Aramco Team Series: Law calls for greater exposure, as London stop highlights disparity between men and women’s game
- England’s Bronte Law says more needs to be done to promote women’s golf, and calls out TV networks for not doing their part
- ATS playing at Centurion Club a week after LIV Golf stop attracted 45,000 people and paid out US$4 million to winner Cameron Smith
It would be hard to find a better example of the stark contrast between the riches in men’s and women’s golf than in the events at the Centurion Club outside Hemel Hempstead.
Fresh off the back of hosting LIV Golf London last week, when 45,000 spectators reportedly streamed through the gates and Cameron Smith walked away with a winner’s cheque for US$4 million, the Aramco Team Series starts on Friday, with significantly fewer people and far less cash.
Another Saudi Arabia-back three-day event with a team element, albeit one where amateurs play alongside some of the best in the women’s game, the ATS has a prize fund of US$1 million for each of the five tournaments, with the winner taking home US$75,000. Organisers expect around 4,000 people to watch over the weekend.
While Aramco has done much to boost women’s golf, the sums pale in comparison to the eye-watering amounts “north of US$1 billion” discussed in Washington as the US Senate holds hearings into the proposed commercial partnership between the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund and PGA Tour.
On Wednesday, ATS London defending champion Bronte Law said more needed to be done to promote the women’s game across the board, be that men supporting and highlighting their female counterparts when they did something of note, or television companies improving their output.
While admitting she did not know what growth for the game looked like, Law said it was obvious “we’re still a long way behind where we should be”.
A member of both the Ladies European Tour and LPGA, the 28-year-old said she felt there “a lot of opportunities we should be taking” and any that presented themselves should be looked at seriously.
