When LPGA competitors gathered inside a tony ballroom at historic Congressional Country Club sometime around noon on Tuesday, arranging assorted chicken, sea bass and sushi on their plates, they were competing for $4.5 million at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In women’s golf, that’s known as a good haul.
By the time they rose from their chairs, their plates were even more full. The tournament purse had doubled, to $9 million, the winner’s share jumping from $675,000 to $1.35 million. How’s that for a power lunch?
There was a palpable buzz on the grounds at Congressional, much like recess on the last day of school. There was excitement. Giddiness. Joy. Money has been hovering over golf like a cloud of late, taking nearly all the air from the room. A handful of male professionals bolting for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series have been signing for generational sums (see Brooks Koepka, reported $200 million) that their grandchildren’s grandchildren will one day be spending. In return, the PGA Tour sat across from the LIV and pushed more chips into the center of the table.
Face it: Money can fuel evil, and money can be used for good. At KPMG, this was the latter kind, another bright flare that female athletes and their talents are valued. That it came on the heels of a U.S. Women’s Open that doled out $10 million only amplified the drumbeat. It also posed an intriguing question: Who’s next?
The e-mail to players delivering the news had come from first-year LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who couldn’t help but be amused by some of the immediate responses from her constituents. Some emails were biblical: “Oh, my God!!” Others were just plain blunt: “Holy S#&*!!”
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