Jan Stephenson was a golf influencer a generation (or two) before her influence became widespread. It’s also profitable.
“If I had Instagram and Facebook and all that stuff, I probably would have been a bigger star and made a lot of money doing it,” she says.
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In fact, she did very well, but for a unique reason. She wasn’t just an influencer, she was an influencer with a real portfolio. Her 27 professional wins include 16 on the LPGA Tour, including three majors (including the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open), all of which earned her a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.
There’s nothing wrong with what older people call sex symbols or what really older people call pin-up girls. Unlike today’s Internet stars, however, Stevenson’s high profile served a selfless interest in the 1970s, when the LPGA Tour was struggling to gain (and even maintain) traction, when Nancy Lopez exploded onto the scene and gave the women’s game a bit of a competitive edge.
“I did it to help the Tour because it was struggling,” Stevenson said. He remembers getting a thumbs up and even some encouragement from tour commissioner Ray Volpe.
more: Photo: Life of World Golf Hall of Famer Jan Stevenson
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Stevenson, now 74, was in town this week as one of 18 former LPGA golfers taking part in a charity battle at LPGA International. The LPGA Tour event legend raised money (around $100,000, according to early reports) for the Air Warrior Courage Foundation.
A native Australian, she has called Florida home for many years and has lived in Tampa for the past 10 years, where she uses her golf to support veterans organizations with the Jean Stephenson Crossroads Foundation.
Life after the LPGA is busy enough, but she says she still has the ability to leverage her celebrity status because of the hard work she put in more than 40 years ago. And there was more to it than posing for the cover of a sports magazine or “soaking” in a bathtub of golf balls for a calendar shoot, she says. Those two photos, by the way, still pop up in her mailbox regularly in the form of autograph requests (“The bathtub photo has always been one of my favorites,” she says).
“If I hadn’t done that, I might have won more,” she says. “Back then, I was making a lot of money. I was making exhibitions and making second place money. Back then, we weren’t paying a lot to play. Now, if I was making second place money, I was making a lot of money.”
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She said it was typical for her to finish a tournament on a Sunday and fly to New York that night to represent the tour.
“The commissioner set me up for dinners, meetings and golf with potential sponsors,” she says. “We signed a lot of five-year, 10-year contracts. The LPGA was struggling financially.”
Stevenson said that when he was first asked to use his appeal, he begged, “I just want to play golf.”
The tour leader’s response to that request opened her eyes.
“They said, ‘If you don’t help, golf might disappear.'” So, well, it was OK. ”
Jan Stevenson has contributed extensively to the LPGA Tour’s promotional efforts, won 16 tour tournaments, including three majors, and is currently inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
At the time, Lopez was winning many tournaments and garnering some attention, while Stevenson was attracting more attention, but mixed in some big wins as well. Tour officials made the appropriate adjustments, Stevenson said.
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“We always teased and said the guys would watch me and the wives would watch Nancy,” she says. “So they were always trying to put us at different tee times in the morning and afternoon so they could keep the gallery there all day.”
She also likes to point out that this wasn’t (and probably isn’t) just about women being the objects of attention. She recalls winning the old JC Penney Mixed Team Classic in 1983 with Fred Couples.
Unspecified – circa 1979: Female golfer Jan Stevenson plays in a tournament circa 1979 (Photo Credit: Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
“When I played with Freddie on the mixed team, all the girls asked me, ‘Is Freddie as cute as he looks on TV?'” she says. “They all kept saying how great he was.”
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Among today’s social media favorites, former college golfer Paige Spiranac has become a megastar, but these days she has imitators and outright competitors. No one is going to win three major tournaments or 30 other professional tournaments, much less be in the Hall of Fame.
But Jan Stevenson doesn’t begrudge anyone.
“No, some girls haven’t won any tournaments, but they’ve had great careers because of it,” she says. “I’m happy for them. Anything we can do to bring attention to golf…that’s the way it should be.”
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com.
This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News Journal: Jan Stevenson was Paige Spiranac before her influence on golf was noticed
