Michelle Wie West partners with LA Golf, forms initiative aiming to support LPGA players

Michelle Wie West will lead a new women's partnership initiative with golf equipment company LA Golf, aiming for equitable and fair support on and off the course for LPGA players.

Pledging to treat women golfers in the same respect as their male counterparts, LA Golf will provide its LPGA partners with full healthcare including mental health days, paid maternity leave, performance-based bonuses and travel concierge services.

«We're looking into not so much as just throwing money, but what meaningful support can we provide women athletes that will make them feel like they're taken care of,» said Wie West, who sits on the board and is an investor of LA Golf. «And all of this — it adds up, and hopefully this will help to elongate their career. They can play with less injuries. They can play with less stress and have mental health support, all of that.»

Wie West, 32, met with LA Golf CEO Reed Dickens over the past year to create an initiative based off her own experiences and observations as a professional golfer.

«The LPGA tour is doing an amazing job with daycare, maternity leave, mental health support,» Wie West said. «But the Tour is doing as much as they can; we need corporate buy-in for players. That's why I think it's really great that LA Golf, as a corporate sponsor, wants to help change and create dialogue in this sponsorship landscape.»

After numerous discussions about how golf partnerships with brands oftentimes fall short of fully supporting an LPGA player off the course, Wie West and Dickens decided they needed to create a unique model.

«The point of the LA Golf women's initiative is that Michelle is on the board, and I gave her the authority and the green light and the legislative paper to do what she thinks