“I thank Chairman John Veihmeyer and the rest of the LPGA Board for trusting me to serve as the ninth Commissioner of the LPGA,” stated Marcoux Samaan in a press release. “In this role, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside a remarkable community of athletes, teachers, partners, tournament operators, industry colleagues, media, fans, volunteers, and staff who share a deep commitment to growing the LPGA and using the organization’s unique platform to empower and advance women and girls. I am proud of the unprecedented growth the LPGA has enjoyed since I began my tenure. The strategy we have built for growth and impact along with the infrastructure we have added to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity ahead will serve the LPGA well in the coming decades. With the LPGA positioned for continued growth, it’s time for me to have more time to cheer on our three amazing children as they live their dreams while I continue to pursue my passion for building leaders, uniting communities and creating value through sports, particularly women’s sports.”
Marcoux Samaan, the tour’s ninth commissioner, was employed in Might 2021 to interchange the now-current USGA CEO Mike Whan. Her five-year contract ran till the summer season of 2026. The previous Princeton athletic director was the second lady to carry the publish. Carolyn Bivens was ousted by the gamers in July 2009.
Extra: LPGA commissioners by the years
“On behalf of the LPGA Board, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mollie for her exceptional dedication and passion in advancing the Association’s reach and impact,” stated LPGA Board Chair John B. Veihmeyer. “Since joining the LPGA in 2021, Mollie has been instrumental in solidifying our position as the global leader in women’s professional golf, realizing record growth in player earnings and fan engagement. Mollie has been a steadfast advocate for equity in the sport and has worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for women and girls through the game. I am confident that the LPGA is well-positioned for continued success as we build on the growth trajectory of the past three and a half years of Mollie’s leadership. We deeply appreciate the lasting impact of Mollie’s many contributions.”
Purses have risen considerably since 2021 – main championship purses alone have greater than doubled – and the most important winner’s test within the historical past of the ladies’s recreation of $4 million was handed out on the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship to Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul.
And but, many struggled to grasp or articulate Marcoux Samaan’s general imaginative and prescient for the tour. As ladies’s sports activities expertise an unprecedented quantity of success, is the LPGA actually capitalizing on the momentum?
For all of the headlines of 2024, with the dynamic one-two punch of Nelly Korda’s seven-win season and Lydia Ko’s fairy-tale run into the LPGA Corridor of Fame, not a lot modified.
LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks in the course of the trophy ceremony after the ultimate spherical of the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Membership on November 24, 2024, in Naples, Florida. (Picture by Michael Reaves/Getty Photographs)
The LPGA’s 2025 schedule contains 33 official occasions – the identical quantity as this 12 months – with a complete purse enhance of $3.6 million from final season, although the tour says extra purse will increase are anticipated to be introduced.
The departure of Cognizant, a Fortune 100 firm that was bullish on the LPGA from the beginning – signaled a purple flag. The hope was that Cognizant’s management would sing the LPGA’s praises to different blue-chip corporations and result in natural progress.
As a substitute, they’re out after title-sponsoring 4 editions of the occasion, leaving the tour scrambling to financially again its personal Founders Cup because the LPGA celebrates 75 years.
For a second 12 months in a row, the LPGA will tee it up in World No. 1 Nelly Korda’s hometown of Bradenton, Florida, with out a title sponsor.
As well as, the tour’s Toledo, Ohio, cease, which started in 1984, is being changed by concurrent Epson Tour and Legends occasions at Highland Meadows.
The Solheim Cup transportation disaster solely added to gas to the fireplace. Heralded as the most important Solheim Cup in historical past coming into the occasion, the tour clearly lacked the sources and information wanted to correctly execute.
Of us from all corners of the tour – from gamers to companions to media – started to have severe doubts.
When it got here to essential subjects just like the tour’s Gender Coverage and its dealings with Golf Saudi the potential of an LET merger – the tour lacked transparency and was sluggish to behave.
To many, Marcoux Samaan’s indecisiveness turned a legal responsibility.
LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan poses with CME Group CEO Terry Duffy after asserting a two-year sponsor extension of the CME Group Tour Championship with an elevated $11 million purse and document $4 million first-place prize at The Ritz-Carlton Naples in Naples, Florida. (Picture: Michael Reaves/Getty Photographs)
There have been wins, like totally backed medical health insurance for gamers and a rise in missed-cut cash and journey stipends.
However an terrible lot of cash was being spent on elevated employees and publicity, and questions concerning the return on these investments solely grew louder. Final week in Naples, Marcoux Samaan revealed that complete employees had elevated by 35 p.c, with the advertising and content material division ballooning to 39 individuals.
“We’ve been betting on our athletes,” Marcoux Samaan stated throughout her state of the tour deal with, “betting on our staff to be able to capitalize on this next wave of growth.”
Now, will probably be left to another person to make sure there’s a payoff.
