[USA TODAY] The story of the woman who brought sex to the LPGA Tour

July 12, 2015
Jan Stephenson (AP)

Jan Stephenson (AP)

[USA TODAY - FOR THE WIN]  –  Jan Stephenson had assembled her entire wardrobe for Sport Magazine’s 1977 cover shoot, and for good reason. It was the magazine’s special “Sex In Sports” edition, and Jan was going to be the first woman to pose for the cover. It was a major coup for Stephenson, who at the time was little more than a 26-year-old Australian prospect with a handful of LPGA Tour wins to her name.

Stephenson had been drafted by then-LPGA Tour Commissioner Ray Volpe to be the face of a new-look tour, a role Stephenson was more than willing to play, and the Sport magazine cover was going to be the first step towards realizing that plan.

The criticism came pouring in, but so did the attention — a currency the LPGA Tour had been starved of since its inception. [READ MORE]