You didn’t need to see the opulent practice facility and hyper-manicured turf to know players at the Masters operate on a different plane of reality than the rest of professional golf. But a social media post by Ladies European Tour player Hannah Gregg drove that point home, at least financially.
Gregg laid out her expenses for the week at the recent Women’s New South Wales Open, and they painted a striking picture of how hard it is to make a living for the vast majority of professional players – male or female.
Expenses of my first week on Ladies European Tour:
Flights: $2600
Work Visa: $350
Food: $377
Caddie: $0 because I have an amazing Fiancé
Hotel: $0 because @GregChalmersPGA sorted me host housing for the week! 🙌
Rental Car: +0 because the Tour Tee guys GAVE me their car 😭🫶…— Hannah Gregg (@hannahbggg) April 26, 2024
Her total expenses for the week ($US3,672) included her flight to Australia from Phoenix ($2,600), work visa ($350), food ($377), fuel for her rental car ($165), entry fee ($130) and lounge pass for her caddie ($50). That total was about as conservative as it could have been because she didn’t have to pay a caddie (her fiancé is working gratis) or for housing thanks to a sweet deal with a host family (tip of the cap here to Greg Chalmers).
Gregg made the cut and finished 54th, which was good for $1,244. She said she needed to finish 21st to make money, but that doesn’t even account for taxes.
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In contrast, Masters competitors who missed the cut were paid a $US10,000 stipend to cover travel and other expenses. At the LPGA Tour’s Chevron Championship, 54th place paid $23,365, and the event also paid the same $10,000 for all players who missed the cut.
The difference between making it and having to find another line of work? It’s not just how well you play, but how long you can stay out there trying before the money runs out.
