lpga tour commissioner

LPGA Board of Directors elects Mollie Marcoux Samaan as Commissioner

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 15: Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks at the Up2Us Sports Gala 2017 at Guastavino's on May 15, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Up2Us Sports)

Marcoux Samaan brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in sports and business

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Board of Directors of the LPGA has unanimously elected Mollie Marcoux Samaan as its next Commissioner. Marcoux Samaan, currently Ford Family Director of Athletics at Princeton University, will become the ninth Commissioner of the LPGA since its formation in 1950. She will succeed Commissioner Mike Whan who notified the LPGA Board late last year of his intent to step down in 2021. Whan was recently announced as the next Chief Executive Officer of the USGA. Marcoux Samaan will be working with the LPGA Board and the University to transition to her new role in the months ahead.

“Our selection of Mollie Marcoux Samaan as the LPGA’s next Commissioner is the outcome of an extensive and deliberate search process. The position attracted a diverse group of outstanding internal and external candidates, all passionate about the LPGA. We concluded that Mollie is the right leader to guide the LPGA’s next chapter of growth, impact and achievement,” said Diane Gulyas, Chair of the LPGA Board of Directors and the Search Committee.

“Mollie understands the power of golf to change the lives of girls and women. As a values-centered leader, she’s known for her skills in collaboration, managing through complexity and building a winning team culture. In every role, she’s had an outstanding record of performance in navigating change, forging lasting partnerships, and seeing – and seizing – new opportunities,” Gulyas said.

“Our search process was disciplined and thorough. We were impressed and honored by the large number of quality of leaders interested in the LPGA. But in the end, Mollie stood above the rest. We were impressed by her track record working with athletes; with her ability to forge new and innovative partnerships; and with her personal passion, authenticity and proven persistence for excellence,” said Juli Inkster, World and LPGA Hall of Famer and a member of the Search Committee.

“The LPGA Commissioner role is one of the best jobs in sports today and the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m passionate about the game of golf and have been an LPGA fan since I was a little girl. I appreciate the LPGA’s history and the tenacity of its 13 Founders. I’m truly inspired by our Tour players and teaching professionals. I’m excited to dive into the LPGA initiatives to impact women and girls in the game at every age and ability. And, to learn about and contribute to all aspects of the LPGA’s business,” said Mollie Marcoux Samaan.

“I believe passionately that sports have the power to change the world. And in this moment in time – with the positive energy around women’s sports, women’s leadership and society’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion – I believe the LPGA has an incredible opportunity to use our platform for positive change.

‘I’ve devoted my career to developing character, confidence and opportunities through sports. My mission and the LPGA’s mission are fully aligned: providing women and girls the opportunity to achieve their dreams through golf.

“Under the leadership of Mike Whan and the executive team, the LPGA is strongly positioned for continued growth and impact. I’ll look forward to working with Mike and the leadership team to meet the many people and organizations that have been so integral to the LPGA’s success. With its committed sponsors and fans, talented players and members, and exceptional staff and Board, my role will be to continue the positive momentum and increase opportunities, awareness, impact and respect for the LPGA worldwide,” Marcoux Samaan said.

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Mollie Marcoux Samaan, a self-described lifelong LPGA super fan, will be the tour’s ninth commissioner. Tuesday, Marcoux Samaan’s unanimous selection by the LPGA board of directors was announced. She’ll spend the next few months preparing to take over for Mike Whan, who after 11 years with the LPGA, will take the helm at the USGA later this summer.

During a Zoom call following the announcement, Marcoux Samaan was introduced to the golf media and she was quick to make her prowess and passion for the game known. She began playing at age 11 and reminisced about the summer days that she spent at Newman Golf Course in Ithaca, New York, where her parents would drop her off in the morning and she might play 36 holes a day.

During her opening remarks, she gushed about meeting Juli Inkster, a current member of the board of directors, during the interview process.

“I will say that I am, and have been for a long time, a super fangirl of Juli’s, so it was particularly fun to meet her on the first day,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I ran downstairs and told my husband that I met Juli Inkster on this call and I look forward to continuing to be pals along the way here.”

Marcoux Samaan’s sense of humor and honesty feel similar to Whan, who established a culture at the LPGA that is more like family than a workplace. The outgoing commissioner has been transparent with staff and members alike, while also fostering an entrepreneurial spirit among the staff. Finding the right fit, culturally, to replace Whan was undoubtedly important, if not priority No. 1. Based on initial impression, Marcoux Samaan looks poised to continue Whan’s style of leadership.

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“She’s honest and transparent,” Alena Sharp, who was one of four members of the LPGA Tour that was a part of the selection committee, told GolfChannel.com. “If she doesn’t know the answer to a question or problem, she tells you and then works tirelessly to find an answer or solution.”

Marcoux Samaan faces a different challenge than the one that Whan faced when he joined the LPGA in 2010. Whan’s marching orders were clear when he was brought in to resuscitate a struggling tour. It needed more tournaments and more prize money. Whan not only brought the tour back to life, but nurtured the growth of the other arms of the organization – the LPGA professionals, the Amateur Golf Association, LPGA*USGA Girls Golf and the Women’s Network. He also saw the creation of a partnership with the Ladies European Tour and a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour.

How does the LPGA build on Whan’s success? And what does that look like?

Marcoux Samaan, a mother of three, has an opportunity to shape the organization’s future by capitalizing on the work done during Whan’s tenure. She can push the LPGA to the next level, a level that has never been seen in the organization’s 70-year history.

“Mollie will be a great next leader to continue on what Mike Whan has developed,” said Sharp. “I think she will raise our brand awareness and probe further areas where the LPGA needs to be better.”

Tuesday, Inkster echoed Sharp’s confidence that Marcoux Samaan’s vision is in line with the LPGA’s members.

“I know this is probably not the greatest term, but she’s a jock and she loves sports and I love sports, and I think you have to be that way to really dive in,” Inkster said. “She’s been AD for a huge athletic department, and she’s been in a man’s world. She knows the golfing world and she knows how to play with them, be nice and collaborate and bring the LPGA forward. “

When Marcoux Samaan was pressed on what her vision entailed, she highlighted four key areas – purses, partners, global growth and exposure. Outlining a strategic vision, she says, will be her top priority.

“I think the only way you can actually form a strategy is to hear from all the stakeholders – it’s a very complex organization, and to sort of understand the landscape and then try to simplify that into the core values and the core strategy,” said Marcoux Samaan. “That’s what I love doing.”

While Marcoux Samaan is quite familiar with the LPGA from the outside, she’s definitely not an insider to professional golf.

Marcoux Samaan joins the LPGA from Princeton University, her alma mater from which she graduated in 1991. She was a two-sport athlete who played both soccer and ice hockey and she wrote her senior thesis – over 100 pages – on the history of women in golf and how it mirrored society. Marcoux Samaan spent the past seven years as Princeton’s athletic director, and to much success. Of the school’s 37 varsity teams, 27 have won at least one league championship since she became director. Prior to her most recent stint at Princeton, she spent 19 years with Chelsea Piers Management, which is perhaps best known for operating Manhattan’s only year-round, four-tiered driving range.

Sharp said that Marcoux Samaan was one of more than 200 candidates considered for the position. She added that Marcoux Samaan was one of the top candidates during the first round of interviews and upon advancing to the second round, was directed more specific questions based on the candidate. Sharp says that Marcoux Samaan was a standout upon advancing to the third stage of the interview process, which was held in person with the committee.

“Her boardroom presence was knowledgeable, calm, confident, compassionate – simply unflappable,” Sharp said about meeting Marcoux Samaan. “She brings about a great presence when she enters a room which will be very crucial for our current, potential sponsors and other stakeholders.”

Whan put the check writers first and the strategy worked. When it comes to working with sponsors, potential and existing, Marcoux Samaan says it’s all about building relationships. She’ll lean on her time at Princeton, in which she did quite a bit of fundraising for the athletic department and coordinated with a variety of sponsors during her nearly two decades with Chelsea Piers.

“At this moment, what could be better than sponsoring the LPGA?” said Marcoux Samaan about the growing push for women’s equality in sport. “We’re all working towards providing the most diverse and inclusive environments within our companies and [to] be able to use the LPGA as a platform, and commitment to that equity, I think is a huge opportunity.”

The commissioner search began in earnest on Feb. 1 with the assistance of Spencer Stuart, a consulting firm that assisted the LPGA with the hiring process. Sharp says that the firm found Marcoux Samaan during the search.

There isn’t an exact date yet for when Marcoux Samaan will take over for Whan, but she says she’ll be ready by the end of summer. She plans to attend the fan-crazed Solheim Cup in September.

It’s a perfect event for the self-declared super fan to officially begin her tenure at the LPGA.

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Princeton AD Mollie Marcoux Samaan hired as LPGA commissioner

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The LPGA Tour chose Princeton athletic director Mollie Marcoux Samaan as its commissioner Tuesday, the second woman to lead the tour since its formation in 1950.

Marcoux Samaan succeeds Mike Whan, who announced in January he was resigning and then took over as CEO of the U.S. Golf Association.

She inherits a tour that made it through the COVID-19 pandemic and emerged with a 34-event schedule with record prize money approaching $80 million.

The LPGA said she would spend the coming months transitioning from Princeton to the LPGA.

"The LPGA Commissioner role is one of the best jobs in sports today and the opportunity of a lifetime," Marcoux Samaan said in a statement. "I'm passionate about the game of golf and have been an LPGA fan since I was a little girl. I appreciate the LPGA's history and the tenacity of its 13 founders. I'm truly inspired by our tour players and teaching professionals. I'm excited to dive into the LPGA initiatives to impact women and girls in the game at every age and ability.

"My mission and the LPGA's mission are fully aligned: providing women and girls the opportunity to achieve their dreams through golf."

The first woman to lead the LPGA was Carolyn Bivens, who was hired in 2005 with a bullish marketing plan to promote the players. But she alienated sponsors and media at a time when the tour was struggling to get through the recession, and she was ousted in 2009 when the LPGA's schedule had 24 tournaments -- 10 outside the U.S.

Marcoux Samaan is the ninth commissioner of the LPGA Tour.

"Mollie understands the power of golf to change the lives of girls and women," said Diane Gulyas, chair of the LPGA board and leader of the search committee. "In every role, she's had an outstanding record of performance in navigating change, forging lasting partnerships and seeing -- and seizing -- new opportunities.

Marcoux Samaan was a two-sport athlete at Princeton in soccer and hockey -- she was named to first team All-Ivy League in hockey all four years -- though her passion for golf runs deep.

She is a five-time club champion at North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue, New York, and her senior thesis for her history degree at Princeton in 1991 was titled, "The Social Construction of Sport and Gender: A History of Women's Golf from 1895 to 1955."

Marcoux Samaan spent 19 years with Chelsea Piers Management, which owns and operates amateur sports complexes in New York and Connecticut. She returned to Princeton in 2014 as its athletic director, during which the Tigers won a league-leading 65 Ivy League titles.

"We were impressed by her track record working with athletes, with her ability to forge new and innovative partnerships; and with her personal passion, authenticity and proven persistence for excellence," said Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, who served on the search committee.

Mollie Marcoux Samaan hired as new LPGA Tour commissioner; second woman to hold the post

Princeton athletic director has presided over a program that produced 65 ivy league titles in seven years.

The LPGA Tour chose Princeton athletic director Mollie Marcoux Samaan as its commissioner Tuesday, the second woman to lead the tour since its formation in 1950. 

Marcoux Samaan succeeds Mike Whan, who announced in January he was resigning and then took over as CEO of the U.S. Golf Association.

She inherits a tour that made it through the COVID-19 pandemic and emerged with a 34-event schedule with record prize money approaching $80 million. 

The LPGA said she would spend the coming months transitioning from Princeton to the LPGA. 

“The LPGA Commissioner role is one of the best jobs in sports today and the opportunity of a lifetime," she said in a statement. “I’m passionate about the game of golf and have been an LPGA fan since I was a little girl. I appreciate the LPGA’s history and the tenacity of its 13 founders. I’m truly inspired by our tour players and teaching professionals. I’m excited to dive into the LPGA initiatives to impact women and girls in the game at every age and ability. 

“My mission and the LPGA’s mission are fully aligned: providing women and girls the opportunity to achieve their dreams through golf.” 

The first woman to lead the LPGA was Carolyn Bivens, hired in 2005 with a bullish marketing plan to promote the players. But she alienated sponsors and media at a time when the tour was struggling to get through the recession. She was ousted in 2009 when the LPGA's schedule had 24 tournaments,10 of them held outside the U.S. 

Marcoux Samaan is the ninth commissioner of the LPGA Tour. 

“Mollie understands the power of golf to change the lives of girls and women,” said Diane Gulyas, chair of the LPGA board who led the search committee. "In every role, she's had an outstanding record of performance in navigating change, forging lasting partnerships and seeing — and seizing — new opportunities. 

Marcoux Samaan was a two-sport athlete at Princeton in soccer and hockey — she was named to first team All-Ivy League in hockey all four years — though her passion for golf runs deep. 

She is a five-time club champion at North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue, New York, and her senior thesis for her history degree at Princeton in 1991 was titled, “The Social Construction of Sport and Gender: A History of Women's Golf from 1895 to 1955.” 

Marcoux Samaan spent 19 years with Chelsea Piers Management, which owns and operates amateur sports complexes in New York and Connecticut. She returned to Princeton in 2014 as its athletic director, during which the Tigers won a league-leading 65 Ivy League titles. 

“We were impressed by her track record working with athletes, with her ability to forge new and innovative partnerships; and with her personal passion, authenticity and proven persistence for excellence,” said Juli Inkster, a Hall of Famer who served on the search committee. 

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New commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan reveals her top priorities for the LPGA’s future

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Former Princeton AD Mollie Marcoux Samaan started her new role as LPGA commissioner earlier this month.

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When Mollie Marcoux Samaan officially took the reigns as LPGA commissioner earlier this month, she knew she would have big shoes to fill, given the significant growth her predecessor, Mike Whan, oversaw during his 11-year tenure. But Samaan, the former athletic director at Princeton University, is more than up to the challenge.

“I think we’re very similar,” Samaan said of Whan in a recent interview. “I hope to be as strategic and as successful as he. From what I’ve seen, he had this great balance of being really strategic and getting a lot of things done, and having great ideas. But at the same time, being very much focused on the culture of the organization. And sometimes those things don’t go hand in hand. And what I really have been impressed by is that I think he did both of those things.”

After spending the last few months transitioning out of her role at Princeton and moving her family to the LPGA’s headquarters in Florida, Samaan hit the ground running with a 100-day plan, the beginning of which is designed primarily to familiarize herself with the LPGA’s players, events, teachers and staff, as well as the various ins and outs of an organization that is admittedly complex.

“I honestly think that part of my job, which is what I really love to do, is to be a support system for the entire ecosystem, to sort of use my platform and my role to help everyone else do their jobs better,” Samaan said. “So that leadership part is really fun, being the coach, if you will, of a larger organization. That feels real comfortable and something that I love doing.”

LPGA names Princeton Athletic Director Mollie Marcoux Samaan as new commissioner

Samann already has plenty of support. She was unanimously elected to her new role by the LPGA’s Board of Directors, which includes tour stars Michelle Wie West and Lydia Ko . LPGA legend Juli Inkster was also part of the search committee. So what will the LPGA’s future look like under Samaan’s leadership? One thing that Samaan says she is looking forward to taking on is overseeing the best possible tournament schedule for the LPGA’s players.

“I think we’ll spend a lot of time on partnerships, sponsorships, spending a lot of time on our broadcasts and our technology,” she said. “I love the foundation work that we do. I love working with the amateurs. Obviously growing girls’ golf and working with our partners on that. It’s a complex job and there’s lots of things to do, and I think part of the strategic plan is to say, how do we prioritize things. I’d like to spend my whole life doing each one of them, but I think we need to pick and choose; but also the beauty of it is we have a team that does all of this and we have a great team, so my job is to figure out how to support them in what they do.”

Another priority for Samaan? Ensuring that her players are well taken care of in every sense — especially financially.

“I think that all the women on the tour should be able to make a really good living,” Samaan said. “They’re the best in the world. And so making sure that they have those opportunities, the tournament schedule, the purses, I think that’s all really critical that we need to keep working on.”

The upcoming Solheim Cup will be Samaan’s first official event as commissioner. While Samaan insists that she and Whan are different people with different leadership styles, it’s clear that they share two particular traits: passion and positivity.

“It wasn’t really a job for him, it was a way of life,” Samaan said of Whan’s tenure. “And I always think, ‘Don’t do something that you don’t care about. Don’t take a job unless you really believe in it.’ And that’s what I noticed from him from the very beginning was, this was not a job. This was sort of something he believed deeply in, and that’s why I’ve taken this job, just because I really believe in what we do, and I care a lot.”

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LPGA continues to explore possible merger with LET as commissioner discusses idea with players

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks with the media during a roundtable at the CME Group Tour Championship last November.

Michael Reaves

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — The LPGA Tour is continuing to explore a possible landmark change in women’s golf as officials consider a merger with the Ladies European Tour. During the final half hour of a two-hour mandatory player meeting at last week’s Drive On Championship outside Phoenix, the first full field LPGA event of the 2023 season, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, Chief of Marketing Matt Chmura, and Chief Legal and IT Officer Liz Moore discussed with players the potential of the two tours combining.

Multiple sources who attended the meeting tell Golf Digest that the discussion did not include many specifics regarding what a merger might look like. Rather, LPGA officials spoke more broadly about TV viewership goals, purse growth and how a merger could grow women’s golf overall.

Asked to comment about what was presented at the meeting, an LPGA spokesperson said the “information discussed at LPGA Player meetings is for the benefit of our athletes.” As for the status of the discussions about a merger, the spokesperson issued the following statement:

“When the LPGA partnered with the LET and formed the joint venture in 2019, the goal was to strengthen women's golf. The partnership has been successful. As was reported earlier this year, we're evaluating what the next iteration of our relationship looks like with the goal of continuing to enhance opportunities for members on all tours and strengthening the women’s game globally.

“We’ve spoken with members about the partnership and potential opportunities, and we’ll continue to do that as we evaluate the next steps in our relationship with the LET.

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The potential for the two tours to join together is, indeed, a natural evolution of the strategic alignment the spokesperson referenced between the LPGA and LET that was signed in 2019. At that time, the LET was struggling financially. The two tours agreed to a multi-year arrangement where they would run the LET 50-50.

Then LPGA commissioner Mike Whan structured the deal so that the LPGA could send capital in but can’t take any out. “I want to make sure the European Tour players know that this is not some American growth strategy,” Whan said.

Since then, the LET has experienced rapid growth. In 2018, the final full season before the partnership, the LET hosted 15 tournaments for a total purse of €11.5 million. Five years later, both the purse size and the number of events have grown more than 100 percent, with 31 events and at least €35 million on the line in 2023. At the player meeting, multiple sources explained that LPGA officials stated that the LET is currently self-sufficient.

The LET schedule includes five events under the Aramco Team Series umbrella as well as the Saudi Ladies International tournament, which in February offered a $5 million overall purse. The total amount of money available in purses in these events is $10 million. Funding for them comes from Saudi Arabia’s state-run petroleum company, Saudi Aramco, which renewed its agreement with the LET last November.

It is unknown whether Aramco’s partnership with the LET would continue if an LPGA/LET merger were to take place. Aramco’s chairman is Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is also the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund that controversially backs the LIV Golf League. If the Aramco sponsorship were to remain in place, it could prove a sticking point for LPGA players concerned that the tour would have direct ties with a government that has been accused of numerous human-rights violations, including its treatment of women, dissidents and the gay community.

Marcoux Samaan first discussed the idea of a merger with LPGA members at a player meeting at the Pelican Women’s Championship last November. “For us, we just want to make sure that there are clear pathways for women’s golf, and that the best players in the world can make a living and live their dreams through golf,” she said when asked about a possible merger a week later at the CME Group Tour Championship.

What is unclear is how much farther along officials with either tour might be on a formal proposal for players to review—sources tell Golf Digest that the earliest a merger would be put in place is 2025—or when there might be a vote on the matter from either the LPGA’s board of directors or the LET’s board or its players, which both voted in 2019 to approve the strategic partnership.

“They truly are doing a lot of good behind the scenes that maybe we as players don't see right now,” said LPGA pro Maria Fassi, who attended the meeting. “They have all the data that supports what they're doing. So I'm kind of hopeful with the potential merger, [and] why they want it, [that it is] supported by a lot of data that they've seen that we haven't that will actually help the tour grow and will help players develop better and keep the LPGA the leading professional women's golf tour in the world.”

The lack of specifics and clarity, however, during the meeting was something that upset other players who spoke with Golf Digest. “I just feel like the tour is two steps ahead, but yet [the players] barely trying to understand the blueprint of it,” said Lizette Salas, a 12-year LPGA veteran and five-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member.

Lizette Salas, a 12-year LPGA player and five-time Solheim Cup team member, voiced concerns about a merger with the LET coming before other ways to improve the LPGA Tour had been explored.

Salas was one of six players, according to her, who pressed officials with questions on how a merger might benefit the tour versus other avenues the LPGA could focus on for growth. Salas wondered if the tour would be better served identifying how to get more young players into the game or focusing on shoring up LPGA title sponsors. She also expressed concern about the impact a merger could have on the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s developmental circuit. Its tagline is “the Road to the LPGA,” with the top 10 players on its money list earning their way to the LPGA. Would it still be the best way onto the tour in the event of a merger? How many spots would the LET get directly onto the LPGA?

“I think there's things on our plate that need to be addressed, and that need to become stronger as a foundation before we can put our hands in different pots,” said Salas, 33, who described the merger as a "sensitive topic" and was concerned that her and her peers’ questions weren't being answered. She vocalized an emphasis on investing in the LPGA first and foremost, with ideas ranging from attracting more fans to improving player retirement, before potentially merging with the LET.

“I think there's a lot on the line that they don't really [understand]. This move will just determine a whole lot, moving forward with sponsors. I get we want to elevate women's golf, but I think there's a different way to go about it.”

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What the New LPGA Tour Commissioner’s Top Priority Should Be

Get more women's golf on network TV!

Yesterday, the LPGA Tour announced that Princeton University Athletic Director Mollie Marcoux Samaan will be its new commissioner, replacing soon-to-be USGA CEO Mike Whan. Marcoux Samaan is coming into a far better situation than Whan did in 2010. Television viewership of the LPGA Tour increased 21% in 2020, compared to 4% for the PGA Tour. Yet despite this positive momentum, women’s golf on network TV is still a rarity. For Commissioner Samaan, increasing the LPGA Tour’s presence on major networks should be priority number one.

The tour’s recent product has been outstanding. The start of the 2021 season has brought back-to-back victories by Jessica and Nelly Korda; drought-busting wins by Inbee Park, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, and Ariya Jutanagarn; and a triumphant display of golf by budding star Patty Tavatanakit at the ANA Inspiration. The players are engaging and entertaining, and strong venues like Wilshire Country Club , host of the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, put a refreshing emphasis on skill and strategy.

So it’s all the more disappointing when LPGA Tour coverage falls short. Take this past January’s Diamond Resort Tournament of Champions. Given a rare block of time on NBC, the Sunday broadcast struggled with pace-of-play issues, a heavy commercial load, and a format that often highlighted the male celebrities in the pro-am competition more than the actual professional golfers. In a relatively quiet portion of the golf calendar, the Diamond Resorts TOC was a rare opportunity for LPGA stars to be front and center. It was a shame to see them pushed to the side.

To put a fine point on this @lpga coverage from @NBCSports and @GolfChannel —not only is this coverage transparently, laughably substandard to any normal PGA event, but the LPGA *pays* NBC for the trouble. I wonder if it comes with a satisfaction guarantee?cc: @mollysolomon_gc — Big Randy (@BigRandyNLU) January 24, 2021

Commissioner Whan has spoken about the importance of raising players’ profiles by getting them on network TV. As important as Golf Channel’s coverage of the women’s game is, its ratings pale in comparison to those of the big networks. That’s why the LPGA Tour’s overall increase in broadcast hours (from 100 in 2010 to 500 this year) doesn’t tell the whole story. We also have to consider how often the tour has appeared on network TV.

Going back 20 years to the 2001 Nabisco Championship (now called the ANA Inspiration), this was the coverage package:

• Thursday: 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• Friday: 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• Saturday: 4-6 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Sunday: 4-6 p.m. ET (ABC)

That’s a total of four hours on network TV. Not great, but something.

Flash forward to the 2021 ANA Inspiration this past April:

• Thursday: 12-4 p.m., 7-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
• Friday: 12-4 p.m., 7-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 5-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
• Sunday: 5-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Zero hours on network TV. That’s not a good look for the first women’s major after the shortened 2020 season. And the issue will persist throughout the 2021 schedule. The third major of the year, the Evian Championship in France (co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour), will also be a Golf Channel-only affair.

In 2001, all four majors and a total of ten LPGA tournaments had a slot on a major network. In 2021, that total is eight, including the Solheim Cup. This is a surprising step backwards.

Worse, the LPGA Tour occasionally gets bumped from live coverage on cable TV by tertiary men’s events. Earlier this year, 50-year-old Annika Sorenstam made her first LPGA start in 13 years. The greatest female player of the modern era was hovering around the cut line on Friday, but for the whole week, the Gainbridge LPGA was tape-delayed on Golf Channel. Shown live instead were the Champions Tour’s Cologuard Classic and the PGA Tour’s opposite-field Puerto Rico Open.

Why aren’t we watching live @LPGA coverage of Gainbridge now… I don’t get it anymore @GolfChannel — Marina Alex (@Marina_Deee) February 28, 2021

The LPGA Tour’s new TV deal , which was negotiated by the PGA Tour, will come into effect in 2022. We’ll see what kind of impact it has. In the meantime, there may be other ways Mollie Marcoux Samaan can get more exposure for her players. One strategy would be to capitalize on the LPGA Tour’s supposed “ strategic alliance ” with the PGA Tour and try to put stars of the men’s and women’s games on network TV together . Here are three forms that idea could take:

A jointly sanctioned PGA Tour/LPGA Tour event

Mixed-gender formats have been gaining steam internationally. The ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia has been a success, and the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed, hosted by Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson, will take place in a couple of weeks in Sweden. Whan has hinted that the PGA and LPGA tours have discussed doing something similar. Obviously this would be a big gain for the LPGA Tour. But if you think there’s no upside for the PGA Tour, dig a little deeper.

Our 2⃣0⃣2⃣0⃣ @ISPSHanda #VicOpen CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆🏌️‍♀️🏌️‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/1C3LJmbpRp — ISPS Handa Vic Open (@VicOpenGolf) February 9, 2020

Despite its strategic alliance with the LPGA Tour, the PGA Tour does not appear to take pains to promote the women’s game. Some recent comments by Jay Monahan in a deposition , which suggested that he knew next to nothing about the world’s top female golfers, didn’t help that perception. So supporting a mixed-gender event with equal pay could be a savvy PR move for Ponte Vedra.

A revived Skins Game

Back when the PGA Tour had a silly season, the annual Skins Game was a primetime Thanksgiving-weekend staple. The casual format allowed fans of the men’s game to see how the Annikas and the Karries of the world stacked up against the Tigers and the Phils. That’s something viewers just don’t get to do anymore (especially given the lack of publicly available advanced statistics in women’s golf, but that’s another topic). With the recent comeback of made-for-TV charity matches , it would be refreshing to see some of the LPGA’s many charismatic personalities get in on a Skins Game revival.

New-look international competitions

The LPGA Tour doesn’t have direct control over the Olympics or the Presidents Cup, but the new commissioner should be asking anyone and everyone why golf’s international competitions are so gender-segregated. The Olympics reaches a worldwide audience like no other, so it’s a shame not to have a team or mixed element in the golf competition. What a missed opportunity to see Jordan Spieth and Danielle Kang or Patrick Reed and Lexi Thompson (two words: content bonanza) pair up in red, white, and blue! The President’s Cup could use some freshening, too. It’s routinely lopsided in favor of the Americans, and unless it takes place at Royal Melbourne, it’s probably going to be a snoozefest. Adding in female players would immediately level the playing field and give the Presidents Cup an identity separate from Ryder and Solheim.

None of these ideas would be simple to accomplish, but Mollie Marcoux Samaan has a responsibility to reshape the future of LPGA Tour coverage. With more exposure on network TV, players would get better endorsement deals, companies would pay more to sponsor tournaments, and fans would have more chances to get invested in the personalities and storylines of women’s golf.

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‘We’re Sitting On A Gold Mine’ – LPGA Tour Commissioner Seeks Cash Boost

Mollie Marcoux Samaan thinks there is an excellent opportunity to grow the women's game with new investment

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The LPGA Tour is close to naming a strategic planning partner in a bid to find new investment to boost its profile.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan believes investment into the women's game could be considerably higher, particularly in light of the huge coverage afforded to the Ryder Cup compared to the Solheim Cup a week earlier.

In an interview with the Financial Times , she said: "When you start to look at the commercialistion of the two [competitions], they become apples and oranges. There’s been tremendous investment in the Ryder Cup and the results have followed because it’s a great product.”

Ryder Cup fans were certainly not short of coverage of Team Europe’s victory at Marco Simone . The report also states there was over 100 hours of coverage on US network TV, but in contrast, only a quarter of that was given to the match at Finca Cortesin .

However, Marcoux Samaan thinks the product offered by the women’s match is good enough to capture the imagination of all parties with even relatively small additional funding.

She continued: “I’m 100% convinced that if we got even a small percentage of the investment made in the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup could be a huge home run for players, for fans, for broadcasters and sponsors. I think we’re sitting on a gold mine.”

The person appointed to the new role will be responsible for increasing investment, including from outside parties, and Marcoux Samaan explained it is a vital component of growing the women’s game.

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She said: “It’s impossible to maximize value in any business without investment. We have this amazing product and we need to figure out how to commercialise it, monetise it and have investment come into it. If you think about where the future could be, the returns are there.”

Marcoux Samaan is not alone in striving to close the gap between the women’s and men’s games. Before the final women’s Major of the year, the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers explained that, as well as targeting bigger crowds for the tournament, he wanted more media coverage too. 

He said: “I would love to get to a point where I show opening tee shot to final shot in the afternoon. That's what I would like to show, and that's the goal long term.

“We will have seven hours a day here. That's the biggest we've ever had, through Sunday, and obviously Sunday right through to the final putt when we have the Champion. But the next big gap to close after that would be the media coverage to be opening tee shot to final putt on Sunday.”

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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McIlroy, Scheffler to face DeChambeau, Koepka in PGA Tour-LIV showdown

Fans won't have to wait until the Masters in April to watch golfers from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League compete in the same event.

PGA Tour stars Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have agreed to face LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a made-for-TV match in Las Vegas in mid-December.

"I'm thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December," McIlroy told Golfweek. "This isn't just a contest between some of golf's major champions; it's an event designed to energize the fans. We're all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again."

Blake Smith, who represents Scheffler and Koepka, confirmed those players' participation to ESPN.

"Brooks and Scottie are very excited to be a part of this unique event and look forward to sharing more soon," Smith said.

There have been nine previous iterations of the made-for-TV exhibition, which debuted in 2018 with Tiger Woods battling rival Phil Mickelson . NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning , Aaron Rodgers , Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes , former NBA star Charles Barkley , and others have competed in the event as well.

In the most recent previous match on Feb. 26, McIlroy and Max Homa competed with LPGA stars Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang .

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf League have spent the past three years competing for the best golfers in the world. The PGA Tour continues to negotiate with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which finances LIV Golf, about a potential investment, which might bring the fractured sport together again.

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are expected to be separate entities in 2025. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has prohibited LIV Golf League players, many of whom are former PGA Tour members, from competing in his circuit's events.

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Rory McIlroy debunks LIV Golf rumors: ‘I'll play the PGA Tour the rest of my career'

A london outlet reported that mcilroy was close to an $850 million deal to join the saudi-funded tour, by doug ferguson | associated press • published april 16, 2024.

This wasn't the kind of attention Rory McIlroy was hoping for on the day after the Masters .

A London financial paper,  City A.M.,  cited anonymous sources as saying McIlroy was believed to be close to an $850 million deal to join LIV Golf. The publication did not say how the sources would know. That set off speculation and innuendo across the internet.

McIlroy was able to shut it down when he arrived at the RBC Heritage.

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“I honestly don't know how these things get started,” McIlroy told Golf Channel from the range at Harbour Town. “I've never been offered a number from LIV and I've never contemplated going to LIV. I think I've made it clear over the past two years that I don't think it's something for me.”

He most recently said that at Bay Hill last month.

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McIlroy said he won't judge players going to LIV if they feel that's what it is best for them. He also expressed anew how important it is to have the top players come together more often than the four majors. And he believes some PGA Tour players are still contemplating going over to the Saudi-funded tour. It's just not for him.

“I'll play the PGA Tour the rest of my career,” he said.

He wasn't the only person getting plenty of attention involving LIV Golf. The commissioner and CEO, Greg Norman, spent three days at the Masters and made his presence felt at every turn.

Norman acquired a ticket to watch like any other spectator — presumably the 104 tickets available to the 13 LIV players in the Masters already were taken — and raved about the reception he received.

Norman took to  Instagram  to thank “the hundreds if not thousands of people" for what he called “unanimous support.”

“My right hand is sore from shaking hands with each and every one of you as well as the hugs given to so many,” Norman wrote.

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE

Nelly Korda has more than a major championship at stake this week in The Chevron Championship. She will try to join Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only women to win five straight tournaments on the LPGA Tour.

Korda would be more similar to Sorenstam than Lopez, and not just because the fifth in a row would come at the LPGA's first major of the year. There also was a significant gap.

Sorenstam won twice at the end of the 2004 season — Japan, a week off, and then the ADT Championship. She skipped the 2005 season opener in Hawaii and then reeled off the next three tournaments on the schedule, capped by winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Korda won the Drive On Championship in Bradenton, Florida, in January, and then skipped the entire Asia swing, taking a seven-week break. She returned to win in Los Angeles, the Phoenix area and then captured her fourth in a row at the Match Play in Las Vegas.

Lopez won her five straight in a six-week span in 1978. She started with three wins in three weeks, skipped the Peter Jackson Classic in Canada and then won the LPGA Championship and the following week in New York.

Korda is the first to win four straight tournaments since Lorena Ochoa won four straight in four weeks by seven shots, five shots, 11 shots and three shots. She took a week off and then tied for fifth at Cedar Ridge in Tulsa, Oklahoma, five shots out of the lead.

MAJOR BOOST

The Chevron Championship pledged to upgrade the first LPGA major of the year, and it took a big step Tuesday. It announced a purse increase to $7.9 million, up from $5.2 million. The prize money has gone up $4.8 million in the three years that Chevron has been title sponsor.

The winner will get $1.2 million.

Chevron also said it would extend its sponsorship through 2029.

The purse is closer in line with the other traditional majors in women’s golf. The U.S. Women’s Open remains the highest at $12 million, followed by the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at $10 million. The AIG Women’s British Open is $9 million.

The LPGA made the Evian Championship a major a decade ago. Its prize money is $6.5 million.

In addition to the big purse increase, Chevron is giving $10,000 to every player who misses the cut to help with expenses in travel.

REED'S MOVE

Patrick Reed left the Masters with a small measure of frustration because of a poor week driving the ball and not getting any momentum. He closed with an even-par 72 and had to settle for a tie for 12th.

It might have done him a world of good.

Reed had not received an invitation to the PGA Championship before he arrived at the Masters as the No. 112 player in the world ranking. With a good finish, the LIV Golf player moved up 27 spots to No. 85. The PGA Championship at Valhalla is a month away, and it's unlikely Reed will have fallen out of the top 100 by then.

The PGA of America has a history of inviting everyone inside the top 100 in the world ranking, though it's not part of the criteria. Oftentimes officials will go a little deeper.

At stake for Reed is a streak playing in every major dating to the 2014 Masters.

Reed said after the third round of the Masters he was uncertain of his schedule outside LIV Golf. He already got a small boost in the world ranking — LIV events do not offer ranking points — with a fourth-place finish in the International Series-Macau on the Asian Tour.

“Hopefully the PGA and the U.S. Open and The Open Championship take a look at things like that and take consideration on who they’re deciding to give exemptions to,” Reed said. “All I can focus on is playing good golf.”

A TOUCH OF CLASS

The most poignant memory of a caddie at the Masters was how Shota Hayafuji replaced the pin after Hideki Matsuyama won in 2021, and then removed his cap and bowed to the course as a show of respect.

Scottie Scheffler’s classy gesture wasn’t so obvious.

Two years ago, he walked off the 18th green with his wife, Meredith. She was home in Dallas this year awaiting the birth of their first child. Scheffler hugged two of his sisters, his parents, swing coach Randy Smith and manager Blake Smith and was about to walk to scoring when he stopped and turned.

His caddie, Ted Scott, was still exchanging hugs when Scheffler called to him and waited. He had Scott go with him, leading the way.

“He doesn’t want to make the walk alone,” CBS announcer Jim Nantz said. “That was great of him. What a gesture.”

The final round of the Masters averaged a 5.2 rating and 9.59 million viewers on CBS, which Sports Media Watch said was 5% down in ratings and a drop of 20% in viewership compared with last year. Among reasons for the drop is that last year the final round fell on Easter Sunday and benefited from a boost in out-of-home audience. One other factor could be the streaming option on the Masters' state-of-the-art website. ... Scottie Scheffler is leading the PGA Tour in birdie average and bogey avoidance. ... Rickie Fowler announced on social media that he and his wife are expecting their second daughter this summer. His wife, Allison, said the baby was due the week of the Olympics in early August. That also is two weeks after the British Open. ... Webb Simpson is No. 138 in the FedEx Cup and it's not from a lack of opportunity. He already has received sponsor exemptions into two $20 million signature events that did not have cuts. Simpson is playing on a sponsor exemption this week at the RBC Heritage, another signature event with no cut. Simpson won at Hilton Head in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Scottie Scheffler is averaging $431,235 for every round of golf he has played this year on the PGA Tour.

“That's what I’m looking forward to most about being a parent is being able to love my child like my parents loved me.” — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler.

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