Jan Stephenson was a golf influencer a generation (or two) before influencing became a thing. A lucrative thing, too.
“If I’d had Instagram and Facebook and everything, I probably would’ve even been a bigger star and would’ve made a lot of money from it,” she says.
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As it was, she did quite well, and for a unique reason: She wasn’t just an influencer, but an influencer with a genuine portfolio. Her 27 overall professional wins included 16 on the LPGA Tour, including three majors (the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open among them) — all of which landed her in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.
Not bad at all for what the old folks would call a sex symbol and what the really old crowd might label a pin-up girl. Except, unlike today’s internet stars, Stephenson’s attention-getting served an unselfish interest — the 1970s-era LPGA Tour, which was struggling to gain (and even retain) traction at a time when Nancy Lopez exploded onto the scene and gave the women’s game a bit of competitive leverage.
“I did it to help the Tour because it was struggling,” says Stephenson, who also recalls doing it with the thumbs-up, and even encouragement, from the tour’s commissioner, Ray Volpe.
More: Photos: World Golf Hall of Famer Jan Stephenson through the years
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Stephenson, now 74, was in town this week as one of 18 former LPGA golfers participating in a charity scramble at LPGA International. The Legends of the LPGA Tour event raised money (nearly $100,000, early reports indicate) for the Air Warrior Courage Foundation.
The native Aussie has called Florida home for many years, and the past decade has lived in Tampa, where her Jan Stephenson Crossroads Foundation uses golf to support military veteran organizations.
Her post-LPGA life keeps her busy enough, she says, and her ability to utilize her celebrity status survives because of all the leg work she put in 40-plus years ago. And, she says, there was more to it than posing for the cover of Sport Magazine or “soaking” in a tub of golf balls for a calendar shoot — those two images, by the way, still show up regularly in her mailbox, in the form of autograph requests (“the bath tub picture is always one of my favorites,” she says).
“If I hadn’t done all that, I would’ve probably won more,” she says. “Back then, I was making a lot of money. I was making second-place money by doing exhibitions. We didn’t play for much back then. Nowadays, if you were making second-place money, you’d be making a lot of money.”
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She says it was common for her to finish a tournament on Sunday and fly that night to New York on behalf of the tour.
“The commissioner would set me up for dinners and meetings and golf with potential sponsors,” she says. “We signed a lot of five- and 10-year contracts. The LPGA was really struggling financially.”
Stephenson says when she was originally asked to take advantage of her appeal, she begged off and said, “I just want to play golf.”
Tour leaders’ reply to that request opened her eyes.
“They said, ‘There may not be any golf if you don’t help.’ So it was, wow, OK.”
While doing a lot of promotional lifting for the LPGA Tour, Jan Stephenson also won 16 tour tournaments, including three majors, and is now in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
At that time, Lopez was winning a lot of tournaments and therefore commanding a certain amount of eyeballs, while Stephenson was commanding eyeballs but also mixing in some big wins. Tour officials adjusted in appropriate fashion, Stephenson recalls.
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“We always teased, saying the men would watch me and the wives would watch Nancy,” she says. “So they always tried to have us on different tee times — one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so we could keep the gallery there all day.”
She also likes to point out, it wasn’t (and probably isn’t) just about women serving as objects of attention. She recalls being paired with Fred Couples for a 1983 win in the old JC Penny Mixed Team Classic.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1979: Women’s golfer Jan Stephenson in action during tournament play circa 1979. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
“When I played with Freddie in the mixed-team, all of the women would ask me, ‘Is he as cute as he looks on TV?’” she says. “They all kept saying how gorgeous he was.”
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As for today’s social-media darlings, former college golfer Paige Spiranac has become the megastar, but she has imitators and outright competition these days. None will win three majors and three dozen other professional tournaments, much less land in the Hall of Fame.
But Jan Stephenson begrudges no one.
“No, you look at some of the girls who haven’t won a tournament, but they have a great career because of it,” she says. “I’m happy for them. Anything you can do to bring attention to golf … it’s the way it should be.”
— Email Ken Willis at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jan Stephenson was Paige Spiranac before golf influencing was a thing
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