After a historic 2024 season that noticed the LPGA award file purse sizes, Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan is stepping down.
Her final day can be Jan. 9, 2025, roughly 18 months earlier than her contract expires in the summertime of 2026.
“I’m happy with the unprecedented progress the LPGA has loved since I started my tenure. The technique we’ve got constructed for progress and influence, together with the infrastructure we’ve got added to capitalize on the super alternative forward, will serve the LPGA properly within the coming a long time,” Marcoux Samaan mentioned in an announcement.
“It’s time for me to have extra time to cheer on our three wonderful kids as they reside their goals whereas I proceed to pursue my ardour for constructing leaders, uniting communities, and creating worth by means of sports activities, notably ladies’s sports activities.”
Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek initially delivered the bombshell report on Monday morning.
The LPGA employed Marcoux Samaan within the spring of 2021 to exchange Mike Whan, who now serves because the CEO of the United States Golf Affiliation (USGA). Since taking up the reins of the LPGA, Marcoux Samaan has helped develop event purses by almost 90%, with the 5 main championships doubling their winnings alone.
Simply final week, Jeeno Thitikul, who received the season-long Aon Threat Reward Problem and the $1 million that got here with it, went on to seize the CME Group Tour Championship. Her victory in Southwest Florida awarded her an extra $4 million, the most important first-place test ever handed out within the historical past of ladies’s sports activities.
But, the LPGA confronted loads of points this season.
The Solheim Cup transportation catastrophe involves thoughts. The primary day of this biennial competitors—arguably the largest occasion in ladies’s golf—was marred by lengthy traces, a scarcity of buses, and a scarcity of infrastructure. These points turned pissed off followers away from the course, as many had no alternative however to go house feeling dissatisfied. Consequently, the stands surrounding the opening tee got here nowhere close to reaching full capability.
The opposite stain on the tour has been the sluggish tempo of play, which has pissed off prime stars akin to Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, and Lexi Thompson. Some rounds have taken almost six hours, leaving followers on the bottom—and people watching on tv—agitated.
As well as, the LPGA has seen a couple of title sponsors draw back from key tournaments, with Congizant coming to thoughts. The LPGA doesn’t have a sponsor for the Founders Cup, which Cognizant sponsored final season. Maybe the rising purse sizes have led to this unlucky actuality.
Its annual cease in Bradenton, Florida, which can function the second occasion of the 2025 season, additionally doesn’t have a title sponsor.
These are all pertinent points the following commissioner should face.
For now, Liz Moore will function interim commissioner of the LPGA. She has led the authorized and expertise groups on the LPGA for over a decade.
An outdoor agency is already main a seek for a brand new commissioner.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.
