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Now nine years into its title sponsorship of the Women’s PGA Championship, KPMG has been a catalyst for meaningful change in women’s golf – in the professional ranks and beyond.
“We’re really proud of that,” KPMG President Paul Knopp said during a weekend interview from Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, where Ruoning Yin won the second-oldest major in women’s golf and collected $1.5 million of the $10 million overall purse. The prize purse for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship has risen 186% since 2017, when it was $3.5 million.
“Since we started our sponsorship, major companies like Chevron, AIG and Amundi have started sponsoring women’s majors,’’ said Knopp. “The purses of majors in the past nine years have doubled and the rest (of the tournaments on the LPGA Tour) have almost doubled. And we’re seeing more women’s events played on these major, historic courses.”
Baltusrol, about 20 miles west of New York City, has now hosted both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens as well as the men’s and women’s PGA Championship.
KPMG’s involvement extends far beyond the title sponsorship.
Championship week started with the company’s ninth annual KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit as well as an ongoing charitable initiative called the KPMG Future Leaders Program. Both are focused on the development, advancement, and empowerment of women on and off the golf course.
For the summit, CEOs of more than 100 major companies nominated a female rising executive to hear from inspirational leaders from business, politics, sports and media. Among this year’s speakers were former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and track & field star Allyson Felix, an 18-time World Championship medalist.
“It’s our way of trying to help elevate women to the C-suite in conjunction with hosting an event where we’re trying to elevate women on the course and in the game of golf,” said Knopp. “About 50% who have gone through the summit, the 2,500 over the past nine years, have been promoted. That includes 37% to the C-suite. When we started our summit, that was a pioneering event. There are now 20 additional affiliated women’s leadership conferences connected with LPGA Tour events. That means we’re moving the needle with respect to women’s professional golf.”
And KPMG involvement in the golf world extended well beyond New Jersey, with the company also sponsoring Steph Curry’s Underrated Tour that was taking place in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the same time as the Women’s PGA Championship. The Underrated Tour involves almost 100 juniors from diverse backgrounds participating in tournaments and team building activities while simultaneously networking with college golf coaches and golf executives.
“That tour is composed mostly of young people of color, Black and Latino, that need more equity access to play the game,” said Knopp. “We want to try to increase the youth presence longer term and continue looking for ways to elevate the game of women’s golf.”
As KPMG looks ahead to Year 10 with the Women’s PGA Championship, golf will continue to remain a major priority for the company.
“We recognize first and foremost that golf is, if you will, the game of business – the most prolific sport played by executives, both men and women,” said Knopp. “There’s a huge interest in golf that since the pandemic has increased markedly. The exposure to particularly younger people, under 35, has never larger. It’s a huge opportunity and great exposure with the branding around the summit and championship. It’s just an amazing platform to increase access to a game where business connections are very important.”
