ROGERS — Stacy Lewis makes good money on the LPGA Tour, but she doesn’t make PGA Tour money.
That point was driven home earlier this season when Lewis won the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in April and earned $187,000. Jason Dufner won the PGA’s Zurich Classic on the same day, and he took home $1.1 million.
A little more than one month later Lewis won again, this time at the Shoprite LPGA Classic, and got $225,000. On the same weekend, Tiger Woods won $1.1 million at the Memorial.
“It’s definitely disappointing to us,” said Lewis, a former Arkansas Razorbacks golfer who is second on the LPGA Tour money list with $906,299 this season. “We’re working just as hard, but they’re getting four times what we are.
“Don’t get me wrong, though, we make good money.”
The LPGA has seen its total prize money go from $40.4 million in 2011 to $47 million this year, mostly because the tour added four tournaments for a total of 28 this season. The PGA’s purse pool dropped from $288 million to $279 million in 45 tournaments.
Yani Tseng, the two-time defending champion of this week’s LPGA NW Arkansas Championship, is not only the top-ranked women’s golfer in the world but is No. 1 on the LPGA money list with $1,005,527 in earnings. That would put her 55th on the PGA Tour money list.
Lewis’ $906,299 in earnings would place her 59th on the PGA’s money list. The average earnings by a PGA player this year is $671,000, which would be fifth on the LPGA Tour.
The PGA’s bounty comes from lucrative television contracts it has with CBS and NBC. The LPGA has a 10-year contract with The Golf Channel, which televised women’s events on tape delay as recently as two years ago.
LPGA veteran Juli Inkster made a revealing off-hand comment Wednesday when asked about her recent rehabilitation from elbow surgery. Inkster said she didn’t watch much LPGA golf on TV during her downtime.
“I should say I’ve watched a lot of women’s golf, but I really haven’t,” she said. “I’ve watched a lot of men’s golf just because, I don’t know, it just seems to be on.”
LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan admits that women’s events are hard to find for the casual fan surfing through the television channels, but he pointed out that television ratings for the LPGA are up 38 percent this year.
This weekend’s NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club will be televised for two hours daily today through Sunday on The Golf Channel.
“We look back and we’ve come really far, but we still have a long way to go,” said Lewis, who turned professional in 2008. “It’s not going to instantly change overnight. We have to chip away at it and increase stuff every year and get sponsors to see the value we do provide.
“We have to get on live TV, and we have to get better coverage. Right now, unfortunately, on The Golf Channel we’re always going to be second to the PGA Tour just because they bring bigger numbers.”
Lewis said the LPGA is growing but there is still much more to do. Two years ago, the LPGA was in such turmoil that players forced out Carolyn Bivens as commissioner and replaced her with Whan. The LPGA had lost the support of many sponsors and lost five tournaments before the 2010 season.
Whan’s first goal was the retain and comfort sponsors, and that is still his No. 1 concern.
“It would be fantastic if our players had the opportunity to play for bigger purses,” Whan said. “I’m not naive. I don’t want to be so driven by that that I’m not a great partner to our title sponsors.”
The LPGA added tournaments this year, and Whan would like to add more, but not too many more. The PGA has 45 tournaments, but Whan worries that if the LPGA had that many it would be hurt by top players skipping tournaments.
The PGA has top players skip numerous tournaments every year, but it survives because of television money. Whan knows the LPGA is dependent on its sponsors, and he doesn’t want to have to explain to a title sponsor why professionals like Paula Creamer or Lewis or Tseng are taking off the week of their tournament.
“Thirty to 33 is our sweet spot,” Whan said. “The best players typically play 28-29 times a year. We have the best female golfers play together every week.
“We have 48 of our top 50 this week. That’s a major in any other sport. That’s our calling card.”
Lewis said the LPGA will continue to grow if it can increase its exposure to the general public. How much it will grow and how much money will come into the game are the unknowns.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be like the men, which is fine, because the men bring in the money,” said Brittany Lang, who earned $195,000 last week by winning the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. “People want to watch men’s golf. They get the sponsors, they get the money, they get the viewership.
“The LPGA is in a fantastic place right now. Our purses are getting bigger, we’re getting more tournaments, we’re getting more exposure.”
Whan said the comparison between the LPGA and PGA isn’t exact because the women’s tour has a different core audience. While the PGA relies on television, Whan said the LPGA stresses its players’ interaction with sponsors and the overall onsite experience.
There are few professional athletes more readily accessible than LPGA players. Lewis said players understand even after a round that ends with a missed putt that cost them money - it happened to Lewis last week - that it’s time to schmooze with sponsors and fans.
“We realize we have to do extra things for the sponsors,” Lewis said. “We make our pro-ams and we go above and beyond. Everything is about relationships.
“We don’t like where we are. We have to keep getting better.”
Tale of the tape
A comparison of the LPGA Tour’s top money earner, Yani Tseng, and the PGA Tour’s top money earner, Jason Dufner:
TSENG CATEGORY DUFNER
2008 TURNED PRO 2003
3 2012 VICTORIES 2
8 2012 TOP-10S 6
$1 million 2012 MONEY $4 million
15 CAREER VICTORIES 2
5 CAREER MAJORS 0
$8.5 million CAREER $11.6 million
LPGA Tour
NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP WHEN Today through Sunday WHERE Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers COURSE 6,356 yards, par 71 FORMAT 54-hole stroke play tournament (Field will be cut to the low 70 golfers and ties after the conclusion of Saturday’s second round.) PURSE $2 million (Winner’s share: $300,000) ARKANSANS COMPETING Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks), Karen Stupples (Arkansas State), Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway), Emily Tubert (Arkansas Razorbacks) ADMISSION Daily ticket: $25; Week passes: $50; active and retired military admitted free with proper ID; children 17 and younger admitted free with paid adult TV (All times Central) Friday: 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 4 p.m.-6 p.m.;
Sunday: 4 p.m.-6 p.m. The Golf Channel WEBSITE nwachampionship.com
Sports, Pages 21 on 06/29/2012