2020 LPGA Season Odds and Ends

[Stooch]

NBA just suspended their season, I don't think we'll be seeing much golf anytime soon

[Newinup]

I doubt any of these major league sports have no one uninfected (is that even a word?) -- so net, this season is officially over for every major sport except the ones that haven't started eg nfl for example (that's my honest opinion)

[Stooch]

Actually on Monday in the NBA a Utah Jazz player named Rudy Golbert was mocking the virus by rubbing all the microphones at a press conference on his face and he actually got the Coronavirus, it's basically the reason the NBA suspended the season ……….. you can't make this stuff up.

[Newinup]

yes, saw that clip... so imagine all the raptors players now that went bowling downtown for a fund raising event after their game against the jazz this week... hmmmm....

[grm24]

I dread the day The Players offers a ridiculous purse that no majors can match!

ANGC could trot out a purse that nobody could touch if they wanted to. ANGC and their membership have more money to spend on a purse than the PGA Tour could ever dream of. They just spent $3.45 million to buy a Wendy's property that for now will stay open. ANGC has spent a couple hundred million for expansion over the last 20+ years and not much of it went to expanding the golf course.

Augusta National acquires Wendy's property, others

[18majors]

Things are changing at every moment

 

[18majors]

Both Hye Jin Choi and Ayean Cho have signed up to play Kia Monday Qualifier, they're currently priorities #61 and 62.

The may not get to play because the field is limited to 60 maximum.

 

[Newinup]

not belittling the virus but at this point, i guess we take what they give us... at least we still have some golf to see vs the other leagues... if the field is limited to 60 maximum, then the qualifiers were first come first served no matter your priority list???

[18majors]

 

There's a priority list for Monday Qualifier; not first come first serve.

Hye Jin and Ayean have no LPGA status; that's their problems.

[Newinup]

moot point now... this and the next 2 events have been postponed... but i learned something new today :)... does this mean that the same monday qualifier status/list occurs when this event happens (if at all, any time soon)

[18majors]

 

Indeed!

[Seamus_McDuff]

 

Maybe, not necessarily.

[Stooch]

Statement on Upcoming LPGA and Symetra Tour Schedules | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association And here it is

 

[Titleist_PT23]

I wonder what the Olympic Qualifying looks like if no one plays another tournament through the end of June (i.e. do things shift with certain players losing a lot of points? Inbee was gaining on Lee6 but does Inbee get hurt by the minimum divisor)? Of course, there are probably no Olympics to qualify for at that point...

[18majors]

Did you know this?

"Let's do some math. Half of $15 million is $7.5 million. And $7.5 million divided by 144 players is (* checks phone calculator *) $52,083.33. Not too shabby for one day's work—especially considering the U.S. median household income in 2019 was $63,688."

Players 2020: Why those who teed it up at TPC Sawgrass will still earn a sizable check - Golf Digest

 

[Stooch]

PGA is real winner here, this isn't sponsor money for this event. TV contract money is already paid and I doubt there are gonna be any refunds, PGA just kept 7.5 million in their pockets.

[Singapore Joe]

I'm wondering here what's going to happen to the earnings of the athletes - not only golfers but others as well - when so many events are cancelled. The top earning echelons are probably well insulated but the rookies and those who need their pay checks to go on may find the circumstances hard to sustain. Many LPGA players are not exactly swimming in money like certain duck billionaire. Sponsors may also not be too happy about not having their brands seen and may in fact be in all kinds of financial trouble themselves and under strong pressure to cut expenses. I bet athlete sponsorships will be high on the list to be cut.

Not really that different from the regular folks - a new golf driver is pretty high in the list of non-essential items when times get hard - so my sympathy reserves are limited. I was just listening to interviews of people running little catering businesses and spending big bucks to get ready for the Melbourne F1 GP (which is the biggest event of the year for many of the catering companies) and when everybody is already at the gates the event got cancelled and most of the spending on perishables will have to be written down. The events going on will cut heavily into the earnings of everyone, including the athletes. That, in turn, may have implications to the future of professional sport. If you ask me, I don't want anyone to have hard time and lose their livelihood but a bit of sanity check is well overdue in professional sports.

[Titleist_PT23]

Relatively speaking, athletes, even the ones at the bottom, will be doing OK. It's like the investment bankers or M&A lawyers complaining that there are no deals in the pipeline right now. Unfortunate, yes. And I have no issue with what they take home. But think about all of the people in travel, hospitality, leisure, etc that just got put on unpaid time off or were shown the door.

I have wondered about the explosion in professional sports dollars. 18 Majors had some good comments a few posts back. I'm still not sure but it may not be as inflated as it comes across at times.

[Titleist_PT23]

Looks like Ingee Chun is no longer with PING. Page has a slot for Bianca Pagdanganan but no details. PING - Pros - LPGA Tour

[18majors]

 

"What have you done for me lately!"

Unfortunately, sponsors will persistently move away when a player isn't winning.

In Gee had more than 10 significant sponsors as late as 2019; but they'll be mostly gone in 2-3 years.

It's pretty easy for a player making US$5-6 millions a year to go down to a couple of hundreds of thousands in a short period of time.

[Titleist_PT23]

Her last two seasons were crummy compared to where she was coming from. But still not bad vs other PING staffers. My guess is she didn't like the paycut that comes when they move your from tier 1 to the rank and file.

[18majors]

Yes, there’s a difference between equipment plus hundreds of thousands dollars to equipment plus a handshake.

Especially when In Gee was the face of Ping in Korea for 5-6 years.

In Gee isn’t unique; the same stories have been replayed over and over.

[18majors]

Economical hard time is coming to almost everyone; LPGA players are no exception

"While players in the NBA and Major League Baseball won’t be struggling to pay their electric bills over the suspension of their operations, that’s not true for the LPGA players. The women’s tour doesn’t produce nearly as much money for its players as other organizations, and missing six paychecks can be a pretty big financial burden.

Column: Rescheduling ANA Inspiration for later in 2020 makes sense, and players need it

 

[Stooch]

I'm also not sure how generous Ping is with LPGA players. Brooke has been close with Ping since she was 13 on the payroll when she became a pro. Go to any golf course in Canada and you'll see all the young girls wearing the trademark Brooke Ping visor. Starting this season, although Brooke still uses Ping clubs, her new visor is Sketchers. I would think the money offered has to be quite different, cause if it was close, Brooke is loyal and would most likely stayed with Ping.

[Newinup]

I feel really bad for LPGA players, especially the non-top 50 ones and more so the rooks this year... No chance to even compete but that is how the circle of life goes.. oh well....

[elwhippy]

Becky Morgan, European Ladies player was on TV saying she would be running out of money and needing a regular job to pay the bills.

[18majors]

It's the same in Japan

"JLPGA cancels four consecutive games to spread Corona 19 'first in history'"

JLPGA, 코로나19 확산에 4경기 연속 취소 '사상 최초'

 

[18majors]

It's safer in Korea!

"Ko Jin-young · Park In-bi will return home until April"

고진영· 박인비 귀국, 4월까지 국내 머문다

[18majors]

One perspective

 

[18majors]

Players who've been on top of Rolex Ranking for the most weeks are:

Lorena Ochoa 158 Yani Tseng 109Inbee Park 106Lydia Ko 104Jin Young Ko has been No. 1 for 46 weeks. She'll move to 87 weeks if the entire 2020 season is cancelled.