This change will allow all athletes earning LPGA membership from Q-Series more access into LPGA tournaments.
On Friday, the LPGA and Epson Tour announced changes to how LPGA tour cards will be allotted for the 2025 season.
At the end of 2024 LPGA Q-Series, the top 25 finishers and ties will earn LPGA status for the 2025 season. In addition, the Epson Tour will now award five additional LPGA cards through the new points-based ranking system at the conclusion of the season finale, the Epson Tour Championship.
This change will allow all athletes earning LPGA membership from Q-Series more access into LPGA tournaments and place greater emphasis on rewarding full-season performance for players in Category 15 (LPGA 101-125 and Epson 11-15).
Previously, players who finished in the top 45 and ties at LPGA Q-Series would earn LPGA status in Categories 14 (Nos. 1-20) or 15 (Nos. 21-45). Players who complete all rounds before the cut at LPGA Q-Series will earn Epson Tour status.
“Changing the number of cards awarded at LPGA Q-Series aligns with the mission of the LPGA to identify the very best players in the world and provide the opportunity for the most talented athletes to succeed at the highest level,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a release. “This change aims to reward full-season performance while also giving the world’s rising talent an opportunity to compete for coveted LPGA Tour status.”
The Epson Tour’s Race for the Card will now offer an increased opportunity for aspiring women’s golfers to reach the top professional tour in the world. In addition to the fully exempt cards awarded to the top 10 finishers on the Epson Tour, five additional cards will be awarded LPGA status in Category 15. The introduction of these five cards is the first increase in card opportunities through the Epson Tour since the expansion from five to 10 in 2007.
“We are thrilled to announce the news of expanded access to the LPGA for Epson Tour Members at the end of the upcoming season,” said the Epson Tour’s Chief Business and Operations Officer, Jody Brothers, in a release. “We annually review the performance data of our recent graduates, and the additional access substantiates that Epson Tour athletes are arriving to the LPGA ready to perform at the highest stage.”
The top 10 in the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card will continue to earn status in Category 9 on the LPGA’s priority list for 2025. Beginning in 2024, those finishing Nos. 11-15 will earn 2025 LPGA status in Category 15. They will be zippered with LPGA members finishing Nos. 101-125 on the Race to CME Globe Points List, alternating in the following order: LPGA No. 101, Epson No. 11, LPGA No. 102, Epson No. 12, and so forth.
Mollie Marcoux Samaan calls this a period of transformational growth for women’s golf.
NAPLES, Fla. – Mollie Marcoux Samaan calls this a period of transformational growth for women’s golf. Prize funds have grown nearly 70 percent since 2021, with a record $118 million on the line in 2024.
Media rights revenue is up 25 percent since 2021, and corporate partnership money is up 33 percent. The LPGA has invested heavily in its team, adding 18 percent more staff over the past year.
In 2024, the LPGA will offer the highest first-place prize in all of women’s sports: $4 million to the winner of the CME Group Tour Championship.
And while the majors and CME have been mostly responsible for the tour’s financial growth in recent years, the 2024 schedule will have 10 regular-season events with a purse of $3 million, up from only one two years ago.
“We’re aspiring to be, I would call it, the most successful mission-driven global sports and entertainment brand in the world,” said Marcoux Samaan in her annual state of the tour press conference, “and we’re excited to be able to do that.”
NAPLES, Fla. – What a difference a year makes. One year ago, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy was “exceptionally disappointed” in how events outside the ropes unfolded at the CME Group Tour Championship.
“They better get their act together,” Duffy told Golfweek last year, “because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.”
One year later, Duffy and LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan were posing together for pictures after a blockbuster announcement that included a purse increase from $7 million to $11 million in 2024 and a first-place prize of $4 million, up from $2 million this year. CME also announced a two-year contract extension. Beginning next year, the tour championship will boast the largest first-place prize in all of women’s sport.
CME Group CEO Terry Duffy speaks to the media after announcing a two-year sponsor extension of the CME Group Tour Championship with an increased $11 million purse and record $4 million first-place prize during a news conference at The Ritz-Carlton Naples in Naples, Florida. (Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Duffy said he and Marcoux Samaan got together several times throughout the year, and that those conversations helped give him confidence to move forward with the LPGA.
“I think it was more of a breakdown more than anything else,” said Duffy of last year’s drama. “As I said, when communications go bad, a lot of other things can snowball with it. I think we started to see a little bit of that.”
The format for this year’s Tuesday night festivities was different than last year but LPGA officials reported that every player in the field showed up.
“As Terry said, communication is the key,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and being accountable for things that don’t go perfectly. We had communication right after the incident and we continued during the season. As he said all along, I just wanted to push you guys to be better. We moved on right away and moved on to the future and we moved on to continuing to work together to elevate the tour and elevate our impact.”
This marks the 10th anniversary of the CME Race to the Globe points list, which is used to not only determine the season-ending field, but also who gets a card for next season.
CME first became title sponsor of the LPGA season-ending event in 2011 with a purse of $1.5 million.
For years, Duffy’s efforts as title sponsor have pushed other events on the LPGA – particularly the majors – to raise the bar. But another reason Duffy wants the CME Group Tour Championship to be so lucrative is to ensure that players circle this event on their calendars as a must-make week. And to get here, they might have to tee it up in more events along the way, thus lifting the entire tour.
It’s worth noting, of course, that neither Lexi Thompson nor Lydia Ko are here this week. Both are past champions of this event, with Ko sweeping all the post-season honors last year after winning the title and $2 million prize. Thompson played in only 14 events on the LPGA schedule this season. Ko competed in 20.
While purses on the LPGA vary wildly, with nine full-field events in 2023 having a purse of $2 million or less compared to major championship purses that are $9 million and $11 million, CME points act as a leveler. Players earn 500 CME points for a victory whether the purse is $1.5 million or $3.5 million. At the majors, players receive 650 points for a victory.
“I am trying to be a catalyst for women’s golf,” said Duffy. “Not against the other sponsors. So if, in fact, they want to up their purses, great. But I don’t think it’s absolutely – and I know Mollie is not going to want to hear me say this – absolutely necessary.
“That’s up to them to decide. The last thing you want to do is chase anybody away.”
For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the 2023 matches ended in a 14-14 tie.
Stacy Lewis sat next to LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan during the Solheim Cup’s closing ceremony in Spain and the topic of a playoff came up.
For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the matches ended in a 14-14 tie. Because Europe won in 2021, they retained the cup. While members of Team Europe carried Spanish hero Carlota Ciganda around Finca Cortesin on their shoulders, Lewis’ squad had a good cry.
Captain and commish got to talking: Should the Solheim Cup institute a playoff?
“I don’t know, I mean, it obviously would be better TV,” Lewis told the media when it was over. “It would be a better experience for the fans if there was a – whether it was a team playoff or something like that, I think that would be pretty cool.
“But if you want to stick with the history of the event and history of what the men do as well, you probably stick with retaining the Cup.
“I don’t know how I feel about that either way, to be honest.”
Team Europe captain Suzann Pettersen celebrates with the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Casares, Spain. (Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
While this was a first for the Solheim, on two different occasions the Ryder Cup has ended in a tie. In 1969, the United States retained against Great Britain, and in 1989, Europe retained at The Belfry.
After the 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a 17-17 tie in South Africa, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els went into a sudden-death playoff to determine the winner. After three holes, it was decided between captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player that the two teams would share the Cup.
Woods called the playoff one of his most nerve-wracking experiences in golf.
“To have two guys decide the fate of the whole team in extra holes like that, I don’t think any of the sides felt comfortable with that to begin with,” said Woods 20 years ago. “It’s just part of the captains’ agreement and part of the rules of the competition.
“But we didn’t like it. It’s a team event, not an individual event. We’re here as a team together and we’d like to decide as a team together and not on an individual basis.”
Nowadays, if the Presidents Cup ends in a 15-15 tie, the two teams will share the trophy.
In the aftermath of the Solheim, players and fans weighed in on social media. Juli Inkster, a three-time captain for Team USA, said the captains should have to play for it.
In a Golfweek Twitter poll that saw 2,513 votes cast, opinions were split on the implementation of a playoff, with 51 percent voting yes, including former Solheim Cupper Brittany Lincicome.
Should the Solheim Cup institute a playoff so the whole thing can’t end in a tie?
“Imagine Lydia (Ko) and Rory (McIlroy) walking down the 18th hole together. How cool would that be?”
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Something unusual happened early this week at the Chevron Championship. Golf’s most important leaders gathered on LPGA soil to brainstorm how to drive the women’s game forward. Attendees of the inaugural Commission at The Chevron Championship in Houston included PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh and U.S. Golf Association CEO Mike Whan.
“We convene at the (men’s) majors and the industry comes together in various forms,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We just felt like it was really important to bring people to an LPGA event.”
The commission was hosted jointly by Marcoux Samaan and Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth. Other attendees included executive vice president of content and executive producer for NBC Universal and Golf Channel Molly Solomon, LPGA board chair and former KPMG chair John Veihmayer and LPGA major champion and television broadcaster Dottie Pepper.
Guest panelists included Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, co-founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, Danette Leighton, CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation and Angel City Football Club CRO Jess Smith.
“Mostly our goal was to educate them,” said Marcoux Samaan. “Level-set on where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going, where women’s sports is more broadly. And then to really think about innovative ways to think about women’s golf and the LPGA.”
Marcoux Samaan said one of the most eye-opening topics to many in the room was the impact of the LPGA’s travel schedule. Organizers shared a social media post from Golf.com’s Claire Rogers that illustrated the way players bounce around the country and the globe in head-spinning fashion.
“We don’t have as much of an ability to control our destiny as much as they do,” said Marcoux Samaan of the LPGA’s schedule compared to that of men’s leagues.
“When we build the demand and build the understanding of how good our women are, we can help dictate the schedule a little bit more.”
Marcoux Samaan believes that shared resources with the PGA Tour around technology could make an immediate impact on the women’s game, such as ShotLink for scoring and data management.
The event served as a great conversation starter for many topics, Marcoux Samaan said.
After the morning session, attendees were invited to play in the Chevron Championship Pro-Am, where Marcoux Samaan and Monahan teed it up together with Nelly Korda on the front nine at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Stacy Lewis only had two holes with Monahan on the back nine before he had to head back to Florida for family reasons. Lewis was impressed by how prepared and engaged Monahan was during their short time together.
“I think he realizes that they need to do more,” said Lewis on Wednesday. “He said that to me multiple times yesterday. … it’s just now whether we can push it forward and actually do something about it.”
Lewis put forth her desire to see the LPGA and PGA Tour come together for an event that features the top men and women playing together in full-field events with separate leaderboards and separate purses across two courses on one site.
“Imagine Lydia (Ko) and Rory (McIlroy) walking down the 18th hole together,” she said. “How cool would that be?”
Korda hinted at the same to Monahan, though she noted that the unofficial Grant Thornton Invitational later this year that features LPGA and PGA Tour players partnered together is a good step.
“They have such a big platform,” said Korda. “I feel like the best way to grow the game at the end of the day is to combine the two.
“Girls golf is growing at an incredible rate, and they see that too.”
“I’m not mad at the club; I’m not mad at the sponsor. I’m annoyed at the LPGA for that just being an overlooked factor.”
ORLANDO — There’s no locker room for players here at the LPGA’s season-opener, an event designed to celebrate those who have hoisted trophies over the past two years. Don’t be surprised to see players at the Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions changing their shoes in the parking lot.
Lake Nona Golf and Country Club has a men’s locker room that would’ve been more than suitable for the 29 players in the field. LPGA players can use the bathrooms and showers in the women’s facility, but there’s no place for them to store anything while they’re on the course. That area is also not private.
Matilda Castren can’t imagine something like this playing out on the PGA Tour. Grant Waite, a former winner on the PGA Tour, was on the range at Lake Nona on Tuesday working with his student, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and confirmed that he never played in a PGA Tour event that didn’t have access to a locker room.
Castren was as shocked about the locker room situation as she was about the player fact sheet that came out on Jan. 14, laying out restrictions for when players had access to practice facilities at Nona. In the memo, players were informed that they “may not use the practice facilities more than one hour prior to their practice tee times. Use of the practice facilities is not available unless playing a practice round.”
Castren inquired with an LPGA rules official about the situation on Monday and was told that it was non-negotiable with the tournament, but that the LPGA wouldn’t be strictly policing it.
“The guys would never agree to an hour of practice each day,” Castren said.
Danielle Kang reacts after winning the 2022 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on January 23, 2022, in Orlando. (Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
An LPGA official said what was written on the memo applied to last Sunday only, though there’s a section on the memo directly underneath the lines in dispute that read, “Sunday, January 15th” in bold and underlined type, followed by four lines explaining the rules specifically laid out for Sunday.
Aaron Stewart, VP of sports marketing at Hilton Grand Vacations, said that players were never restricted to one hour of practice and were free to practice even without scheduling a practice round.
“Once they have their credentials,” he said, “it’s their course.”
As for the locker room, a tour official said that due to the hospitality setup, the men’s locker room had to remain open to the public to utilize the restrooms, and that they were unable to create a private and secure locker room for LPGA players.
Stewart said they planned to order lockers for the week and use an area on the lower level of the clubhouse next to player dining for players in the field, but the tour itself changed course.
“I don’t know why they canceled the lockers,” he said.
An LPGA statement on the situation noted that the space offered to add temporary lockers did not include a bathroom area, and that due to a prioritization of that space for other player uses, the tournament team opted not to pursue that option.
“We are always open to player feedback,” the statement continued, “and work with our tournament partners to allocate finite space.”
Ryann O’Toole is sharing a car with a player this week, which makes working out of the trunk less than ideal.
“I’m not mad at the club; I’m not mad at the sponsor,” said O’Toole. “I’m annoyed at the LPGA for that just being an overlooked factor.”
One veteran LPGA player said that, in general, she often viewed how a club felt about hosting an event based on the locker room situation. If LPGA players were allowed to use the men’s locker room, typically the larger and nicer facility at a club, she felt particularly welcomed. Often times the club member would leave a note inside the locker wishing her luck.
The locker room isn’t just a place to store valuables and a change of clothes. It’s also an oasis for players to gather their thoughts away from the rest of the world.
“You should have a certain standard,” said Castren.
While the TOC has always been known for its party atmosphere with concerts, on-course music and a celebrity division, it’s also billed to be an elite event filled with the LPGA’s brightest stars, though a number are notably absent this year with the tour taking a full month off after the TOC.
Stewart said 43 playing professionals who compete on tours around the world call Lake Nona home.
World No. 1 Lydia Ko, who isn’t in the field this week because she recently got married and went on her honeymoon, has a house here. Annika Sorenstam, who will be competing in the celebrity portion of the event, has called Lake Nona home for decades. This is where the first Solheim Cup was contested in 1990. Players rave about the place.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan has talked often about placing an emphasis on performance excellence. She’s focused on putting together a strong schedule with big purses, but also on the small, important things that are needed to help players perform.
“So how do we create an environment for everyone within our ecosystem to reach their own peak performance?” she asked during a press conference last year in Singapore.
“And that goes to the things I just talked about, making it as easy as possible for our women to get the most sleep that they need, to eat properly when they come to tournaments, to have the administration taking care of them so they can focus on being the best that they can be.”
That would, of course, include the basics of a proper locker room setup and practice facilities, as well as strong, clear communication.
An LPGA official confirmed that Marcoux Samaan was unaware of either situation prior to Tuesday.
Brothers most recently served as vice president of business development at the PGA Tour.
The LPGA has announced Jody Brothers as its new chief business and operations officer for the Epson Tour. Brothers has worked for the PGA Tour since 2007 and takes over for Mike Nichols, who left the Epson Tour last summer.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jody Brothers to the LPGA Executive Leadership Team as our Epson Tour Chief Business and Operations Officer,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “Jody’s extensive experience at every level of the golf industry coupled with his true passion for the professional developmental tours make him the ideal leader for continued growth of the Epson Tour.
“In this newly defined role, Jody will oversee all aspects of the Tour, inside and outside the ropes. We are confident that under Jody’s leadership, we will maximize value for Seiko Epson Corporation and our committed partners and tournaments while offering our players with the best opportunity to reach their peak potential and realize their dream of playing on the LPGA Tour.”
Last Thursday, the Epson Tour released its 2023 schedule, which includes 22 tournaments and a total record prize fund of $4.9 million.
Courtesy Epson Tour
Brothers most recently served as vice president of business development at the PGA Tour, leading his team in identifying, pitching and negotiating multi-year title sponsorships and official marketing partnerships, navigating elements including league rights, television and digital media, player sponsorships and investment in local tournament assets such as hospitality and on-site branding.
“After 16 years with the PGA Tour, I am very excited to join the LPGA team and spend the next part of my career working on the women’s side of the game,” said Brothers. “I believe deeply in the growth of the game of golf, particularly the promotion of women in our sport and the quest for equality amongst professional athletes. The Epson Tour provides opportunities for talented athletes from across the globe to compete and improve as they seek their ultimate dream of playing on the LPGA Tour and I can’t describe how excited I am for the opportunity to lead this Tour.”
Brothers played college golf at California State University, Chico and graduated with a degree in marketing. He played professionally on the Dakotas Tour, the Pepsi Tour and the Golden State Tour before working as a club pro at Butte Creek Country Club, Mount Shasta Resort and Canyon Oaks Country Club in Northern California.
Brothers joined the PGA Tour in 2007 as the director of business development at TPC San Antonio, later becoming general manager of TPC Stonebrae and TPC Harding Park, tournament director of The Stonebrae Classic, executive director of The First Tee campaign for 10 Million Young People, senior director of tournament business affairs on the Korn Ferry Tour and vice president within the Office of the Commissioner.
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, who will hand over a $2 million check on Sunday.
NAPLES, Fla. – The seeds of the CME Group Tour Championship began with a pro-am 15 years ago. In those early years, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy received note after note from clients who so enjoyed their rounds of golf with LPGA players that they instantly became fans of the tour.
Beginning in 2011, CME began title-sponsoring the LPGA’s year-ending event, eventually integrating the firm’s Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida, with the LPGA’s season-ending event at the Ritz-Carlton’s Tiburon Golf Club. This week, Duffy will hand over the biggest check in the history of the women’s game – $2 million. The overall purse of $7 million is the largest on the LPGA outside of the majors (and is bigger than the purses at two of the five majors). The last player in the field of 60 will make $40,000, close to what 10th place made last week.
Former U.S. presidents, secretaries of state and business tycoons have presented at CME’s conference, and for Tuesday night’s dinner, the firm typically invites a select number of players to attend. Earlier this week, when Duffy asked for the houselights to be turned on so that he could applaud the players in the room, the only people standing were those serving the tables.
Not a single player showed up.
“It’s an embarrassment to a company of my size and an embarrassment to me personally,” said Duffy, two days after the event.
Duffy’s beef isn’t with the players, though — it’s with who’s at the helm.
“I am exceptionally disappointed with the leadership of the LPGA,” he continued. “They better get their act together because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.”
When CME first sponsored the Titleholders event in 2011, the purse was $1.5 million and the winner received $500,000. Three years later, the Race to the CME Globe season-long points race was introduced with a $1 million bonus. That bonus has since been folded into the official prize money with a winner-take-all format. In 2018, it was announced that the winner would receive $1.5 million, which at the time was more than what most PGA Tour winners received.
“This announcement is really about setting a new standard in women’s golf,” said then-commissioner Mike Whan four years ago. “I would love to lie to you guys and say that I called Terry 16 times and pushed and pushed him for it, but it was his idea.”
Duffy aimed to blaze a trail that he hoped other organizations would follow. His influence today is similar to what David Foster did at Mission Hills in the 1970s to elevate the women’s tour with the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks with the media during a roundtable during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 18, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Mollie Marcoux Samaan was named commissioner of the LPGA 18 months ago, and she was at the dinner that players skipped.
“There hasn’t been any greater supporter of the LPGA than CME Group and Terry Duffy,” Marcoux Samaan told Golfweek on Friday when asked about the incident.
“There was clearly a disconnect, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen. So on this particular issue, I’m taking full responsibility as a leader of the organization to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
This week, the LPGA announced that the total prize fund in 2023 will cross the $100 million mark for the first time, despite losing three full-field events and only adding one (although it’s unknown at this point if players will actually be able to travel to the two events in China that are worth $4.2 million). The majors and CME represent nearly half of the tour’s prize money, with only three additional events on the schedule with a purse of at least $3 million. A dozen events still offer purses below $2 million.
As the LPGA’s big events do the heavy lifting, it’s still a grind to push longtime sponsors to higher purses and fill in the gaps of those who don’t renew. Veteran players, who not too long ago worried that the LPGA might not survive, understand that a culture of appreciation remains vital.
The accessibility and approachability of players is what drove Duffy to take a pro-am event with about 20 players and build it into a benchmark event for women’s sports.
While the LPGA continues to reach new heights financially, the chasm between the men’s and women’s tours only grows deeper as some purses on the PGA Tour’s schedule now reach $20 million. LPGA veteran Karen Stupples believes it’s critical that LPGA players maintain the “act like a Founder” mantra that Whan preached for years.
“They went to baseball parks and did tricks on the fields to bring people in to watch them play golf,” said Stupples of the 13 women who founded the tour in 1950. “The players don’t have to do that anymore, They have to go to a party or two. Just treat it as your job. Your job description is to do this.”
Terry Duffy addresses the crowd with Keith Urban, who performed on the lawn at the Ritz on Wednesday as part of the week’s festivities at CME. (Photo courtesy of CME)
It’s not unusual now for top players to turn down pre-tournament interviews, even at major championships and CME. Some will meet with the print media or Golf Channel, but not both. Sometimes, it’s nothing at all.
When Stacy Lewis became the No. 1 player in the world, a couple of LPGA Hall of Famers sat her down and outlined the expectations.
“They just said, as a top American, as No. 1 in the world, you’re going to be asked to do a lot of things,” said Lewis. “You’re going to be asked to do a lot of interviews that you don’t want to do. You need to do it because it’s what’s best for the tour. It will be productive for you; it will be productive for the tour. It creates more exposure, and that’s your job. Your job as a top player is to help build this tour.”
Stupples believes that players often get so caught up in their own little bubbles that they fail to see the bigger picture. Lewis agrees.
“It’s all these kinds of things that for so long they were unsaid, and people just did it because it’s the right thing to do,” said Lewis, “and the current generation needs to hear it, needs to be taught it.”
For the LPGA to continue on an upward trajectory, player buy-in remains critical, especially when it comes to knowing the expectations of those who write the checks.
“I’m concerned about the future of the tour,” said Duffy, “because the leadership needs to work with their players to make sure that everybody has a clear understanding of how we grow the game together, along with sponsors and others. There’s no one person, no two people who can grow it alone. You need everybody. They say it takes a village, and I think their village is getting a little fractured.”
Marcoux Samaan said she continues to emphasize the “act like a Founder” culture Whan created at staff and player meetings, believing that the organization’s “secret sauce” of hospitality, sponsor engagement and accessibility remains one of its biggest strengths.
“We just need to continue to deliver that message,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and I don’t think anyone disputes it. I think everyone believes it. Sometimes you just miss in the moment.”
Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, Nancy Lopez and Stacy Lewis address potential for disruption to LPGA.
While it might have shocked many to hear LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan say she’d talk to LIV Golf, Annika Sorenstam thought it was the right call. As did Juli Inkster.
These LPGA legends understand one crucial point: If Greg Norman and LIV Golf aim to create a rival tour that’s anything like what they’ve done in the men’s game, it would wreck the LPGA, the longest continuous-running professional women’s sports organization in the United States.
“I think if Norman does do this,” said Inkster, “it’s going to totally ruin the LPGA, because I think most of the girls would go, just because the money is a game-changer.”
As the best in the women’s game gather at historic Muirfield for the first time this week, they’ll compete for a purse of $6.8 million. This season, the LPGA will play for a total of $97 million, roughly one-fifth the amount of money as the PGA Tour. Last week, LIV Golf announced its players will compete for $405 million in 2023 across 14 events.
With a schedule made entirely of limited-field, no-cut tournaments, even a fraction of that would be enough to lure plenty of big-name LPGA players to a LIV women’s league. Not to mention the prospect of signing bonuses.
“I hope we survive it,” said former No. 1 Stacy Lewis. “I’m scared for this tour. I’m scared to lose all the opportunities that we’ve created.”
Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, looks on from the first tee during the final round of the LIV Golf tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. (Soobum Im/USA TODAY Sports)
Sorenstam believes it’s the job of the commissioner to listen to potential opportunities, and that includes LIV. Because the LPGA is part of a 50-50 joint business venture with the Ladies European Tour, there already exists a partnership with the Saudi-backed Aramco Series, which feature prize money that’s three to four times a typical event on that tour, totaling $6 million.
Sorenstam, a 10-time major winner who won 72 times on the LPGA, looks at the rival league that has formed in the men’s game and sees the need for a more LPGA-fitted version.
“If it’s the money that they have on the LIV, you know they’re going to crush the LPGA,” said Sorenstam. “Hopefully they have the intention of growing the game and working together with the LPGA.
“To crush the LPGA doesn’t do anybody good, history-wise, future-wise, sustainability-wise. There’s so much negativity around this. I think that we need to somehow find a way to get a positive image with all this, if you know what I mean.”
It’s not a stretch to imagine the LPGA being forced to make a decision between going into business with the Saudis in a big way – or complete destruction.
While there have been calls to conduct talks with LIV officials, it’s not clear exactly what the talking points might be – there are many ways this all could shake out. An independent rival tour that poached dozens of top players would cripple the LPGA. Instead, a series of Saudi-backed official LPGA events is one possible way the two could work together, much like the Aramco Team Series on the LET. It’s impossible to know what LIV wants, of course, without having a conversation.
What seems most unlikely, however, is that top players will band together to stiff-arm the Saudis on principle.
“I think you have a handful that feel the same way as me,” said Lewis. “I think you have a majority that would ask, ‘What’s the number?’
“Should we talk to them? Absolutely. Ultimately, I think we have to find a way to co-exist.”
Critics of LIV often point to the wide-ranging human rights abuses Saudi Arabia has been accused of, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
How can a women’s organization reconcile doing business with a regime that has such a horrendous record of human rights abuses, especially toward women?
“I think that’s maybe one of the reasons we should partner,” said Sorenstam, “to be able to make a difference.”
Marcoux Samaan told Golfweek last week that she has not yet had a conversation with LIV, and that it’s too early to speculate on potential outcomes or options.
“We’ve been breaking down barriers for a long time,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I think we always fall back on our values and our goals before making any decision.”
Phachara Khongwatmai putts on the 18th green during the opening round of the LIV Golf Invitational at The Centurion Club near London in June. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf/Getty Images)
A voluntary state of the tour meeting was held last month at the Dow Great Bay Lakes Invitational to discuss the potential threat of LIV, among other things, and only a couple dozen players attended.
Nancy Lopez has always worried about the LPGA. As a rookie in 1978, she was convinced the LPGA would close the pay gap. She’s still baffled by the fact that such a large chasm continues to exist between the tours and is even more confused by what could be on the horizon.
“I’m such a loyal person,” said Lopez when asked what she might have done in her prime if faced the with possibility of piles of cash.
“I would be hard to say ‘No, I wouldn’t want the money,’ but God it would be really hard to leave the LPGA. It would just eat me up.”
Lopez thought she would retire from the LPGA after she had her first daughter, Ashley, but the competitive fire was still there, and she needed the money.
“The money I made was good,” said Lopez, “but it wasn’t going to keep me until I got to 93 and needed to pay somebody to take care of me someday.”
While the PGA Tour has the best retirement plan in sports, the LPGA’s pension guarantees that most will need a second career.
As so many PGA Tour players talk about going to LIV to create generational wealth, consider what it would mean to an LPGA player to play five more years and then retire to start a family without having to worry about money.
For some, continuing to chase major titles and Hall of Fame points pales in comparison to children and financial security.
Jessica Korda, Alexandra O’Laughlin, Karolin Lampert and Lina Boqvist, winners of the Aramco Team Series (Photo submitted by the Aramco Team Series)
Saudi activist Omaima Al Najjar said there’s no denying the fact that conditions have improved for women in recent years, though she maintains that the right to drive and the right to travel are basic fundamental rights and not a sign of substantial progress.
“It’s important to remind the women who are participating in this tour,” said Al Najjar, “that the Saudi women activists who made those changes happen are still on trial, being prosecuted, banned from activism and banned from traveling.”
Al Najjar, now a surgical doctor living in Ireland, was a prominent blogger who took part in the right to drive campaign in Saudi and fled when she felt the risks were too great. It’s still too dangerous for her to return now.
Al Najjar is head of campaigns for ALQST for Human Rights, documenting conditions in prisons and advocating for the release of activists.
Al Najjar wants players to speak out not only about the activists, but the conditions of many migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. Women come from developing countries to work in the kingdom as maids and often have their passports confiscated as they are made to work seven days a week with no set schedule, “which is a sort of slavery,” Al Najjar said.
Meanwhile, Saudi-born women are fleeing the country, she continued, despite recent reforms because there are no safe houses in the kingdom for victims of domestic violence.
“There’s an issue of killing women in Saudi,” said Al Najjar, “and a lot of husbands kill their wives or a lot of fathers kill their daughters and the Saudi authorities do not do much about it.”
These are the issues Al Najjar hopes that LPGA players who compete in Saudi Arabia will speak out against, even it means financial loss.
“It’s important that they make such a statement,” she said, “and stand with Saudi women.”
Georgia Hall poses with the trophy after winning the 2022 Aramco Saudi Ladies International at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. (Ladies European Tour)
Few have chronicled the LPGA as diligently and passionately as Ron Sirak, the 2015 recipient of the PGA Lifetime Award in Journalism. For those who question how LIV Golf is any different than the LET’s Aramco Series or players sporting the logos of Golf Saudi on their hats and shirts, Sirak said it’s important to recognize the difference between sponsoring a tournament and owning a tour. Much like there’s a difference in sponsoring a player and owning a player.
“I think that’s a difficult situation for the LPGA to figure out what their relationship would be with the people who want to bankroll them,” said Sirak. “Would they be being supported by the tour and the LPGA still be an autonomous entity? Or would they be owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia?”
Given the Saudis’ seemingly endless supply of money and little regard for market value – this seems to be more about power and image – the LPGA is in no position to throw money at a potential threat, and therefore has little leverage.
LPGA veteran Ryann O’Toole believes the PGA Tour made a mistake in not engaging with LIV Golf. If what Norman says is true, and LIV plans to build a women’s league, O’Toole would like to see the LPGA work with them so that players don’t have to choose.
“I think that it would be a great opportunity to utilize, like, the possibility that there could be some major financial opportunities,” said O’Toole, “and that we come together as two organizations, versus having two separate organizations.”
Whatever happens, it’s important that Marcoux Samaan maintains a model that’s sustainable, even if the Saudis decide to suddenly pull out of the golf business. One that, even if the LPGA took a financial hit, it would still survive.
Imagine if the Saudis – a country that’s widely reported to have a gender pay gap of 49 percent – became the first to pay elite male and female professional golfers equally. Or even came close.
“Financially, it is life-changing money,” said Maria Fassi, whose agency, GSE, has a number of LIV clients including Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey, Jason Kokrak, Branden Grace, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz.
“Whatever they come and offer me, $10 million, $20 million, 15, 7, whatever it is, it is money 99 percent of the girls out here aren’t seeing.”
And to many, where the money comes from, ultimately might not matter.
Purse sizes have drastically increased under Nichols’ leadership.
Mike Nichols is leaving the LPGA after 16 years of leadership, Golfweek has learned. As chief business officer of the Epson Tour for the past decade, Nichols transformed the LPGA’s qualifying tour in substantial ways.
Nichols joined the LPGA in 2006 and served as vice president of tournament business affairs with oversight of the LPGA schedule until being named chief business officer of what was then known as the Symetra Tour in July 2012.
In 2013, the qualifying tour’s season had 15 events and $1.6 million in prize money. This year, players will compete in 21 events for $4.5 million.
Earlier this year, Nichols oversaw the five-year title deal that brought on Epson as the tour’s title sponsor. The level for minimum purses was raised to $200,000 while player-entry fees were lowered by 10 percent per tournament (as much as $1,000 per player for the year). In addition, the yearly Epson Tour Ambassador Program grants $10,000 to each of the 2021 Epson Tour graduates to help aid their move to the LPGA.
Even Shaquille O’Neal took part in promoting the new Epson sponsorship.
“I knew that it was time for me to hand the ball to someone new once we onboarded Epson,” Nichols told Golfweek. “They are a tremendous partner, and we are only just scratching the surface on what their involvement will mean for this tour and our members over these first five years.”
Rachel Rohanna and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal team up to take part in a promotion for the Epson Tour. (courtesy of Epson)
Nichols, who is leaving the golf industry for the corporate world, joined the LPGA after serving as championship director of the 2005 U.S. Senior Open at NCR Country Club in Dayton, site of this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
“I don’t think people understand how much Mike has done for the developmental tour of the LPGA,” said veteran player Kim Kaufman. “We are often talking about the growth of the LPGA but forget about how this tour has grown as well. I played in 2013 and came back in 2020 and I couldn’t stop telling people how much better the courses and the purses were. I know the team at the LPGA will find someone great to replace him, but they are going to have very big shoes to fill.”
Last week, LPGA rookie Sophia Schubert nearly won the Amundi Evian Championship, finishing one stroke behind Brooke Henderson. Schubert was one of 10 players who earned her LPGA card via the Epson Tour money list last season.
“Mike’s been great,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.
“He’s been really awesome for the Epson Tour, and we’ll build on that for sure.”
Lucy Li of United States tees off on the 15th hole during the third round of Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course on March 12, 2022 in Pattaya, Thailand. (Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
This week’s Epson Tour event, the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, is in Battle Creek, Michigan. Former child prodigy Lucy Li, now 19, leads the money list with $107,241.
“I’m so proud of the progress we have made as a team with an incredible group of partners who bought into our vision,” said Nichols.
“In my first full year, the leading money winner on tour made less than $50,000 for the season. Next week in French Lick, the winner will take home more money in four days than the top player did in the course of 15 events in 2013. You don’t make that kind of progress without the commitment and belief of a lot of people with a common goal.”
