LADY PROS ARE THE POOR RELATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO PRIZEMONEY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@Scottishgolfview.com
When it comes to prize money, lady pros are the poor relations compared with their male counterparts.
For example, this past weekend the LPGA Tour in America held its Shoprite LPGA Classic.
The total prize fund was $1,500,000 and the first prize, won by Karrie Webb, was $225,000.
Even the US Champions (Seniors) Tour event at the weekend could top both these figures - total prize fund of $1,750,000 and $262,500 to the winner, Russ Cochran.
But it's the prizemoney offered on the men's US PGA Tour that dwarfs the LPGA cash.
The Memorial tournament at the weekend had a total prize fund of $6,200,000 and the winner, Matt Kuchar, went away with $1,116,000 - around two-thirds of  the TOTAL prizefund in the LPGA event.
Back here in Europe at the weekend, the men's European Tour event in Sweden, the Nordea Masters, had a prize fund of 1,509,000 Euros with the winner, Mikko Ilonen, collecting 250,00 Euros.
The Ladies European Tour event at the weekend was the German Ladies Masters for which the prize fund was 350,000 Euros. The winner, Carlota Ciganda, collected 52,500 Euros.
The current rates of exchange are: $1.45 = £1 and 1.11 Euros = £1.
I'll leave you to work it all out but a very rough league table of prize funds at the weekend read something like this:
                               Prizefund      Winner
America (in dollars)
US PGA Tour   ...  $6,200,000    $1,116,00
US Senior Tour ...  $1,750,000    $262,500
LPGA Tour ........  $1,500,000    $ 225,000
Web.Com tour ..    $   600,000    $ 108,000    
Europe (in Euros)
European Tour ...  1,509,000       250,000
LET ....................     350,000        52,500