LPGA won't settle for second prize in pursuit of purse parity

Every week brings a sobering reminder of how much more money the men play for on the PGA Tour than their female counterparts on the women's circuit.

With four tournaments left in the LPGA Tour season, Danielle Kang became the 11th player to break the $1 million mark.

By comparison, the PGA Tour had 112 players earn at least $1 million last season, with nine players already making at least $1 million through six events this term.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan brought a different perspective on Tuesday at the LPGA Tour's new BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.

Prize money for the women is growing at a rate Whan didn't think possible when he took over as commissioner in 2010. It's also growing for the men.

"Not sure if we have closed the gap, even though we are playing for dramatically more money," Whan said. "When I started, we were playing for just over $40 million and now it's over $70 million.

"But the fact is, men's prize money has grown as well. As a result, I don't want to be depressed by that. I think when purses are growing for both men and women, that's a good opportunity."

The LPGA Tour had 24 events and official prize money of $41.4 million in 2010. Whan said it had only one tournament with a purse of $3 million or more.

This season, the LPGA had 32 official events and $70.2 million in prize money, an increase of 70 percent. Five tournaments had prize money of $3 million or more.

The PGA Tour had 46 official events in 2010 and 2019, and prize money grew from $310.1 million (including $35 million in FedEx Cup bonuses) to $413.6 million (including $60 million from the FedEx Cup and $10 million from the Wyndham Rewards). That's an increase of 33 percent.

"I have not had to be too loud about closing the gap because society has taken that banner for me," Whan said.

"Almost all of my sponsors, almost all of my tournaments, almost all of the people that help lift the LPGA are interested in lifting those purses and equalizing that difference ,l.

"But the reality of it is we have grown significantly, and the gap is about the same."

Tiger on the prowl

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the major attractions in a world-class lineup as the PGA Tour breaks new ground with its first tournament in Japan this week.

The inaugural Zozo Championship tees off in Chiba on Thursday offering a $9.75 million prize pot as the middle leg of the tour's new three-tournament Asian swing, with almost $30 million up for grabs.

It began last week at the $9.75 million CJ Cup in South Korea, won by Justin Thomas, and concludes at next week's $10.25 million WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

Woods, who won his 15th major at this year's Masters, will be joined by a who's who of golf at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, with tens of thousands of golf-crazy Japanese fans expected to attend.

World No 2 and PGA Tour player of the year McIlroy, eighth-ranked Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and US Open champion Gary Woodland are just a few of the others sprinkling more stardust.

Thomas will be aiming to improve his incredible strike rate with a fifth victory in 10 starts in Asia after his second CJ Cup win in three years last Sunday elevated him to No 4 in the world.

But most eyes will be on Woods, and his troublesome left knee after the world No 10 underwent arthroscopic surgery two months ago.

A smiling Woods said on Monday his recovery "was ahead of schedule" before he played a full 18 holes in an exhibition match on the Zozo Championship course in Chiba Prefecture.

"I'm probably a week early. My season had ended a little bit earlier than I had expected it," said Woods.

"I had the procedure a little bit early and got ahead of it."

Japanese fans might be seeing a lot more of Woods over the next 12 months after the 43-year-old said one of his ambitions is to play in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"I would love to play in an Olympic Games," he said. "Hopefully next year I can have a good year and qualify."

Associated Press