"Those fat old guys riding around in golf carts and chomping cigars on the Champions tour are playing for more money than the LPGA players. That's demeaning to female athletes!"
/After months of behind the scenes investigation and source cultivation while reporting for Golf Magazine, Alan Shipnuck tackles the not-to-delicate question of Wilhelmina Models entering golf and selling sex appeal as a way of generating attention for the LPGA Tour. More importantly, this gives golf.com another chance to soak up the hits from the inevitable hot babe photo galleries. Synergy baby!
The W7 was born last year when Wilhelmina Models, the global beauty factory that counts Rebecca Romijn, Fergie and countless runway glamazons as clients, decided to break into women's golf. The inspiration came when Dieter Esch, then the Wilhelmina chairman and now a company consultant, attended an LPGA tournament in Florida. "Like many people, I had certain stereotypes of LPGA players," Esch says. "I was surprised to discover how many of the players were young and athletic and attractive and very personable. To be honest, the tour has done a pretty pathetic job marketing its product, and I knew we could do much, much better."