Ariya takes the fast lane to fame and millions

Newly-crowned US Women’s Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand is in 39th spot in the LPGA career money list with around US$7 million in prize money so far.

Interesting to analyse that she has only played in 120+ tournaments to amass this amount when in comparison Juli Inkster has played in nearly 700 in her career to accumulate $14 million.

Now I don’t want to go into the sticky question of “whether there’s too much money in golf” — but it keeps coming up!

Here’s a fact that should be considered — Americans buy golf equipment with $3.5-$4.5 billion a year.

There’s a lot to be shared. Green fees are bought with $20 billion, and apparel with $1 billion.

There’s around 30 million golfers in the US, and many watch PGA / LPGA Tour events, so there’s a good potential target group of millions watching every weekend, and during majors even more.

The majority of golfers can be considered as potential customers within those companies that put their money in endorsements, tournaments, advertising etc.

That’s just America — what about Japan, Europe, China?

Golf equipment and all that go with it relate to what is seen on a televised golf tournament. It then flows directly to the millions who play the game around the world.

Out of Bounds: “I didn’t accept it. I received it.” — Richard Allen, national security adviser to thenUS president Reagan, explaining the $1000 in cash and two watches he was given by two Japanese journalists after he helped arrange a private interview for them with his wife Nancy Reagan.

“I haven’t committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.” — former New York City mayor David Dinkins, answering accusations that he failed to pay his taxes.