Why golf should follow tennis and adopt equal pay for US Open | Sport
Equal pay for equal play. The phrase has been made popular thanks to the US women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay and treatment with their male counterparts.
Those who argue against parity say it’s a matter of simple economics: male sports tend to generate more revenue, therefore men should make more than women. It’s an argument that makes sense in some cases (of course, the pay gap could be mitigated if the media covered women’s sports more generously, but that’s an argument for another day.)
But what happens when an organization operates and runs a national championship for men and women? Is that organization obligated to ensure equal pay for the participants of each event?
This week, female golfers will play the US Open at Trump National golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The tournament is operated by the United States Golf Association (USGA), which also put on the men’s US Open each year. It’s a spectacular event, with the field made up of the best players in the world. It’s also the biggest purse of the year for both genders.
This year, the men’s purse was the highest in its history at $12m, with the winner Brooks Koepka taking home $2.16m. The woman’s purse is set at $5m, meaning that that the third-place finisher at the men’s US Open made only $5,000 less than 2016 women’s US Open champion, Brittany Lang, who won $810,000 for the week.
I have been fortunate enough to play in two women’s US Opens. In 2011, I made the cut at the Broadmoor golf club, and finished tied for 64th, making a whopping $7,735. After my expenses of a hotel, flight, and caddy for the week, I brought home about $1,000. That same year, at the men’s US Open, Wes Heffernan finished dead last and made $16,539. I played my heart out that week, as I’m sure Heffernan did. So why didn’t the USGA see us as equals? Are the women not playing the same amount of holes? Are they not putting in the work for the week during their practice rounds and range sessions to increase their chances of success?
Perhaps the USGA should look to tennis, where men and women are paid the same at majors (and larger tournaments such as Indian Wells and the Miami Open). Sure, some guys don’t like it, but there have been no mass boycotts from the men, and it would be hard to imagine male golfers walking away from a chance to play at the US Open.
It’s not like the USGA lacks the funds to make this happen. They currently have a 12-year deal with Fox Sports estimated to be worth about $1.1bn. That means the contract is worth around $93m a year until it expires in 2027. Don’t they have the $7m extra to add to the women’s purse?
In any case, the women’s US Open could do with some good publicity. The USGA has been mired in controversy for keeping the women’s tournament at a golf course owned by Donald Trump, someone who has a history of treating women with contempt. Surely it would have quietened some of the USGA’s critics if they paid the women equally, and sent a message that counters the president’s attitude to women?
I understand why the PGA and LPGA tour have different purse prizes: they are separate organizations with different funds available to them. But the USGA represents men and women. If they can’t add funds to the purse, then perhaps they should pay the men less. Would it be so awful for the male players to make $1m for first-place at the US Open? They have three other majors where they have the opportunity to make $1.8m or more if they win.
So far, no male golfers have come out in support of equal pay, and no women have boycotted the US Open. While it would be great to see men advocate for women’s golf, as Andy Murray does so impressively for women’s tennis, the fact is that it should be the USGA, as golf’s largest organization, doing the legwork.
The USGA should be praised for raising the women’s purse at the US Open over the years, but it’s not good enough to stop there. If the organization want to the grow the game, they must show they value women equally. Equal pay â€" at one tournament, at least â€" would send a message to all the girls out there hoping to play in the US Open one day.
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