“I knew that once I had kids I wanted to be home,” Olson told Golfweek. “That was a huge desire of my heart.”
Carly Gray Olson just started to crawl last week. Her first teeth came in, too. These are the sweet moments that take most of Amy Olson’s focus these days, which is why the LPGA veteran announced on social media Wednesday that she wouldn’t be coming back from maternity leave.
“I knew that once I had kids I wanted to be home,” Olson told Golfweek. “That was a huge desire of my heart.
“Even when (husband) Grant and I were dating, years ago, we talked about how I wanted to play for 10 years, that was my goal, and then I wanted to shift homeward and focus on family.”
Olson, 31, joined the LPGA in 2014 after winning an NCAA record-tying 20 titles at North Dakota State University, eclipsing the mark of 17 set by Juli Inkster.
Looking back, Olson said winning the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior gave her a huge confidence boost as did qualifying for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open while in college and holding the first-round lead at The Broadmoor. The eventual winner that week, So Yeon Ryu, retired after last week’s Chevron Championship.
(1/4) What. A. Ride. My journey in professional golf is officially ending. Call it quitting, retirement, a VERY extended maternity leave 🤷🏼♀️ …I am turning the page to the next chapter in my life. I couldn’t be more thankful for the places God took me through this game of golf. pic.twitter.com/PQ4MoDu8O9
One of Olson’s favorite memories on the LPGA was clawing back from 6 over through 13 holes at the 2021 Kia Classic to finish tied for second.
Of course, she realizes that others will remember more painful runner-up finishes, like the 2018 Evian Championship, when she made double on the 72nd hole to lose to Angela Stanford.
Or when she was in contention at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in Houston and her father-in-law, Lee Olson, died from a heart attack the night before the final round. Olson finished second that year, too.
“Unfortunately, a couple of the pivotal ones of my career were actually really sad moments,” said Olson. “But I think one of the things I’ve always been most proud of is keeping golf in perspective and realizing that life is bigger than golf. In a lot of ways, some of those bigger moments that people remember me for, I was able to live that out in front of them.”
Olson said while there aren’t regrets in terms of what she could’ve done differently, there are dreams that will go unrealized as this chapter of life ends. She never played on a U.S. Solheim Cup team or won an LPGA event.
“I’ve had to come to terms with that,” said Olson, “I’m just realizing OK, that’s not part of my story, and realizing I have different dreams and bigger dreams, rather than clinging to the same ones that motivated me for a number of years.”
The bigger dreams, she said, are ordinary and small. Being a wife and a mom, being present for the milestones, passing on her perspective and deep faith to Carly.
Speaking with many women who play golf at the highest level, it’s clear that many would like to see changes.
Lauren Miller has played 56 holes alongside Hailey Davidson in recent weeks and estimates that, on average, Davidson hits it 10 to 20 yards past her off the tee. Sometimes, Miller — a former SMU golfer who now competes on mini-tours — will be right alongside her.
But on the first playoff hole of a recent NXXT Tour event at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, Davidson smoked it 50 yards past her with a noticeable jump in swing speed. Miller said the ball came off like a rocket. Davidson reached a par-5 in two she hadn’t previously reached with a hybrid. Her iron shots down the stretch were higher, too.
“It was a completely different ball flight than I had witnessed over the previous 54 holes,” said Miller, who lost on the second playoff hole.
Davidson — believed to be the first transgender player to win a professional women’s golf event three years ago — has made much about her loss in distance over the years. Those who knew her well before her 2021 transition surgery, when she could hit it over 300 yards, thought she’d walk right onto the LPGA. Davidson said she averaged 255 yards off the tee three years ago and has since dipped to 245.
As for the changes Miller noticed in that playoff, Davidson said she swung out of her shoes because she had nothing to lose. Down by three shots with two holes in play in relegation, Davidson was all but ready to congratulate Miller.
After taking a big lash at it on the first playoff hole, Davidson said she still had 203 yards left on a 450-yard par 5 and hit the hardest 18-degree hybrid she’d hit in eight years.
As for the ball flight, Davidson said, she’s always been a low-ball hitter and if she hits one high, it’s because she’s connected on what she’s been working on with Tony Ziegler.
“I don’t have another gear,” she insisted.
Hailey Davidson poses with the trophy after a recent win on the NXXT Tour. (courtesy Hailey Davidson)
A complicated topic that divides fans, competitors and rules makers, there are many questions about what is fair, what is right, and where those concerns intersect regarding transgender participants. There are numerous inquiries about natural advantages and disadvantages, and even past transgender participants don’t always see eye to eye.
Because the science isn’t conclusive, women’s golf has been left with plenty of opinion. And from speaking with many women who play golf at the highest level, it’s clear that many would like to see the LPGA make changes to its current policy.
Bobbi Lancaster’s opinion has flipped
A little more than a decade ago, Bobbi Lancaster became the first transgender athlete to compete in LPGA Qualifying School. The now-73-year-old physician says the LPGA pursuit was largely driven by innocence, mixed with a little bit of ignorance. Now the former honors biology student can’t ignore what she believes the science proves: Transgender women who experienced male puberty have legacy advantages that no amount of hormones or surgeries can erase.
“I don’t think it’s fair to have transgender women like me competing against cisgender women in women’s sports,” she said. “Period, end of story.”
Lancaster’s belief that integrity must trump inclusivity in elite women’s sports comes at a time when Davidson continues to draw national attention after her recent win. While this wasn’t Davidson’s first professional victory, the fact that the NXXT Tour has a new partnership this season with the Epson Tour prompted backlash as many believed Davidson was on the doorstep of the LPGA.
While that’s far from the case, Davidson did twice participate in LPGA Q-School, missing the 54-hole cut by a single stroke in 2022 and narrowly missing out on a chance to at least significantly improve her Epson Tour status if not advance to the second stage.
Bobbi Lancaster, the first transgender player to go to LPGA Q-School, poses in a golf cart. (courtesy photo)
On Sept. 24, 2015 – a date that’s tattooed on her right forearm – Davidson began undergoing hormone treatments and in January 2021, underwent gender reassignment surgery, a six-hour procedure that’s required under the LPGA’s Gender Policy.
Davidson confirmed that she’d like to go back to LPGA Q-School in 2024, but said that it all comes down to finances.
In 2010, the LPGA voted to eliminate its requirement that players be “female at birth” not long after a transgender woman filed a lawsuit against the tour. The 6-foot-1 Lancaster was the first to test that new policy at age 63. Davidson, a former NCAA Division II scholarship player on the men’s team, became the second.
“I was hoping that the sporting community would prefer to have the pendulum in one direction,” said Lancaster, “and I hoped that it would be in the direction of acceptance and inclusivity. That’s where I wanted it to be. Hey, just let us play. Let Hailey play; let Bobbi play, let Lia Thomas into the pool, etc, etc.
“But now that we’re starting to get more science here, my pendulum has swung the other way.”
Distance isn’t the only issue
In November 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced a major change to its transgender policy, leaving it up to individual sports to determine their rules. The following June, World Aquatics — the governing body of swimming — adopted a new policy that only allowed transgender women to compete if they transitioned before the age of 12, or before they reached Stage 2 on the Tanner Scale.
In March of last year, track and field’s World Athletics Council announced a similar ban on transgender athletes who have experienced male puberty.
Last week, the Telegraph was the first to report that swimmer Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania athlete who made history by becoming the first trans woman to win an NCAA swimming title, filed a lawsuit to overturn the World Aquatics ban.
Lancaster looks at the research behind these decisions and believes the LPGA should follow suit in changing its transgender policies to ban trans women who experienced a testosterone-fueled puberty.
“Even though testosterone levels may be lowered for a year or two,” explained Lancaster, “there is indisputable evidence that the legacy skeletal, musculature, and aerobic changes remain unmitigated, and confer on these elite athletes an advantage.”
It’s more than how far a player can hit a ball that matters, she continued, pointing to the strength required to slash out of the rough or the ability to walk up and down hills with less fatigue. Even the ability to pound balls for a longer period is what she calls a legacy advantage.
Heather’s research includes the irreversible changes to male physiology, noting that “testosterone masculinizes the brain in utero and during early life … testosterone drives muscle mass, muscle fiber type and muscle memory. Most of the effects driven by testosterone cannot be reversed with estradiol (or cross) hormonal therapy.”
Heather notes that females have 10 to 12 percent smaller lung volume than males. Females also have a heart size that’s roughly 85 percent of males, relative to body size.
These are some of the legacy effects Lancaster now emphasizes as a reason for change.
“Because of the male puberty, you got to be a certain height, you got a certain skeletal structure – usually taller, at the elite level – longer legs, bigger hands. These are all levers. These are all what gifts males in general have that are advantages that can’t be undone by going on hormones or having surgery to remove your testicles,” Lancaster said.
“Your cardiac size, your cardiac output. They’re there.”
Amy Olson plays her shot on the 4th tee during the first round of the Palos Verdes Championship Presented by Bank of America at Palos Verdes Golf Club on April 28, 2022 in Palos Verdes Estates, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Veteran LPGA player Amy Olson, who is now on maternity leave, believes the tour should return to requiring that athletes be female at birth. Olson said there are many players who privately agree that the tour’s rules need to change, but few are willing to speak out.
“I think what women’s sports in general has to decide,” said Olson, “is if it’s worth it for there to be a category for women to be around for our daughters.”
While the threat of another lawsuit undoubtedly plays a large role in decision-making, Olson points out that the threat works both ways. Should a transgender woman earn an LPGA card and replace a biological female, the threat of a lawsuit against the tour could be just as strong.
“We as women now have to be willing to take a risk,” said Olson. “What is courage if there isn’t risk involved?”
Academics weigh in: ‘It’s a critical question’
In 2019, some of exercise science professor Gregory Brown’s students attended an NCAA Division II women’s track meet in which CeCé Telfer became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA title.
Brown’s students returned to class asking, “How is this allowed?”
The professor’s interest was piqued.
“The number that gets put out there a lot of times is that men are 30 to 60 percent stronger than women, which really depends on which muscle group you’re measuring, which type of lift,” said Brown, an exercise physiologist at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. “There’s another paper that came out just recently that said the difference is more like between 40 to 120 percent, with an average of 73 percent.
“If a man is, say, 30 percent stronger than a woman and undergoes testosterone suppression and estrogen administration, he only loses about 5 to 9 percent of that strength. That still doesn’t equal the playing field between men and women.”
Even before puberty, Brown notes, there are smaller differences. Boys are 3 to 4 percent faster at running; they’re 1 to 2 percent faster at swimming. When throwing a shotput or javelin, boys throw 15 to 20 percent further than girls. Puberty accelerates those differences.
“We just don’t know what happens with puberty blockers,” said Brown. “We really can’t say in any way shape or form based on any type of evidence, that if a man uses puberty blockers before Tanner Stage 2, that he is equivalent to females going through female puberty.”
What’s more, he continued, the long-term effects of puberty blockers on areas like brain development and cognition remain unknown.
University of Washington endocrinologist and professor of medicine Dr. Bradley Anawalt is a member of an NCAA Committee dealing with competitive safeguards and medical aspects of sports and is a consultant to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Committee.
When asked if it’s possible to create a policy that will give all competing athletes a sense of fairness he sounded skeptical.
“It’s a critical question. The short answer is no,” Anawalt said. “Even if someday, years or decades from now, we figure out all of the science of puberty’s influence on athletic advantage, there will still be doubts about fairness based on other differences between individuals who are born with male genitalia and XY sex chromosomes and individuals born with female genitalia and XX sex chromosomes.
“No policy or accommodation will leave all competing athletes or all members of the general public with a consensus of fairness about hormone therapies that might confer a competitive advantage.”
In 2004, Mianne Bagger became the first transwoman to play in a professional golf tournament at the Women’s Australian Open. She’d go on to become the first transgender woman to qualify for the Ladies European Tour.
Bagger, now retired from tour life, told Golfweek three years ago that as she followed the emerging science around trans athletes, she began to lean more toward the exclusion of transgender women from women’s sports.
“Everyone has to be reasonable in this,” she said. “You can’t just deny some physiological advantages for the sake of inclusion.”
Even back then, Bagger wanted to see the LPGA extend its period of ineligibility to three years after gender surgery. The LPGA and USGA had instead recently gone the other direction, removing a two-year waiting period after surgery.
When asked for comment about where the LPGA currently stands on its gender policy, the tour told Golfweek, “In consultation with relevant medical, sports science and legal experts, we’re continuing review of our policy.”
Lauren Miller: ‘This is way bigger than just me’
The NXXT’s Miller decided that she wanted to pursue golf on a professional level around age 9 and, after receiving three degrees, including two master’s degrees from Mississippi State and SMU, Miller signed up for Stage I of LPGA Q-School last summer.
While her first stab at an LPGA card didn’t go as planned, the Niceville, Florida, native was eager to begin her first full year of professional golf on mini-tours like the NXXT, where she met Davidson in the playoff on Jan. 17 at Mission Inn Resort and Club, about an hour away from where the LPGA season was kicking off at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Miller’s first time competing against Davidson came at a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier in 2021. She recalled standing on the range warming up at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach, Florida, and hearing a different sound coming off the clubface a few spots down.
The following year, Miller found herself in a Ph.D. level gender in sport class after the sport funding course she needed to complete her master’s program at MSU was unavailable.
For three hours a week, Miller and one other student discussed and debated topics with their professor, including transgender athletes in elite women’s sports.
Fast forward to January 2024, when Miller suddenly found herself quietly in the center of the Davidson controversy. While the 22-year-old admittedly let that tournament victory slip away, Miller sees a bigger picture at play.
“If I win that golf tournament, no one really knows,” said Miller. “It does not get the press or the attention that it does now.
“If I had to lose for there to be more awareness brought to this, then I’m OK with that, as this is way bigger than just me.”
Former SMU golfer Lauren Miller poses after NCAA regional qualifying. (courtesy Lauren Miller)
Davidson believes the rules in swimming that led to Thomas’ NCAA success were too lax and are partly to blame for the backlash she now feels.
“Because that happened,” she said, “all the hate is being directed at me because everyone thinks it’s the same thing.”
Davidson withdrew from an NXXT event earlier this week thinking it might help calm the storm. After talking to family, however, she regretted the move and tried to get back in but was too late.
Friends in golf who showed support on social media after her recent victory, Davidson said, took down their posts in a matter of minutes.
“It’s a different animal of hate than people are probably used to,” she said.
Betsy King: ‘I just think it’s unfair’
Growing up in Indianapolis, there was no organized state high school basketball tournament for Therese Hession to play in. Female teams made up their own schedule and stayed within the city.
In the fall of 1975, Hession helped start the women’s golf program at SMU before joining the LPGA. After a decade on tour, she began her coaching career at Ohio State in 1991, eventually becoming the first woman to serve as director of golf for both the men’s and women’s programs at a Power Five conference school.
Hession, like Olson, would like to see the LPGA go back to its original female-at-birth rule, noting that it doesn’t matter if it’s one transwoman trying to get on tour or 10.
“I just really feel like everything I‘ve done in my life, I’ve had to scratch and claw to get to move the bar,” she said, “and I feel like this would set the bar back for women.”
Judy Rankin, a 26-time winner on the LPGA and Hall of Fame member who for a long time shaped coverage of the women’s game from the broadcast booth, agrees with Hession, saying that someone who has had years of male masculine development should not be able to compete on the LPGA.
Betsy King of the USA checks the wind direction in the 1998 Solheim Cup between Europe and the USA played at Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio, USA. (Photo: Craig Jones/Allsport)
Betsy King, another LPGA Hall of Famer and six-time major champion, was a three-sport athlete at Furman and recalled going to the president’s office each year with other female athletes to ask for more money.
At the national championships her sophomore year, King said the Paladins had only one team shirt, and they saved it for the final round.
“We were in a position where we as athletes stood up more,” said King, “because no one else was doing it.”
Count King as another player who’d like to see the LPGA return to a female-at-birth policy.
“I’m obviously not an expert in the science of it,” said King, “but as an athlete, it just is so apparent to me that even if you’ve had the surgery and been on hormones, there are differences that exist between males and females, that even if you transition, you can’t change that.
“I just think it’s unfair.”
‘The children didn’t create this mess’
After Davidson took to social media to publicly break down her yardages on the first hole of that playoff, Miller pointed out that the course was extremely wet that day, and that it was 45 degrees outside. The 247 yards Davidson hit it on that first playoff hole, she said, was all carry.
Miller, who didn’t really want to get into a back-and-forth with Davidson, also wanted to reiterate what others, including Lancaster have said, that distance is only one part of the equation.
“I share my story not because I’m angry at Hailey for beating me, and I just want to get back at Hailey,” said Miller. “This is way bigger than the story that happened on a small mini-tour in Florida. … Whether Hailey hit it 210 or 290, it wouldn’t change my opinion on this matter.”
Not long after Golfweek first spoke with Lancaster for this story, she sent a follow-up text message noting that she felt low. While Lancaster, who essentially went on a speaking tour after taking up professional golf, realized that what’s unfolding now isn’t all her fault, the pursuit of a dream did draw attention to transgender women competing in women’s sports, and scrutiny and backlash followed.
“Now, in many places, trans kids can’t receive medical care or play sports,” Lancaster wrote. “The children didn’t create this mess. It was people like me, who inadvertently pushed the boundaries until science and the world pushed back.
“Now I’m trying to be a small part of the solution.”
“We are so blessed and grateful to God who gives good gifts!”
LPGA veteran Amy Olson announced on Instagram that she and husband Grant welcomed their first child, Carly Gray Olson, on Sept. 15.
“We are so blessed and grateful to God who gives good gifts!” Olson wrote. “So many answered prayers in this little bundle.”
Olson, 31, played the U.S. Women’s Open in July at Pebble Beach while seven months pregnant. It was her last competitive event before going on maternity leave.
An LPGA veteran since 2014, Olson wasn’t sure what motherhood would mean to her playing career.
“Truly I like couldn’t tell you either way,” said Olson in the run-up to Pebble. “I want to see how it goes. I have been super, super blessed and thankful for everything I’ve been able to do out here. I love it, and I think I probably will never do what I’ve done over the last nine years, playing 25 weeks out of the year.”
Olson is the winningest player in college golf history, claiming 20 titles while at North Dakota State. Husband Grant is a special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at North Dakota State. He has been part of three NCAA Division I FCS national championship teams as a player and three as a coach with the Bison.
Soon after receiving the happy news, Amy Olson surveyed her friends on the LPGA to see how long they played while pregnant. The consensus: 28 to 30 weeks.
Olson will be 30 weeks pregnant when she competes at historic Pebble Beach Golf Links in the most anticipated U.S. Women’s Open since the men and women played in back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst No. 2 nine years ago.
Olson, who turns 31 on July 10, was six months pregnant when she qualified for the first women’s major ever held at Pebble Beach, taking medalist honors at the Minnesota qualifier with a 36-hole score of six-under 138.
“It’s one of those memories I’ll talk about forever,” said Olson of playing a major while pregnant, “and the fact that it’s at Pebble is really cool.
“The fact that there will be two of us walking down the fairway together, that’s pretty awesome.”
Olson’s only experience playing Pebble Beach so far came last winter on a simulator. The North Dakota native said she stopped by the resort with her college team once and again while on tour to experience the atmosphere of the 18th. The Women’s Open will be her last tournament before the baby arrives.
Olson led a rain-delayed Round 1 at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor when she was a junior in college. The 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, who won an NCAA record 20 college titles at North Dakota State, said she had a carefree attitude back then and likely didn’t think much about it.
In 2020, Olson aced her way to another first-round lead at a December playing of the championship at Champions Golf Club. The week took a sorrowful turn, however, when Olson learned that her father-in-law Lee Olson, a tough West Point grad who had a soft spot for the women in his life, died unexpectedly on Saturday evening. Husband Grant flew home to be with his mother and brother and prepare for the funeral.
On Monday, a grief-stricken and gutsy Amy held the solo lead early on the back nine before being overtaken by A Lim Kim, who birdied the last three holes to win the crown jewel of women’s golf in her first attempt.
It marked the second time in Olson’s career that she’d finished tied for second in a major.
“I allowed myself to think about what I’m grateful for,” she said, tearing up after the final round. “And I’ve got a long list.”
Olson’s limited status this season has only gotten her into three events thus far and she played in two of them in June, missing the cut in each.
She did, however, make her seventh ace ahead of the Meijer LPGA in Michigan and then followed it up with an albatross two days later in the pro-am. While Olson said the baby was certainly bringing her some “serious golf mojo,” she noted that they needed to work their timing.
Heading into Pebble Beach, Olson said she was past the point of the extra body weight yielding any positive returns as her distance off the tee diminished.
A veteran of 34 major championships, Olson has played enough to know that length is key, so fairways will be an even bigger premium this week.
She also made adjustments to her setup on the greens, making sure that her right arm doesn’t run into her belly.
“I’m kind of going on a day-by-day, week-by-week strategy here,” Olson said.
Brittany Lincicome played the KPMG Women’s PGA while 30 weeks pregnant with her second daughter Sophia last summer at Congressional. She played 10 times total while pregnant that season, with her best finish, a T-6, coming at the ShopRite.
Stacy Lewis played the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open while four months pregnant with daughter Chesnee. At that point, she hadn’t lost any yardage or stamina. Her short game had actually improved.
Catriona Matthew, a 48-year-old mother of two, said loss of distance usually hits after the five-month mark.
“You just start hitting it nowhere,” Matthew, who famously won the Women’s British Open 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daugther, once said. “You’ve lost the speed. You don’t realize, I suppose, how much your body is working. You don’t think you should be tired, but you are.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtZXCqquzL7/?hl=en
Juli Inkster won four of her seven majors after becoming a mom. Kathy Cornelius won the 1956 U.S. Women’s Open after giving birth to her first daugther, Karen.
Susie Maxwell Berning, a 2022 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, is a four-time major winner and mother of two, who won two of her three U.S. Women’s Open titles after giving birth.
Seven-time major winner Inbee Park is currently on maternity leave as is 2020 Women’s British Open champion Sophia Popov and veteran Solheim Cup player Caroline Masson.
Olson, who has yet to win on the LPGA, isn’t sure what comes next after maternity leave. She’s never had more than one year of status at any point in her career, so taking it year-by-year isn’t anything new.
“Truly I like couldn’t tell you either way,” said Olson. “I want to see how it goes. I have been super, super blessed and thankful for everything I’ve been able to do out here. I love it, and I think I probably will never do what I’ve done over the last nine years, playing 25 weeks out of year.
“But will I ever come out again? Couldn’t tell you.”
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open is going to be special.
For the first time in its history, Pebble Beach Golf Links is set to host a women’s major championship. The best women golfers in the world will soon be competing on the cliffs of the Monterey Peninsula, battling for the Harton S. Semple trophy.
Among those in the field will be Amy Olson.
Olson earned a spot by shooting a second-round 6-under 138 at a USGA qualifier at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
Sure, earning medalist honors with her performance is impressive, but doing so while six months pregnant brings the accomplishment to another level.
“I wanted a shot at it because it’s Pebble. That was the big motivation and it’ll be my last tournament before the baby comes, so it’s a good way to go out,” she told the Minnesota Golf Association.
— Minnesota Golf Association (@MNGolfAssn) May 23, 2023
In five major starts last season, Olson missed four cuts and tied for 60th at the U.S. Women’s Open. Her best finish in a major is a tie for second, which she’s done twice: the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2018 Evian Championship.
Here’s a list of players and caddies who have found a good rhythm and seem to be in it for the long haul.
There’s turnover every season when it comes to player-caddie partnerships on the LPGA, particularly at the start of the year. World No. 1 Lydia Ko has changed caddies regularly throughout her career, including this season, despite having an enormously strong 2022.
Minjee Lee, who won a couple majors in the past two years, will begin 2023 with a new looper after enjoying much success with veteran Jason Gilroyed.
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Plenty more players have made changes, but there are a number who have stood the test of time. While not by any means exhaustive, here’s a list of players and caddies who have found a good rhythm and seem to be in it for the long haul:
“At the end of the day we’re entertainers, but we sometimes don’t get paid for our entertainment.”
BELLEAIR, Fla. — The winner’s check at the upcoming CME Group Tour Championship will be equal to or greater than the purse at 20 of the 32 events on the LPGA this season. That record-setting $2 million payday will make headlines across the country and continue the narrative that there’s more money than ever in the women’s game, and while that’s true, it’s not the whole story.
For those players who have conditional status on the LPGA and fall between No. 101 and 150 on the money list, it’s becoming increasingly harder to make a living.
As major championship purses soar and more players than ever (currently 22) are enjoying seven-figure seasons on the LPGA, the majority of week-to-week purses on the biggest tour in the women’s game have barely increased over the last decade.
“I’ve seen so many players quit due to finances and not due to lack of talent,” said nine-year veteran Amy Olson, who also happens to be a CPA.
“You have to have a tour that provides sustainability for that next generation, and we don’t have that right now.”
Increased purses
The CME Group Tour Championship’s purse has increased from $1.5 million to $7 million in the last decade, surpassing and pushing even major championships to put up more cash. This year, the U.S. Women’s Open offered a record $10 million purse. The AIG Women’s British Open prize fund has increased 125 percent since 2019. Over the past 10 years, the average winner’s check at the majors has risen from $422,000 to $1.2 million. That’s life-changing money.
The money at other week-to-week events that have been the backbone of the LPGA for decades, however, have only slightly increased in that timeframe. This includes longstanding limited-field events in Asia, which have gone up only $100,000 or $200,000 since 2012.
The limited-field Asian events (where there’s no cut) have always been considered rewards for top players. But, despite tournament organizers paying expenses, those who have a bad week in Asia now lose money after paying their caddie’s expenses due to stagnant purses and increased travel costs.
The average purse on the LPGA 10 years ago – not counting the majors or CME – was $1.57 million. This year it’s $1.87 million.
That’s an increase of 19 percent over the course of 10 years, below the rate of inflation in that timeframe. Consider that from 2002 to 2012, the average purse increased by 43 percent.
In 2012, there were 19 events with purses below $2 million; this year there were 15.
Making cuts but losing money?
It’s not unusual for a player to make the cut on the LPGA and still lose money after paying her caddie and expenses for the week. Olson said many resort to using credit cards.
“Can you even imagine the pressure standing over a drive with OB right and water left thinking, I just put $4,000 on a credit card for this week,” said Olson. “That is not a sustainable way to play golf. There’s already enough pressure the way it is.”
Amy Olson chips to the fifth green during the second round of the Dana Open presented by Marathon at Highland Meadows Golf Club on September 02, 2022 in Sylvania, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
While the top half of the tour has never been richer, the bottom half remains pinched, despite each position on the money list improving. The range of purse sizes on tour has become so large, in fact, that in 2021, the LPGA transitioned to determining status based off the Race to the CME points list rather than the money list.
Why does the average purse matter? Because those are the fields that up-and-comers are getting into through Qualifying School and the Epson Tour. That’s where most players begin the dream, with purses that are $1.5 million. And while most of the top players coming from other countries have the financial backing and support from their national programs, American players who aren’t superstars are mostly on their own.
“If you make the cut and finish 50th or 60th,” said Cheyenne Knight, “you’re breaking even or still might be losing money.”
Life on the road ain’t cheap
As the nation struggles with inflation, women who live most of their year on the road are taking a significant hit. Dana Finkelstein said a plane ticket from Phoenix to Tampa that used to run $170 is now $370. She looked into flights on Tuesday, in case the Pelican moved to a Monday finish, and they were running $560. A weekly rental car that used to run $200 is now more than $300. She estimates most players who stay in a hotel – Finkelstein relies on host housing – have at least $3,000 a week in expenses after paying their caddie.
“And that’s on the cheap side,” she said.
Caroline Inglis, who currently ranks 99th on the CME points list and 98th on the money list ($164,798) estimates that she has spent six figures on her team and travel through 16 events.
“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Inglis, referring to the LPGA’s 2023 schedule that begins with limited-field events. “I feel like I spent so much money this year, it’s unreal.”
Olson notes that the LPGA has about 200 active members and 150 who play a decent-sized schedule every year. Last year, the 100th player on the money list earned $128,647 and the 150th earned $28,305.
Stephanie Meadow says her expenses for the year typically range between $115,000 to $125,000, including what it costs to pay her team. That’s staying in average hotels and with a couple of host families.
“This is the best tour in the world, you’re practically top 100 in the world at what you do,” said Meadow, “and there’s not another job out there (in the top 100) that you wouldn’t be making a living enough to buy an average-sized house.”
Not to mention quality healthcare and retirement investments.
What’s the solution?
The Pelican announced a $3.25 million purse for next year’s event – renamed The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge – making it the highest purse for a non-major event outside of CME. The new JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire will offer a $3 million purse next year, double the money from 2022. The new Mizuho Americas Open hosted by Michelle Wie West will have a purse of $2.75 million.
(It’s worth noting, however, that this year the LPGA had both the Gainbridge LPGA and the Pelican LPGA for a total of $4,000,000. They’ve combined now into one event for a purse of $3,250,000.)
More premium events like these is the first goal, said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. New events on the LPGA schedule must start with a minimum $2 million purse.
“We’re also looking at other opportunities,” she told Golfweek. “Is there a stipend at some event or a minimum that players make by getting into the field?”
This already happens at some of the majors, of course, where at the U.S. Women’s Open, those who missed the cut at Pine Needles made $8,000, double what was given last year.
“Listen, it’s a meritocracy,” said Marcoux Samaan. “It’s so hard to win out here and it’s so hard to make the cut, that we feel like those players should be significantly compensated for achieving that goal. But are there other ways that we can help players out?”
Minjee Lee poses with the trophy after winning the 77th U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club on June 5, 2022 in Southern Pines, North Carolina. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Last week, the DP World Tour announced that players would be guaranteed a minimum of $150,000 against their earnings next season, provided they make at least 15 appearances. The move comes amidst the ongoing threat of LIV Golf and its guaranteed payouts.
The PGA Tour announced a similar program back in August that guarantees $500,000 up front for rookies and those returning to the Tour. Everyone else who doesn’t meet the threshold at the season’s end will be paid the difference.
“If you look, we’re now the only main tour that isn’t offering some sort of compensation,” said Ashleigh Buhai. “It makes a huge difference, and we are the only spot that you’re not guaranteed money.”
When asked if the LPGA could provide a similar program, Marcoux Samaan said, “I think, again, we have to just look at where we are in the moment and look at what we can do. Our goal is to provide as much as we can to the players.”
Olson would like to see each player in an LPGA field be guaranteed $3,000 up front. Those who make the cut will earn at least an additional $4,000.
Where does that money come from?
One option, Olson believes, is to change the purse distribution. Currently, the winner at most LPGA events receives 15 percent of the purse. After that, six percent of the purse goes toward the tour’s operational costs.
That leaves 79 percent for everyone else who makes the cut. (The U.S. Women’s Open gave 18 percent of the winner and CME will give the winner roughly 29 percent.)
“I think we have to go down to 12 percent,” said Olson, “or take from that top 10 and be able to feed that into the bottom ranks.”
Top players have multiple sources of revenue, she notes. In addition to prize winnings, they get into limited-field events, are offered appearance fees on other tours, and more corporate sponsorship opportunities.
“I would say the top 30 have opportunities for great sponsorships,” said Olson. “Beyond that, I think it’s pretty iffy.”
Olson believes a change to the purse distribution could be a short-term solution until all LPGA tournaments are above $2.5 million.
A general view of the Race for the CME Globe Money Box on the 18th green prior to the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 14, 2018 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
If stipends are given out, Stacy Lewis would like to see some additional responsibilities be added so that players do more to help out events.
Lewis, a former No. 1, concedes that because of her early success, she never worried about money. On one hand, she said, it’s difficult to think about giving a stipend when players are competing for more money than ever before. But, on the other hand, it’s a top-heavy money list.
“I do think we need to look at our purse distribution,” said Lewis.
Karen Stupples knows what it’s like to win a major championship. But, prior to that, she also knew what it felt like to be down to her last $500. Stupples likes a model that encourages players to fight for their money. To grit it out. The way she sees it, the struggle is part of the process. Everyone has an opportunity to grow and improve.
“Part of playing professional golf, what you signed up for,” said Stupples, “is that you have to play well in order to make it.”
As Olson has canvased her peers on the subject, some top players have understandably shown resistance. “Play better” is a common refrain when it comes to money problems, and Olson believes there will always be about 20 people who are firmly against a change that would take away money from top finishers.
Count top American Nelly Korda among them.
“I feel like that would be a step back in women’s sports, lowering the prize money,” said Korda, pointing out that PGA Tour winners receive 18 percent of the purse.
Lydia Ko, however, said that while taking some money away from the winner sounds shocking, she understands why something like that might need to happen.
“I think we’re moving in the right trend of things,” said Ko, “but I do think it does probably need to be a little bit dispersed better.”
Three-time winner Gaby Lopez thrives when conditions are hard, when it feels like her back is against the wall.
“I like the challenge,” she said. “I also understand my peers, like they said, they need to make a living.”
Ryann O’Toole floated the idea that players get paid for participating in the pro-am. Others wondered if moving the cutline from 70 and ties to 60 or 65 and ties might help. Meadow, an accounting major, said she’d need to get out a spreadsheet to weigh the options.
“At the end of the day we’re entertainers,” said O’Toole, “but we sometimes don’t get paid for our entertainment.”
Olson has been ranked as high as seventh on the money list (2020) and as low as 119th (2016) and has seen many of her peers come and go over the years. One friend who walked away due to finances had credit card debt that took over five years to pay off.
A native of Oxbow, North Dakota, Olson especially has a soft spot for those who, like her, grew up in a small town with a short season. She’d like to see them have more of a fighting chance.
“We want to create a place where women can pursue their dream of professional golf,” said Olson, “and we don’t want to see that dream become a nightmare … where they have to spend the next five years recovering from their dream.”
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move.
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move. The top 60 players on the Race to CME Globe points list gain entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where anyone in the field can win the top prize in women’s golf of $2 million. The last player in this year’s field is guaranteed to make at least $40,000.
Last week’s winner, Ally Ewing, jumped from 71st to 30th with her victory in Cincinnati. Maria Fassi, who finished a career-best solo third, jumped from 96th to 67th, just outside the mark. The story around Fassi suddenly shifted from possible Q-Series to possible Tour Championship.
The top 100 on the CME points list keep their LPGA cards for 2023.
Like the rest of the country, reactions from LPGA players competing at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship were mixed.
BETHESDA, Md. – Mariah Stackhouse was in the middle of her second round at the KPMG Women’s PGA when news broke that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that had given women the constitutional right to have an abortion in the United States for nearly 50 years. The decision is now up to individual states.
Like the rest of the country, reactions from LPGA players competing at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – on the outskirts of Washington at Congressional Country Club – were mixed.
Stackhouse exhaled deeply before sharing her thoughts on the court’s 6-3 vote to uphold Mississippi’s law banning most abortions after 15 weeks.
“It’s incredibly disheartening that in 2022, women’s rights are being taken away,” said Stackhouse. “With the makeup of everything right now, the makeup of the court, I just don’t really see a brighter side. You’ve got to hope that there’s still some fight left in us, and we can figure this out as a country.”
Mariah Stackhouse hits her tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round for the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club on June 23, 2022, in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
Amy Olson described the moment as huge and said one of the fundamental responsibilities of government is to protect human lives.
“Now states have the opportunity to protect every life,” said Olson. “They haven’t had the option to do that in almost 50 years.
“For those who say this hurts women, my question to them is — when does a woman’s life begin? If we can’t answer that question, how can we even have a conversation about women’s rights?”
Amy Olson during the first round of the Palos Verdes Championship Presented by Bank of America at Palos Verdes Golf Club on April 28, 2022, in Palos Verdes Estates, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Muni He, a U.S.-based player who was born in China and played collegiately at USC, took to Instagram to voice her frustrations.
“I simply do not understand how this is happening in our world, our country today,” He wrote. “I feel nothing but pure rage and sadness. Sick to my stomach.”
Fellow USC grad Allisen Corpuz was also disappointed to hear the court’s decision.
“I just think it’s really disappointing,” said Corpuz. “As a woman, I think it’s part of women’s healthcare just to have the right to your own body. It just feels like there’s been a lot of progress made … even going into pretty recent history of women getting the right to vote. It just kind of feels like we’re taking a step backwards.”
Katherine Kirk said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling.
“From a constitutional standpoint,” Kirk told Golfweek, “there are no provisions for abortion and the justices obviously wanted to uphold that. As a Christian, I believe all lives are important and, regardless where you stand, the Supreme Court didn’t make abortion illegal today, they simply gave the power to states to decide.”
Hataoka’s sixth LPGA win puts her in elite company.
Nasa Hataoka’s sixth career victory at the DIO Implant LA Open on Sunday puts her in elite company with Jessica Korda. Together they’re the winningest players on the LPGA without a major title.
Who are the best players without a major? Some on this list, like Hataoka and Korda, have won quite a bit already. Others, like rookie Atthaya Thitikul, make the list based on talent and potential.
Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho are two players who played their way off of last year’s list. Lee won the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, and Kupcho broke through with her first LPGA title at the Chevron Championship earlier this month.
Here’s a list of 10 players (with their Rolex Ranking) who are either primed to win a major or past due:
