The Business of Women's Golf
Breaking down LPGA and Epson Tour money.
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Today At A Glance:
The U.S. Women’s Open provided a record first-place prize in this year's event. Today’s newsletter breaks down LPGA Tour earnings and expenses. And dives into the money it takes to play on the Epson Tour.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
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Hey Golfers —
Allisen Corpuz took home $2 million for her win at the U.S. Women’s Open — the largest first-place check in the event's history. Before her win — the 25-year-old had won $1.2 million in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.
The U.S. Women’s Open first-place prize has nearly tripled in the last ten years. And it has doubled since the 2021 championship.
Money on the LPGA Tour has significantly increased in the last decade. And generally, the money has been spread out — not necessarily going just to the top.
The median LPGA Tour earnings in the 2012 season were $89,177. Compare this to the median LPGA Tour earnings of the 2022 season of $167,061 — an increase of 89%.
In the 2022 LPGA Tour Season — 27 players, or about 13% of golfers that made money last year — made over $1 million. Compare this to the 2012 LPGA Tour Season — 12 players, or about 6% of golfers, made over $1 million.
The LPGA Tour has more than doubled the number of golfers making over $1 million in season earnings from 2012 to 2022.
While the median earnings of an LPGA Tour player have significantly increased in the last decade — $167,061 is not leaving much room after expenses.
An LPGA Tour player will spend between $100,000 and $125,000 annually on expenses.
Now — depending on the caliber of the player, a typical LPGA Tour player will earn around $120,000 annually in endorsements. Of course, there are outliers — both high and low. Take Michelle Wie West — who reportedly signed a $20 million deal over four years with Nike when she turned pro.
Taking it a step further — let’s look at the Epson Tour. The Epson Tour is the development tour for the LPGA Tour.
Around 30 golfers on the Epson Tour broke even or earned money during the 2022 season.
I had a chance to catch up with Brynn Collins, who has played on the Epson Tour and in a handful of LPGA Tour events. Brynn often writes about her professional golf journey — I recommend checking out her newsletter.
One of the most fascinating things Brynn told me was the Q-School process for the LPGA Tour.
The LPGA Tour does not have a fast track to the Tour or the Epson Tour out of college — similar to what the PGA Tour offers with PGA Tour University for the men’s side. Because of this — it isn’t uncommon for women to enter Q-School during the fall of their Senior Year of college. They typically have to miss a collegiate start in this process.
Brynn spent $45,000 in expenses during a season on the Epson Tour — it included:
12 Epson Tour events
4 Monday qualifiers
3 All Pro Tour events
2 LPGA Tour events
Q-School
The Epson Tour charges $450 per event. If a player plays in 20 events — that is $9,000. While that may not seem like a ton of money — it was 117th on the Epson Tour money list last year. Nearly 200 players cashed checks in 2022.
The Epson Tour has undoubtedly made positive changes since becoming the title sponsor.
Reduced the entry fee from $500 to $450.
Provided yardage books at no cost.
Epson also provides $10,000 in sponsorship to each of the top ten Epson Tour players that qualify for the LPGA Tour the following year.
The median earnings on the Epson Tour have increased significantly in the last decade. In 2012 — the median earnings were $4,845. And the median earnings in 2022 were $12,633.
In 2012 — only two golfers made over $50,000. And in 2022 — 25 golfers made over $50,000.
While the money has seen incredible increases on the Epson Tour from a percentage standpoint — it’s tough to make a living. And it’s even more challenging to make a run at an LPGA Tour card for several years.
A player on the Epson Tour will rarely earn significant sponsor money. In most cases — a player that makes money from sponsors will have a large social media following. Brynn quickly built an Instagram following and was able to leverage it to earn sponsor money.
Nine golfers on the Epson Tour have made over $50,000 this year. The Tour has 11 events remaining on the schedule to push that number past last year’s 25.
Nine golfers on the LPGA Tour have already made $1 million on the LPGA Tour this year. There are 17 events left on the schedule to increase that number over last year’s 27.
Money on the women’s side has increased significantly in the last decade. And I believe it will continue to grow going forward. Possibly at a faster pace than we saw in the previous ten years.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
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Great piece! Enjoyed being a part of it - really interesting to see your breakdown.
I understand that the women who didn't make the cut in the Open, still received some money. Is that true and does the USGA also do it for the Men's Open?