Among the LPGA pros who traverse the globe for starts is Alison Lee, right. getty images There is, of course, a glamorous side to life in the upper echelon of professional golf. Adoring fans.
Endorsement deals with luxury car and watch brands. Smoothing Pro V1s on immaculate, sun-splashed driving ranges — swing coach, masseuse and analytics whiz in tow. But there’s another side, too.
Canceled flights. Jet lag. Living out of a suitcase.
Long stretches away from family and friends. First-world hardships for sure, but hardships nonetheless, especially on the increasingly global LPGA and Ladies European tours, and most especially this time of year when fatigued players would be forgiven for forgetting what city, if not time zone, they’re in. The LPGA Tour is in the midst of a month-long swing that takes the pros from China to Korea to Malaysia to Japan.
Meanwhile, over that same period, the LET schedule has hopped from China to Taiwan to India to Saudi Arabia, where the tour is this week for an Aramco Team Series event at Riyadh Golf Club. The travel is a grind, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. Ask the players at the Riyadh stop, who earlier this week spoke openly about the challenges of their nomad lifestyles.
“I don’t think there’s one girl out there who says they love going to the airport every single day and going to tournaments every single week, because it’s hard, it’s really hard,” said Alison Lee, who is ranked 34th in the world; af.