thomson£9,225
1984Dale Reid£28,239
1985Muriel Thomson£21,735
1986Laura Davies£37,500
1987Dale Reid£53,815
1988Marie-Laure de Lorenzi£109,360
1989Marie-Laure de Lorenzi£77,534
1990Trish Johnson£83,043
1991Corinne Dibnah£89,058
1992Laura Davies£66,333
1993Karen Lunn£81,266
1994Liselotte Neumann£102,750
1995Annika Sorenstam£130,324
1996Laura Davies£110,880
1997Alison Nicholas£94,590
1998Helen Alfredsson£125,975
1999Laura Davies£204,522
2000Sophie Gustafson8,777 points
2001Raquel Carriedo10,661 points
2002Paula Marti6,589 points
2003Sophie Gustafson917.95 points
2004Laura Davies777.26 points
2005Iben Tinning€204,672
2006Laura Davies€471,727
2007Sophie Gustafson€222,081
2008Gwladys Nocera€391,840
2009Sophie Gustafson€281,315
2010Lee-Anne Pace€339,518
2011Ai Miyazato€363,080
2012Carlota Ciganda€251,290
2013Suzann Pettersen€518,448
2014Charley Hull€263,097
2015Shanshan Feng€399,213
2016Beth Allen€313,079
2017Georgia Hall€368,935
2018Georgia Hall667.73 points
2019Esther Henseleit743.06 points
2020Emily Kristine Pedersen1249.35 points
2021Atthaya Thitikul3591.96 points
2022Linn Grant3624.91 points
2023Trichat Cheenglab1966.52 points

Most LET Order Of Merit Wins

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WinsPlayer
6Laura Davies
4Sophie Gustafson
3Muriel Thomson
2Jenny Lee Smith, Dale Reid, Marie-Laure de Lorenzi,
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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.