Jan Stephenson, a Paige Spiranac with portfolio, paved the way for influencers
The oldtimers would call Jan Stephenson a "pin-up girl," but she was a total package that included two-dozen pro wins, three majors and a Hall pass.
Jan Stephenson was a golf influencer a generation (or two) before influencing became a thing. A lucrative thing, too. “If I’d had Instagram and Facebook and everything, I probably would’ve even been a bigger star and would’ve made a lot of money from it,” she says.
As it was, she did quite well, and for a unique reason: She wasn’t just an influencer, but an influencer with a genuine portfolio. Her 27 overall professional wins included 16 on the LPGA Tour, including three majors (the 1983 U. S.
Women’s Open among them) — all of which landed her in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2019. Not bad at all for what the old folks would call a sex symbol and what the really old crowd might label a pin-up girl. Except, unlike today’s internet stars, Stephenson’s attention-getting served an unselfish interest — the 1970s-era LPGA Tour, which was struggling to gain (and even retain) traction at a time when Nancy Lopez exploded onto the scene and gave the women’s game a bit of competitive leverage.
“I did it to help the Tour because it was struggling,” says Stephenson, who also recalls doing it with the thumbs-up, and even encouragement, from the tour’s commissioner, Ray Volpe. Stephenson, now 74, was in town this week as one of 18 former LPGA golfers participating in a charity scramble at LPGA International. The Legends of the LPGA Tour event raised money (nearly $100,000, early reports indicate) for the Air Warrior Courage Foundation.
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