SOUTH PINES, NC – Stephanie Meadow placed third on her professional debut at the 2014 US Open Women’s Championships at Pinehurst #2. She earned $285,102 for her efforts, a whopping sum for a recent college graduate.
“I had a hard time in 16 and 17,” Mead said of the years following her father Robert’s death. “That money got me through it.”
The American Open Women’s Wallet has always had a life-changing impact, not just for winners, but for many like Mido, who cash the biggest checks of their careers. Some, like her, will not be members of the tour yet.
This week, it’s more likely than ever to happen with a historic $10 million purse on the table, thanks in large part to the addition of ProMedica, the tournament’s number one sponsor.
Brittany Lang echoes the ideas of many of her peers when she says that playing LPGA was never about the money. When she won this tournament in 2016, she remembers walking into the parking lot with her mother and brother and asking her, “What do you win for this? I don’t even know.”
It was always about a dream.
“Now that you get close to her comment, and I have a daughter, you start thinking about money and you play worse,” Lang said.
Lang earned $810,000 when she won the Open Championship in Cordival.
This week’s tournament winner will receive $1.8 million. The player who finishes the runner-up will earn $1,080,000. And that’s more than last year’s winner, Yuka Sasso, who took home $1 million.
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“Honestly, thinking of a $10 million purse totally blows me away to be completely honest,” former main champ Karen Staples said. “I don’t even know how to think of money in these terms and how – what it means to get into your bank account, what potential is there in one big chunk, even for 30th or 40th place.”
Even those who I miss the cut This week you will receive $8,000, double last year.
Early in her career, Matilda Castrin had three seasons in which she lost money. She gave herself five years to get and build her own LPGA card.
“I remember looking at my bank account and there was $10 left,” Castrin said. “Well I have to survive until next month and then I know I’m getting a check. This is really common. I think a lot of people don’t realize it. People just think you’re living your dream of playing golf every week. It’s not really that simple. “.
Castrin, 27, won seven times in college in Florida and competed on the Epson Tour until she claimed her LPGA card for the 2020 season through Q-School. In 2021, she won the LPGA Mediheal Championship, becoming the first female player from Finland to win a tour. She earned $225,000 for her win.
“It felt so surreal,” she said, “just log into my mobile app and see all the zeros.”
Meadow who is now working wants to buy a home in the near future, but she must weigh the risks of being separated from a good chunk of money against the possibility of getting injured or going through another rough patch where little money comes in.
“I think the older I get, the more I realize how lucky they are on the (PGA Tour),” she said.
What is the size of 10 million dollars? Keep in mind that next week’s purse in the ShopRite LPGA Classic is $1,750,000. There are 15 events on the LPGA schedule with portfolios under $2 million.
“We didn’t start playing golf for money,” said veteran Carolina Mason. “It’s not the motivator, that’s not the reason. But when you come here, especially as a young player, the money is an issue because you need a lot of money to do what you do for an entire season.
“Playing for that kind of money is huge; it gives a lot of chances.”