Ticket refunds have not affected the event's purse, which is up $450,000 from '19GETTY IMAGES
Although this year's KPMG Women's PGA Championship "won't have the trappings of a major championship -- no corporate skyboxes and tents, no bleachers, and particularly no spectators, it is ready to begin" tomorrow at Aronimink Golf Club with 132 players competing for a share of the $4.3M purse, according to Joe Juliano of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The PGA of America in April announced that the championship would be set back from its original late June date to October. Championship Dir Jackie Endsley said, "We had to re-evaluate what we could and couldn't do, and what the state of Pennsylvania would allow us to do. Unfortunately, our ticket buyers and our corporate hospitality patrons aren't able to join us, so we did have to go ahead and give them a full refund." She also said that the number of volunteers was "reduced to a little less than 200." Aronimink President Bob Willcox added that a "'large portion' of the volunteers are club members." A spokesperson for the PGA of America said that the association "would not comment on the cost or financial impact of the refunds, which has not affected the purse, up $450,000 from last year." KPMG Chair & CEO Paul Knopp said that it was "'crucially important' not to reduce the purse because of the company’s commitment to women in golf and in business" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/7).
BREAKING THE CEILING: Knopp noted this is the sixth year of the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit, and the “whole idea behind” the summit is to “advance more women to the C suite and at KPMG we have a very strong commitment to developing, advancing and empowering women both at KPMG and in the broader market.” The summit “is meant to provide leadership development and training." Knopp: "We found that of the 700 past participants that have been at this summit over the last six years, that over 50% have been promoted to other jobs within their organizations and about 20% have been promoted into the C suite so we like to think we're doing our part to help women advance both in the world of golf and sports and in the business world” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 10/7).
