Second year as an LPGA player Alysene Corpus Earlier this month, she made her final putt on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links, overtook the lead at the U.S. Women’s Open, and held off a wave of challengers to win a memorable final round. Charlie Hull.
Kopus also cashed a $2 million winner’s check, which was more than double the sum of Annika Sorenstam’s three U.S. Women’s Open titles combined.
Despite losing healthcare company ProMedica as a sponsor of the British Open, the United States Golf Association increased this year’s prize pool by $1 million to $11 million.
This is part of a broader move by women’s professional golf to increase sponsorship of tournaments, not just individual golfers. Over the last few years, tournament prize money has risen, new sponsors have sought out golfers, and even players who are not at the top of their careers have benefited.
LPGA Commissioner Molly Marcoux Saman said, “Enhancing the value of the wallet will continue to elevate everyone.”
At the tour level, the LPGA has increased prize money for players above and below the tour rankings. This year, 36 official events total him over $100 million. Ten years ago that figure was $49 million, and in 2021 it’s still around $70 million.
Twenty-seven LPGA players won $1 million in prize money last year (up from 15 the year before). That number still pales in comparison to the men’s PGA Tour, where 126 players earned more than $1 million last year. (He is the only 125 players on the PGA Tour to have full waiver status. This means that even those who did not qualify for every event, or who qualified for every major, outnumbered the top LPGA players.) will also earn a lot of money.)
But Summeran and other coaches are also focusing on individual players. The LPGA announced that from 2021 to 2022, the income of the world’s No. 1 ranked player will increase by 22%, while the income of the No. 50 player will increase by 44%. The top 100 ranked player, from $128,000 to his $167,000 he got a 30% raise.
Top players in any sport are inevitably paid big, but golf is unique in that many of the players in each tournament are reduced and sometimes paid nothing for the week.
“We are looking to partners not only for ways to raise more money, but also for financial support,” Saman said. “Some of the challenges our players face is that half of them can’t play every weekend. Some sponsors include miscut payments. To cover basic costs, Some even offer scholarships and travel bonuses.” But that’s not all.
Another factor driving increased interest and funding for women’s golf is the desire of companies to sponsor both men and women. Journeymen on the PGA Tour rarely ask for sponsorship, but women often struggle, even those just below the top ranks.
Many companies are considering adding female players as part of their broader commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. KPMG was an early adopter of this, making a breakthrough and setting a new standard by continuing to pay. Stacey Lewis When my daughter was born in 2018, I acted under a sponsorship deal.
Previously, golfers had to play a certain number of events to receive full sponsorship funding. Instead, KPMG chose to do what it would do to an employee on family leave. Many other sponsors followed suit.
Risk management consulting firm Aon now offers equal prizes to men and women in the year-round Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which evaluates players’ overall scores on difficult holes in weekly tournaments.
Lisette SalasRanked 80th in the world, 12 years as a professional, sponsor of Aon. She said her conversations with her sponsors have changed radically from when she started.
“At first the conversation was short,” she says. “I was mostly pitching myself instead of what agents and managers do. Now, as the amount invested grows, so does the conversation between players and sponsors. I’m a big fan of diversity and inclusion, and a lot of the companies I sponsor have taken big steps in that direction themselves.It’s refreshing.”
Small businesses are also getting into supporting LPGA players. Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor has sponsored players on the PGA Tour for several years.added this year Allie Ewingwas named LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2016, but finished 11th at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and is ranked 36th in the world.
“When we decide that player sponsorship is part of our branding strategy, we want to make sure it’s inclusive,” said Michael Heller, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Cozen O’Connor. I thought,” he said. “We wanted it to be representative of our company and our clients. It was important to include women players.”
The company chose Ewing because of her story of battling type 1 diabetes and achieving success at every level.
Law firms, like insurance and financial services firms, are a natural fit for the LPGA given their history of using golf for entertainment and marketing in the LPGA industry.
The British golfer, who competed at the Women’s US Open, has a large social media presence that has helped her attract sponsorships from a variety of sponsors, including traditional golf brands such as TaylorMade, financial advisor Hachiko Financial, and wellness supplements. I got help. .
“My early sponsors were brands like Ricoh around the Women’s Open and Omega around the Olympics that were already in golf and looking to reinvigorate their partnerships,” Hull said. “Now I feel like my sponsors are more personal to me, like his Drink Mojo, the supplements I use, and Hachiko, who helps me educate about investing.”
Hull said he has changed sponsors as he has grown as a player, but that’s okay.
“As I grow and mature, so do my sponsors. It’s not necessarily just for me,” she said. “Sponsors may be looking for a certain type of person for the role of ambassador, so as I get older, I may stray from the type of person they’re looking for.”
Top players with cross-sport capabilities have the most power in negotiating sponsorship deals. Jessica Korda Last year, he was ranked 14th in the world before suffering a hip injury, and signed a deal with FootJoy to wear the company’s apparel from head to toe.she first female player To enter into such a contract with Footjoy.
She is especially grateful to her sponsors for helping her get started.
“My rookie year [2011], 14, 15 events,” said Korda, and she made about $50,000. “So having a sponsor helped us cover the cost. We don’t have medical care. We have to pay a lot of money. It’s a pretty big expense.”
Korda, who earned $7.6 million from the golf course, said he expects players to graduate from college and play in a different sponsorship environment.
“That allowed them to play with a little less pressure and not have to worry about getting paid. We partner with brands that
