LEWIS WON’T HAVE TO PAY PRICE
LPGA star’s sponsor taking care of contract, even when she goes on maternity leave
Stacy Lewis is a two- time major champion and a 12- time winner on the LPGA Tour, and she came this close to winning the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics.
Yet her legacy might very well have nothing to do with her accomplishments on the golf course. And she’s OK with that. More than OK, in fact. Lewis’ main sponsor, KPMG, is paying the golfer the full value of her contract this season, despite the fact she’s going on maternity leave next month. It’s a groundbreaking move, one Lewis said she hopes will set a precedent.
“A lot of people were shocked to learn that that had never happened before,” Lewis said Wednesday, a day before the start of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer. “But at the same time, it was, ‘ Well, why don’t they do that?’
“More than anything, it brought attention to it, and that’s the goal. That’s why I put it out there. I didn’t necessarily want to put it out there, but the more I thought about it, I was like, this could bring about some change, and we need to get it out there.”
Gender equity in sports isn’t just about playing opportunities and paychecks. It’s also about female athletes not being forced to choose between motherhood and their playing careers and having the support that makes it possible. Anything less is as much a limitation as telling women they’re too weak, too fragile, too feminine to play sports, and female athletes are increasingly willing to take up the fight.
Earlier Wednesday, Wimbledon announced that Serena Williams would be seeded 25th, despite being ranked No. 183 in the world after taking more than a year off for the birth of her first child, daughter Olympia. The return of the 23- time Grand Slam champion has sparked debate over whether seedings should be protected during maternity leave, much like positions in other industries are.
While seedings aren’t an issue for Lewis, there were other considerations when she learned she was pregnant with her first child, a daughter due Nov. 3. Most contracts require a player to play a certain number of events and adjust pay accordingly if she doesn’t. Lewis already knew she wouldn’t play the full season, meaning she had six months to earn what she normally would in 11. ( There are no tour events in December.)