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Jan Stephenson
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In 1974, during her first
season on tour, the Australian sensation chalked up six top-10 finishes
and was named Rookie of the Year. In 1977 she agreed to pose for the
LPGA's Fairway magazine lying seductively on a bed and wearing a nightgown
slit up her thigh. According to Stephenson, Ray Volpe, the LPGA commissioner
at the time, encouraged her to do it without the approval of his board
or the players, hoping she would take the tour in a new direction. "The
way it was presented was that this is for the future of the tour, for
your future and your success," she says. "In those days, female
professional athletes were almost looked upon as freaks." She posed
for several more Fairway shots, including a re-creation of Marilyn Monroe
skirt-to-the-breeze shot from 1955's Seven Year Itch. Ironically, the
photos didn't match the real woman. "My nickname was the Room Service
Queen," she says. "I never went out."
By the early '80s Stephenson had seven Tour victories, including three majors and 15 top-10 finishes. But apparently her golf still didn't speak for itself. One of her sponsors, Dunlop, asked her to pose for a calendar as part of a promotion to help unload a large inventory of golf balls. Among her 12 poses was one of her, seemingly naked, in a bathtub of golf balls. Dunlop offered a free calendar with every dozen balls purchased. They not only sold out their inventory, they had to produce more. They sold almost two and a half million balls
Stephenson told The Ottawa Citizen before the 2000 du Maurier Classic, "However distasteful those campaigns might have been, it really helped the LPGA. It got us a lot of tournaments. I wined and dined a lot of sponsors, wore low-cut dresses, did the whole thing... And we got a lot of great contracts. In those days, we didn't have the money there is on the tour now. And there might not have been if I hadn't done that." If she has one regret about those seductive pictures, it's about the time they took away from the prime of her golf life. "In the long run, people look at how many wins you had. If it wasn't for all that time and energy spent, I believe I'd be in the Hall of Fame," she said recently. At 51, Stephenson would happily go back into the studio if the fledgling Senior tour asked. She considers it her responsibility to the sport. "I think Ty Votaw's right. Athletes are celebrities, and you have to present the whole package. You need to gain that attention and excitement in the media. It brings in sponsors and people come to see what all the fuss is about."
By the early '80s Stephenson had seven Tour victories, including three majors and 15 top-10 finishes. But apparently her golf still didn't speak for itself. One of her sponsors, Dunlop, asked her to pose for a calendar as part of a promotion to help unload a large inventory of golf balls. Among her 12 poses was one of her, seemingly naked, in a bathtub of golf balls. Dunlop offered a free calendar with every dozen balls purchased. They not only sold out their inventory, they had to produce more. They sold almost two and a half million balls
Stephenson told The Ottawa Citizen before the 2000 du Maurier Classic, "However distasteful those campaigns might have been, it really helped the LPGA. It got us a lot of tournaments. I wined and dined a lot of sponsors, wore low-cut dresses, did the whole thing... And we got a lot of great contracts. In those days, we didn't have the money there is on the tour now. And there might not have been if I hadn't done that." If she has one regret about those seductive pictures, it's about the time they took away from the prime of her golf life. "In the long run, people look at how many wins you had. If it wasn't for all that time and energy spent, I believe I'd be in the Hall of Fame," she said recently. At 51, Stephenson would happily go back into the studio if the fledgling Senior tour asked. She considers it her responsibility to the sport. "I think Ty Votaw's right. Athletes are celebrities, and you have to present the whole package. You need to gain that attention and excitement in the media. It brings in sponsors and people come to see what all the fuss is about."