Golf’s Gender Pay Disparity: Comparing the Annual Earnings of a PGA Tour Golfer vs an LPGA Tour Golfer

One of the complaints that the professional golfers had with the PGA Tour was that the prize money it has been offering its winners was not good enough. That is why many Tour players joined LIV Golf, which offers $4 million for the champion of all of its individual events. However, is the prize money given by the American Tour for male golfers really bad? 

The Barbasol Championship and Puerto Rico Open are some of the few Tour events that offer less than $1 million to their winners. While it is not good enough compared to what the LIV events have been presenting to their champions, it is more than good considering the LPGA Tour’s prize money. 

LPGA Tour is also an American golf organization where female professionals and selected amateurs get to play golf. Even though both organizations are based on golf and are established by the American golf community, their prize money and purses are different. In fact, the difference between what a male golfer could win from a season and a female golfer’s season earnings is monumental! 

LPGA Tour player vs PGA Tour player, who earns more per season? 

There are more than 45 events played on the PGA Tour every season, including the three FedExCup Playoffs and four majors. And $666,000 to $18 million for the final FedExcup champion… the prize money Tour offers differ from event to event. Notably, if a male golfer could win all the tournaments of the season, he could win more than $80 million. 

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On the other hand, LPGA Tour offers more than $88 million for its players. Notably, the $80 million for the male Tour is the total prize money of a winner, whereas the $88 million is the total purse money the LPGA Tour offers for all the players. 

Interestingly, the prize money of the major championships is different for the PGA and the LPGA Tours. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the major that offers the biggest purse, offers $9 million as a total purse. And the biggest prize money a golfer gets at the US Open, the highest paying major, is $3,150,000 million. 

Notably, the G.O.A.T. of men’s golf, Tiger Woods, has earned $120+ million from his 26 years of Tour career. Meanwhile, the G.O.A.T. of women’s golf, Annika Sorenstam, has earned around $22 million throughout her career on the LPGA Tour. The two are the front runners on the total career earning list of their respective tours, and yet the gender disparity is evident from their total career earnings.

It is apparent that the PGA Tour players can earn a lot more than the LPGA Tour players. Do you think the American golf community will change this and offer similar purses for both the Tours soon?

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