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NAPLES, Fla. – Megan Khang didn’t exactly know how tight money was growing up, but the fact that her family would drive 14 hours to a tournament while her friends crisscrossed the country by plane gave her an idea. These days Khang finds joy in helping her parents, even with something small like paying their heating bill. She has long said that her goal in life is to build her mother’s dream house.
The Khangs might break ground if the 22-year-old wins this week’s $1.5 million prize at the CME Group Tour Championship. She’s one of 17 players in the field looking to win her first LPGA title and collect the biggest paycheck in tour history.
“Every golfer knows we wouldn’t be where we are without our parents’ sacrifices,” said Khang, who opened with a 2-under 70 at Tiburon Golf Club, five strokes back of leader Sei Young Kim.
In the past, only a handful of players at the top of the Race to the CME Globe had a chance to win the $1 million bonus. This year tournament officials combined bonus money with the first-place prize and gave anyone in the 60-player field the chance at a $1.5 million payday.
CME Group Tour Championship: Tee times | Photos
Jaye Marie Green can picture her father riding around in a Mercedes convertible, his mile-high bleach blond hair moving ever-so-slightly in the wind. Green has heard her dad talk about his dream car since she was a little girl. If the stars happened to align in Naples, Florida, Green might have headed straight to a dealership back home in Boca Raton. After a first-round 76, however, Green may have to wait until 2020 to hoist her first LPGA trophy.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen, like many players on tour, doesn’t have a sponsor on her bag. She has a new hat sponsor this season in JTB, a Japanese travel company. Her other main backer, TestHuset, has been with her since she turned professional.
Koerstz Madsen pooled money together back home in Denmark after she turned professional to get started on the Ladies European Tour.
“It was actually easier the first year than it is now,” she said of landing sponsors.
Which is precisely why making money inside the ropes is so crucial for many on the LPGA. For so many of the players looking to win on the LPGA for the first time, this is a life-changing amount of cash.
“I feel like it’s more like a major,” said Koerstz Madsen, who opened with a 68. The U.S. Women’s Open upped its winner’s check to $1 million this season.
Many golf fans first became acquainted with Brittany Altomare earlier this year at the Solheim Cup, where even Nancy Lopez was dazzled by Altomare’s touch on the greens. Altomare, who turned 29 years old on Nov. 19, won’t soon forget 2019. She hasn’t missed a cut this season and ranks a career-best of 20th on the money list. She got engaged to longtime boyfriend Steven Stanislawzyk in the middle The Lawn at Virginia, her alma mater. The Shrewsbury, Massachusetts natives will wed next October in Italy.
The ultimate bow on Altomare’s season would be to claim her first LPGA title at Tiburon. She carded a 69 in the first round.
“I think I’ve always been the type of person that likes to have security,” said Altomare. “Obviously playing professional golf, there really is no sense of security.”
A $1.5 million check would go a long way toward changing that.
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