5 players missing from the 2025 HGV Tournament of Champions ft. Charley Hull

The 2025 season tees off with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The Lake Nona event will feature several of the LPGA Tour's top players, as well as some notable absences.

Several of the world's top players will not be playing in the HGV Tournament of Champions. Some failed to qualify, while others decided to skip the event despite having a guaranteed spot in the field.

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5 players missing from the 2025 HGV Tournament of Champions

The HGV Tournament of Champions field is open to all LPGA Tour event winners from the past two seasons. A total of 32 qualified players have confirmed their participation.

Here are five notable absences:

#1 Charley Hull

Charley Hull (Image via Getty).

Charley Hull is considered one of the best players in the world and is currently ranked 10th in the world. She will not be at the event because she has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2022 (Volunteers of America Classic).

Hull has played in two editions of the Tour Championship. She tied for second in 2023 and tied for seventh in 2024.

#2 Ruoning Yin

Ruoning Yin (Image via Getty).

Ruoning Yin, ranked 3rd in the world, won five tournaments between 2023 and 2024, including a major championship (the 2023 Women's PGA Championship), which qualified her for the Tournament of Champions. However, she decided to skip the tournament and start her season at another time.

Yin played in this tournament in 2024 and tied for 19th.

#3 Jeeno Thitikul

Jeeno Thitikul (Image via Getty).

The Thai, ranked fourth in the world, won two tournaments in 2024, including the Tour Championship, so she was assured of a spot at Lake Nona. However, Jeeno Thitikul has decided to sit out and is likely to start her season when the LPGA Tour visits Thailand in the coming weeks.

In fact, Thitikul has never played in the event before. In 2023 she qualified but decided to start her season at the Honda LPGA Thailand, while in 2024 she also qualified but started her season late due to injury (she started at the Chevron Championship).

#4 Lilia Vu

Lilia Vu (Image via Getty).

The former world number one (currently ranked 5th) won five tournaments between 2023 and 2024, including two major championships (Chevron Championship and AIG Women's Open, both in 2023). She also could have played at Lake Nona this week, but decided against it.

Lilia Vu played in this event in 2024 and tied for 18th.

#5 Miyu Yamashita

Miyu Yamashita (Image via Getty).

Miyu Yamashita is one of the main rising stars in world golf. So much so that she has worked her way up to 13th in the world rankings based almost on her LPGA of Japan results alone.

Yamashita will not be playing at Lake Nona because she has never won on the world's top tour, but she earned her card for the 2025 season by winning the LPGA Tour Q-School last December. Her runner-up finish at the 2024 Women's PGA Championship is worthy of note.