The partnership included a new title sponsorship agreement with KPMG, an increase in purse, and a commitment by NBC to provide network television coverage of the weekend rounds.

Previously, the LPGA Championship had been usually held at a consistent location each year, most recently near Rochester, New York as part of a title sponsorship agreement with Western New York–based supermarket chain Wegmans.

In 2005 this rule was revoked, effectively to allow 15-year-old amateur Michelle Wie to compete, in order to attract more media coverage and sell more tickets, though this was not publicly acknowledged by the LPGA.

Despite the controversy, she outscored all but one of the pros in the 2005 LPGA Championship and was the runner-up, three strokes behind three-time champion Annika Sörenstam.

[citation needed] Wie had turned professional the previous October, upon signing multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts with Nike, Sony, and other sponsors.