Tag: LPGA Commissioner

New LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan rolls up her sleeves with 100-day plan

The new Commissioner has a plan for the first days of her tenure with the LPGA, and Phase I consists of listening and learning.

Mollie Marcoux Samaan began work as the LPGA’s ninth commissioner on Monday. On the drive over from her rental home in Winter Park, Florida, to tour headquarters in Daytona Beach, she texted predecessor Mike Whan to say that she was on her way.

“You’re going to hate the commute,” Whan told her, “but you’re going to love the people and you’re going to love the job.”

IMG and her new tour family sent bouquets of flowers to brighten up the office. She had a box of family photos in the car. Decorating isn’t exactly a priority for Marcoux Samaan, who has created a 100-day plan that would essentially end as the tour wraps up its 2021 season in Naples, Florida. Phase I consists of listening and learning.

Marcoux Samaan, who was named commissioner in late May, met with members of the press on Thursday, and while she didn’t lay out specific details of future plans, she did share a passion of growing the consumer base from a marketing perspective.

“We have amazing stories to tell,” she said, “and I feel like more of the world should know these stories and should know our amazing athletes.”

Over the past two months, Marcoux Samaan has transitioned out of her role as Princeton athletic director, found a new place to live with her husband, three kids – Maddie (18), Catie (15) and Drew (12) – and dog near the Winter Park Golf Course. She plans to make the Solheim Cup the first official event she attends as commissioner. From there, Marcoux Samaan said she’ll be at all remaining events on the 2021 LPGA schedule.

Golfweek met with Marcoux Samaan on Thursday in her new corner office digs. Here are excerpts from that conversation: 

Tell me about your family.

My husband is Andrew. He’s a lawyer and he’s done a lot of entrepreneurial things, but he is joining forces with a client that he’s had for years and they are starting a venture capital fund in September.

I have an 18-year-old daughter who graduated from high school, but she’s taking a PG (post graduate) year back at the same school. She went to The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, that’s a boarding school but she was a day student. She’s an ice hockey player and really committed student. She’s committed to Williams College for ice hockey, but she’s taking a year because of COVID …  going back and she’s going to be a boarder. She’s been a little too serious. I’m like go have some fun. Not too much fun, but go have some fun.

And then I have a junior in high school, a girl, who started school today and you can imagine how excited she is to be going to a new school her junior year, but she’s doing great and she’s going to Lake Highland Prep. She started this morning. Her uniform is too big for her, and her brother was late and all of that, but she’ll be fine. She plays soccer and lacrosse and she’s a pretty committed student as well and a great kid. She’s been giving it to me a little bit about the move, but she’s been largely positive.

Then I have a 12-year-old son who is a whole different enterprise. During this whole transition part of it was like two jobs, and the house and schools and the move but what people didn’t know was that I was constantly on him to finish the school year. He had kind of decided that he was done, but school hadn’t decided he was done. Someone asked and I said my hardest job right now is getting him to finish his homework.

But he did it all, and got it done. He’s really an easy kid, upbeat, a great athlete. He’s fine. As long as they have lacrosse, as long as they have golf, soccer, hockey.

So he’ll be on the golf team?

He plays golf, it’s not his main sport. We play together as a family, but he’s never really competed. But he decided he wanted to try out for the golf team and in typical working mother fashion, I did not get all the forms in in time so he is now trying out next week.

I talked to Mike a while back and he indicated that you guys had talked a lot. How often have you talked via phone or text?

We had two long meetings, spent a whole morning with him up at the USGA office and he came down and spent a couple hours. Three or four phone calls and a decent number of texts. Really more he’s just like whatever you need.

The senior executive leadership team, I really have been on that call every week since the announcement. In the beginning, just really listening and then now being able to run that meeting. That has given the most context.

I know you’ve been to a couple tournaments so far, and I’m sure you’ve had other conversations with check writers. I’m wondering what has been the most impactful or informative conversation you’ve had with a check writer about how all of this goes?

I don’t want to necessarily single anyone out … for example, listening to KPMG CEO Paul Knopp, I got to have lunch with him and his senior team and hearing kind of their passion for what we do but then he kind of impromptu had to hand the trophy to Nelly Korda and

his words were very heartfelt … just seeing how much it meant to him. Same thing with Jim Fitterling at Dow. He was there every day. That’s the other thing, these CEOs being at the events all week and engaging in all parts of it. Again not to single anyone out, I had a great conversation with Terry Duffy at CME and the great passion that he shows.

Mostly just to say God, these top level CEOs really love the LPGA, and what it says and what it does and how they use it.

When Stacy Lewis was the No. 1 player in the world, the tour developed a lot of strong partnerships out of that time … what do you think Nelly’s impact could be on the tour and how do you think you can capitalize on this moment in time?

Listen, she’s a great ambassador. One of the things you notice when you see her is, oh my God this is an athlete. I saw a picture of when I was handing her caddie the (No. 1) bib, and she’s like a foot taller than I am and I’m not necessarily short. She just has a tremendous presence and a tremendous amount of athleticism and she’s just a great representative. I do think our stars are really important, our whole membership base is really important.

You talked in a previous conversation about the importance of wanting to narrow the financial gap between the men and the women. Have you thought more about how you might do that?

It’s not an easy fix. If it were an easy fix someone would’ve done it a long time ago. Two things, one knowing that’s sort of a goal and putting that front and center and how we get there. And then just looking at what flows to that. What do we need to do across the whole ecosystem to get to that point? Looking at all of our tournaments, growing partnerships, growing relationships and looking at our full tournament complement. I do believe that it’s like a tipping point. The more we can expose the world to our athletes, the more interest there is, the more the rising tide lifts all boats. I think the focus is to get exposure and to build an audience that is even larger than the audience we have. It’s just getting to the tipping point so the world sees how amazing our athletes are.

When you took a sip of that Diet Coke it reminded me of the heavily caffeinated Mike Whan. Do you come close to him in the amount of Diet Cokes a day?

I don’t know how much he drank, but I do have a bit of an issue with it. When Mike was coming to Princeton we met in the, we built this performance center at the golf course at Princeton with hitting bays and a simulator area. We have a refrigerator and I was like I’ve got to stock it, what does he eat? She’s like all you need is Coke Zero and some nuts.

You fit right in …

He could’ve just left his Coke Zero.

I know you were at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from one of the veteran players or a meaningful conversation that you’ve had?

 I’ve been friends with Jane Geddes for a number of years. Gigi, her wife, worked with me at Chelsea Piers. We had kids in daycare together. Their twins were best buds with my son. Jane has given me a lot of great insight — but I’ve also met with Dottie Pepper in person. She and I used to play golf together as kids. We met in New York and she drove down and gave me great context.

I also had a great conversation with Nancy Lopez and met with Annika … I think just hearing Nancy Lopez’s continued passion for the LPGA … They grew up together, they were on the tour together … it’s kind of like a college. This loyalty and enthusiasm. It wasn’t a job, it was a family.

Just continuing that. I think hearing from all the players about how important that is, that as we grow, that we maintain that same gratitude and that same sort of commitment to act like a founder. I love that phrase and want to keep that.

Have you figured out this big board yet (Whan’s old dry erase board with the 2021 and 2022 schedules)?

This is interesting. This has to be kind of the crux … I think this is it. I think that’s the great advice Mike gave me. I asked him the question you just asked me … Where did you spend a lot of your time?

Our job is to provide these opportunities for our women to make a living through golf and to live their dreams through golf. This is not my writing. I’ve got it on my desk. But our team is really good, and our partners are good, but this definitely fuels the engine.

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New LPGA commissioner faces challenges with a tour that’s getting stronger

The resume of Mollie Marcoux Samaan seems to check all of the boxes for what the LPGA was looking for in its new commissioner.

The resume of Mollie Marcoux Samaan seems to check all of the boxes for what the LPGA was looking for in its new commissioner.

As the athletic director at Princeton, Marcoux Samaan certainly has the administrative background that a commissioner in a major sport needs. She played hockey and soccer collegiately, so she likely understands the challenges of women in sports. As a solid amateur golfer herself, she has a grasp of the game and what it takes to play well.

Perhaps the only surprise is that Marcoux Samaan wasn’t a bigger name in the golf world, but some people with higher golf profiles pulled themselves out of contention for the job in the last month.

Marcoux Samaan’s job will not be an easy one, and everyone has known that since Mike Whan announced he was leaving the LPGA. Whan did wonders for the women’s tour, and in a sense he leaves Marcoux Samaan a tour that is in much better shape than when he took over just more than 10 years ago.

Marcoux Samaan’s goal should not be to merely follow Whan and his path, but to blaze her own trail as the ninth LPGA commissioner and just the second woman to hold the job. The LPGA certainly faces issues, issues that even Whan couldn’t overcome despite his ability to build bridges and convince people that the LPGA was more relevant than most people believe.

What should be the main items Marcoux Samaan will focus on as she steps into the job? Here are a few strong possibilities:

Mollie Marcoux Samaan
Mollie Marcoux Samaan (Princeton Athletics)

Continuing the LPGA’s leadership efforts

“Mollie understands the power of golf to change the lives of girls and women,” the LPGA said in the statement announcing Marcoux Samaan’s hiring. “As a values-centered leader, she’s known for her skills in collaboration, managing through complexity and building a winning team culture.”

The LPGA has embraced the battle to encourage women and girls to take up the game and believes that gender should not be an obstacle in sports or life. Keeping that initiative alive will be a key to the growth of the tour. This is a story that has worked well for the LPGA.

The future of the ANA Inspiration

The LPGA’s first major of the year faces multiple issues beyond the fact it has been played twice without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is in the final year of All Nippon Airways’ current sponsorship deal, and securing that sponsorship or perhaps a new sponsor should ANA leave the event has to be priority No. 1.

But there is also the scheduling issue of the major championship being played the same week as the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, an event that seems to have captured the imagination of golf fans simply because it is played at the home of the Masters.

Whan said at this year’s ANA Inspiration that the tournament would probably move off the first week of April date eventually. Marcoux Samaan will have to deal with both issues for the Rancho Mirage tournament.

Improved television

If you want to see LPGA players get angry on social media, just put an LPGA broadcast on tape.

The LPGA will always get the short end of the stick when it comes to television, with network executives convinced the PGA Tour will always draw better ratings and with tours like the European Tour and PGA Tour Champions always fighting for time on Golf Channel. LPGA events are virtually non-existent on network television, except for championships controlled by the PGA of America or the USGA.

The LPGA will never have the television coverage that the PGA Tour does and shouldn’t really even try. But improving the television presence of the tour would be one way to get the LPGA’s message across to fans, and it ought to be a priority for the incoming commissioner.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun, part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @Larry_Bohannan. 

Mollie Marcoux Samaan to replace Mike Whan as LPGA Commissioner

Mollie Marcoux Samaan comes to the LPGA after a stint as Princeton’s Athletic Director.

The LPGA has announced its replacement for Commissioner Mike Whan. The tour announced on Tuesday that its Board of Directors had unanimously elected Mollie Marcoux Samaan to step into the role. Marcoux Samaan currently is the Ford Family Director of Athletics at Princeton University.

“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.

Marcoux Samaan will be the ninth commissioner of the LPGA since its formation in 1950. She replaces Whan, who announced in January he would be stepping down from the role. In February, Whan was named the next Chief Executive Officer of the USGA.

Expect Whan to help Marcoux Samaan transition into the new role.

“I’m excited and enthused to hand the baton to Mollie,” Whan said. “With her vision and the strength of the existing LPGA leadership team, the Association is poised for incredible growth. I’m fully committed to being Mollie’s biggest cheerleader and supporter as she takes the LPGA to new heights.”

Marcoux Samaan has been a golfer since she was 11. She was a two-sport varsity athlete at Princeton, earning four letters each in soccer and ice hockey.

Following graduation, Marcoux Samaan served as assistant athletic director, assistant dean of admissions, and coach of girls’ ice hockey and soccer at the Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, New Jersey). After that, she began a 19-year career with Chelsea Piers Management before transitioning back to Princeton in 2014 as the Director of Athletics.

“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,” Marcoux Samaan said.

“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.”

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