Flights between continents, hire cars, hotels, motels, Airbnbs and many other travel expenses week-in, week-out are pretty hard to cover on roughly $20,000 less than the median wage of an Australian worker.
Just ask Australia’s newest LPGA player Cassie Porter.
Watch every round of the PGA Tour LIVE & Exclusive on Fox Sports, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
The 22-year-old has been doing the hard yards in the United States on the secondary women’s golf tour, the Epson Tour, for the last two years where a gruelling schedule and low prize money make for a tricky combination.
Porter’s official career earnings on the Epson Tour stand at roughly $170,000 after a breakout season where she came 10th on the Tour’s season-long standings to earn her LPGA card.
The Queenslander’s biggest payday came when she pocketed a little more than $45,000 for winning the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Michigan in June, which was almost as much as the roughly $48,000 she earned in her entire first season.
She’s played 34 events in two years, so break it down and she has taken home $5,000 per tournament on average.
But earnings in golf are full of wild fluctuations.
Miss the cut and you walk away from the golf course penniless for the week – that’s happened to Porter in ten of her 34 starts in the last two years.
Her step up to the LPGA lucratively brings bigger prize purses but you need to beat the best players in the world to get your hands on the cash.
To do so, a player needs a strong team around them – a coach, a caddie, a trainer, a physiotherapist, a sports psychologist and the list goes on.
All of which are costly on top of the travel expenses, and a few down weeks can place a golfer under financial pressure very quickly.
“It’s always a stress. In our sport, the bigger the event is you play, the bigger your bills are,” Porter said.
That is why performing well in the major tournaments – where the prize money is the best – is integral.
Fellow Australian Steph Kyriacou enjoyed a breakout year on the LPGA with the best result of her career to date – a runner-up finish in a major at the Evian Championship.
The 23-year-old missed out on the winner’s $1.82 million by only one shot, but still took home a life-changing $1.1 million.
Having that enormous sum in the bank allowed Kyriacou to step away from the weekly grind – which wears down many a player – when she needed to this year.
“I’ve had a bit more of a break. It allowed me to take some more events off and come home,” the Sydneysider said.
Kyriacou does not have her own place in America, nor does Porter.
The pair are on the road week-to-week, but when they have a week of down time, or when events come to Florida, they both spend plenty of time at Golf Australia’s house in Orlando.
The house serves as a home away from home for Australia’s golfers plying their trade in the States with Australian golfer Sarah Jane Smith – who has played on the LPGA Tour since 2006 – and her husband Duane serving as the host family.
There’s a home gym, the cupboards always have Australian snacks and the TV either has the footy on or the golf to keep tabs on how their fellow Australians are faring.
It is the perfect release when homesickness is setting in, as has been the case for Porter.
“Last year was really the first year where I’d travelled overseas on my own. There was quite a bit of homesickness and very much a factor of unfamiliarity. I just was not feeling quite comfortable,” she said.
“This year, I made some friends out there. I had some great host families, so making America feel a little bit more like home made a big difference.
“I spent a bit of time there at the start of the year. We had a Florida swing, so it was nice to catch up with Sarah Jane.
“It’s a great base. We didn’t really have too much time off in between events this year so I went home instead, but it’s great. It’s unmatched.”
The connections built from the network of Australians taking on the golf world are also ‘unmatched’.
Porter credits commencing work with Australian sport psychologist Jonah Oliver – who also works with Cameron Smith – for her stellar second season on the Epson Tour.
She is not the only Australian to have reaped the rewards of the Golf Australia house.
Two-time major winner Minjee Lee, her brother Min Woo and his PGA Tour colleague Cam Davis all stayed there in their early days in the States.
World number five Hannah Green – who has won three times on the LPGA this year – still spends time at the house as she has spoken openly about her struggles with homesickness in the past, so too does LIV Golfer Lucas Herbert.
The presence of her fellow golfers brings out the competitive side of Kyriacou.
Every week, she takes part in a money match with whoever is around and is willing to take her on – for the record, she claims that fellow LPGA player Sarah Kemp is her “bunny”.
“We try to do it weekly where we have a putting and chipping comp for 50 bucks. It’s not much but it’s about the pride and the bragging rights for the week,” Kyriacou said.
“Whoever is around (gets involved). Some weeks ‘Greeny’ will be there and we’ll have a group. One week we’ll do who makes the most birdies, another week we’ll do who made the least bogeys.
“It’s quite fun. It’s a little pride and competitive thing to look forward to.”
That friendly competition will step into the spotlight this summer as Kyriacou and Porter, along with 23-year-old LPGA player Grace Kim, are the latest local stars announced for the Australian Open.
The national open returns to Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt – at Kingston Heath and Victoria golf clubs – with the new generation eager to make their mark.
Green and Lee have spearheaded Australian women’s golf for several years but it has been a decade since a local has won the Australian Open.
The great Karrie Webb was the last to do so in 2014.
Bryson goes 280 yards… with a putter?! | 00:59
South African major champion Ashleigh Buhai is striving to become the first in the tournament’s history to win three years in a row, and Kyriacou jokingly believes something might have to be done to stop her.
“I’m just going to have to beat Ash (Buhai) aren’t I? Maybe if I injure her before the tournament then I should be good,” she said with a laugh.
The home comforts provided by being in Australia are more likely to improve the Australian contingents chances than any plot to remove Buhai from the equation, however.
Ask any of Australia’s overseas-based golfers about what they miss about home and one of the first things they will say is coffee.
One of the LPGA crew’s favourite stops for the year is the Portland Classic because there is an Australian cafe around the corner from the golf course.
It was is no coincidence that Green won there in 2019.
PGA and LIV ‘meeting of the minds’ | 01:18
But it will never compare to home which always serves as a breath of fresh air at the end of the year.
“The whole week is just fun. Being at home, coffee, shopping, everything about the whole week I just enjoy. That already helps boost morale,” Kyriacou said.
Coming back to Australia to play in front of home fans is something Kyriacou is deeply passionate about.
She even holds her fellow Australian LPGA players to account.
“I’ve given Gabi Ruffels some s— because she’s not playing. I messaged her this morning giving her a piece of my mind,” Kyriacou said with a laugh.
Aus Open winner ‘exempt to all 4 majors’ | 01:46
As for Porter, she has only been a professional since 2021 but the Australian Open is somewhat of a throwback to her amateur days.
It acts as reunion for Australian golfers who have jetted off to America, Europe or Asia to chase their dreams.
“I think being at home really takes us back to playing together when we were 15 and having a lot of fun,” Porter said.
“Playing overseas, that’s our job for eight, nine months of the year, but coming home and being in a competitive environment with all our friends, and also playing in front of a home crowd, I honestly think the enjoyment just takes over.”
The 2024 Australian Open – which includes the men’s and women’s tournaments being played on the same course, at the same time – will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Sports and Kayo from November 28-December 1.
