As Golf Digest reported last week, there is a golf ball rollback, in some form, coming.

“We have been very clear, as has [CEO] Mike Whan at the USGA,” R&A head Martin Slumbers told Golf Digest last month. “There are only three options: We can bifurcate; you change the whole game; or you do nothing. And doing nothing is not an option. We stand by that.”

The golf ball rollback, if you’re unfamiliar, is a proposed rule change by the USGA and R&A, golf’s rule-making bodies, to address the continued increase in the distance professional golfers are hitting the ball. Proponents of the rollback say it protects historic golf courses from becoming obsolete, among other things. Opponents of the rollback say these are golf’s old-school elitists trying to hamper progress.

Personally, I’m a sceptic on the rollback, but wherever you land, it’s increasingly clear that something is going to happen, and probably soon with a rule that will apply eventually to all golfers, not just elite players. So let’s do a quick runthrough of a few potential outcomes, ranked from least to most severe.

Rollback fails, status quo remains

Given all the efforts in recent years to study the issue, then take a stance that distance is a matter that needs to be addressed, and with the pending rule set to be announced, it’s hard to see the governing bodies announcing a full-on retreat anytime soon. However, there’s a potential case they may be forced into one. Perhaps it’s via a lawsuit from equipment manufacturers, or blowback from the public that’s so heated they get spooked. Or maybe the game’s other power players, like the various tours, simply refuse to abide by the new rule, which pulls the governing bodies back from their plans.

Again, it’s unclear how or if the governing bodies could land in a “let’s just forget about it” position, but the result would be the least drastic of all: Golf takes the scenic route to everything staying the same.

Forty years ago, in the December 1983 edition of the magazine, Golf Digest was exploring the possibility that the distance golf balls were travelling might require action from golf’s governing bodies.

Tournament-specific golf balls

Of course, everything above would require the powers that be to back away from their own idea of a rollback. But if the response to impacting average golfers with a rollback is harsh enough, it could be that the governing bodies return to their original proposal of a model local rule. The fight to get here though might be so heated that potentially they only enact that rule sparingly, on specific courses. The Open Championship at the Old Course, for instance, or the U.S. Open at Merion, etc.

Week in, week out, things will basically stay the same. But when the championship goes to a legacy course that can’t or won’t be changed, then the rolled back ball comes out.

Competitive-recreational golfer split

Turn the temperature one notch further up, and you’ve got something similar to the previous proposal being adopted (aka, a local rule that can be enacted at-will by tournaments), but one that isn’t used sparingly. Rather, it’s adopted on a wider scale as a new normal.

Every USGA or R&A tournament adopts the rolled-back ball, for instance, or every NCAA tournament. This would, I would guess, end up dividing down competitive-recreational golfer lines. If you’re playing in non-handicap stroke play tournaments, there’s a good chance you’re using the rolled back ball.

Of course, this gets messy if the major tours, like the PGA Tour, doesn’t adopt the rule (which officials have said is their current stance), but we’ll get to that …

Rollback for everyone

Perhaps it’s posturing, perhaps it’s hinting at what’s ahead. But there were inklings in Slumbers’ comments that it may be cleaner to adopt a rollback across all of golf. And that is what sources tell Golf Digest is coming soon from the USGA and R&A.

This is one of the scenarios in which the proposed rule would likely affect you, the golfer. The rolled back ball is designed to chop 20 yards off the drives of golf’s best players. What would it mean for you? Without knowing the ball, it’s hard to know. Probably something slightly less but similar.

Some golfers would say they would simply refuse to adopt the rolled back ball, as they’ve indicated in a recent Golf Digest poll in which more than 60 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t honour a new rule that restricted distance.

Breakaway chaos

And then there’s the most severe outcome of them all: Some kind of standoff that doesn’t get resolved, and instead escalates the divide.

What do I mean? Let’s say the USGA and R&A announce a rollback of some sort, whether for some or all. But then, the PGA Tour and LIV refuse to adopt it, and many of the major equipment manufacturers simply refuse to make a new golf ball model. Perhaps there’s even a threat to form a breakaway governing body to compete with the others.

Who knows how it’ll all turn out, all that’s clear is that in this scenario, it gets messy. Very messy.

Main image: Eóin Noonan

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The rollback would be implemented for golfers of all levels in 2030—different than the bifurcated proposal those governing bodies put forward earlier this year. The USGA and R&A predict a 10-15 yards decrease for golf’s longest hitters, down to 1-5 yards for amateurs.

We have finalized the next step in our years-long effort to address consistent increases in hitting distance and golf’s sustainability.

These changes to the Overall Distance Standard will take effect in January 2028.

— USGA (@USGA) December 6, 2023

Naturally, the rule change caused an eruption from golfers on all sides. Let’s break down some of the most noteworthy reactions.

Bridgestone Golf

Golf ball maker Bridgestone Golf issued a statement effectively saying they don’t like it, but they accept it and are moving on.

Bridgestone Golf statement regarding USGA/R&A distance roll back announcement: pic.twitter.com/L290S6nJtX

— Bridgestone Golf (@bridgestonegolf) December 6, 2023

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy has been outspoken in support of his rollback. After a tweet over the weekend, McIlroy joined Sky Sports on Wednesday morning to support the official proposal, saying that it’ll lead to a more “skilled” game.

"I think this change will make the game more skilful again" ?

World number two golfer Rory McIlroy has backed the new changes to rules regarding golf ball specifications which will see a reduce in distance they travel ?️? pic.twitter.com/XamHvgVhBA

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 6, 2023

TaylorMade Golf

McIlroy’s sponsor, TaylorMade Golf, released a statement on the rollback, expressing opposition but acceptance. On Golf Channel, the company’s CEO David Abeles said: “This decision has been made, and we will move forward.”

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour, with a vast majority of players being against the decision, released a statement questioning the specifics of the new testing protocols, saying they aren’t representative of on-course speeds.

Callaway Golf

Callaway Golf carved out a unique position, expressing disappointment that the USGA moved away from a bifurcated proposal.

PGA of America

The PGA of America released a statement praising the delayed timeline of implementing the new rule, but expressing concerns over a “greater reduction of distance than we would advise” for recreational players.

We appreciate that the USGA and R&A ran a collaborative and patient process over the past several years. We are particularly gratified that they heard our concerns regarding the significant operational challenges bifurcation would have presented and are no longer considering a local rule regarding the ball for elite players. We are also pleased that the proposed change to the ball has been delayed until 2028 for elite players and 2030 for recreational golfers. Given the important role our nearly 30,000 PGA of America Golf Professionals play in the recreational game, having more time to adjust to the new rule is helpful. We remain opposed to any change that may potentially lessen the enjoyment of the game for recreational golfers or diminish the unprecedented momentum the game is enjoying. It appears recreational golfers will see a greater reduction in distance than we would advise. While this decrease has been lessened, we continue to recommend being more moderate on the swing speed change for the golf ball conformance test. At this time, we continue to have concerns and look forward to continuing this important conversation and finding resolution with all of our golf industry partners.

USGA and R&A CEOs Mike Whan and Martin Slumbers

Defending their own proposal on Golf Channel, Slumbers said that the move was designed to “protect the long-term health and sustainability of the game…with the environmental concerns,” while Whan punched back against some of the proposal’s critics:

“There’s gonna be a lot of ambulance chasers and alarmists that are gonna make this thing seem so much worse than it really is. … I don’t want a few loud voices that are trying to get more clicks and more viewers and more phone calls to drive a frenzy that quite frankly isn’t based in fact.”

.@RandA and @USGA CEOs Martin Slumbers and Mike Whan detail what the universal golf ball rollback announcement means for players of all levels.

?: @GolfCentral breaking news coverage live now on Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/remf2OX3Q2

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) December 6, 2023

Main image: Mike Ehrmann

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The USGA announced Wednesday that the 2023 US Women’s Open purse is going up to $11 million, a $1 million raise from 2022. It’s now double the size of the purse of the 2021 championship and the largest prize money payout in women’s golf.

“Talking about 12 hours of network TV and playing for $11 million, some things are better than what you dream of,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan. “When you go back 10 or 15 years ago, those are pretty big moments, and I hope that all of us aren’t both so callused and in a hurry and iPhone-driven that we’ve missed that kind of breakthrough moment.”

This week’s winner at Pebble Beach will earn $2 million, up from the $1.8 million prize money payout Minjee Lee claimed a year ago at Pine Needles.

This increase comes without the USGA bringing on a replacement presenting sponsor for 2023. The addition of ProMedica as the first-ever presenting sponsor of a USGA championship helped boost the Women’s Open purse from $5.5 million to $10 million, but due to economic concerns, the USGA released the company from the 10-year agreement after only one year. Whan shared that despite currently not having a presenting sponsor, the goal is to continue to increase the purse. He named $12 million as a target while discussing the next steps for the prize money.

The opportunity to pay out more money in the future is from the confidence that a new presenting sponsor will be signed shortly after this week, Whan all but saying that a deal is close to being in place.

“When we parted ways with ProMedica, we decided to kind of sit tight for a year because we didn’t want to be in the midst of this running around and changing signage and that kind of stuff,” Whan said. “And so we sort of said to ourselves, let’s wait a year. … In that wait we actually had four or five partners kind of reach out to us, so we’ve been pretty deep in the dialogue with a couple of them.”

The increased purse continues the march towards getting the men’s and women’s Opens to the same prize money, something the US Open in tennis accomplished in 1973. While Whan mentioned ideally that would’ve happened 20 years ago, the world of golf changed rapidly over the last two years. The closest the two championships came to equal money in recent years came when the $10 million purse for the 2022 US Women’s Open was announced that January, sitting only $1.5 million behind the men’s $12.5 million in 2021.

However, the men’s purse has increased by $7.5 million over the last two years, with $20 million handed out at Los Angeles Country Club two weeks ago as cash continues funnelling into the men’s game with LIV and the PGA Tour warring over money before the recent merger agreement.

Despite the increasing purse gap, due to factors out of the USGA’s control, the governing body aims to accomplish the goal of equal prize money by focusing on factors beyond just the cash available at the championship. There is no firm internal deadline to get to the same purse between the two US Opens.

“Equality takes on a lot of different meanings to us, not just the purse,” USGA president Fred Perpall said. “But I think if we keep working on that process, eventually we get more eyeballs. We get more interest. We have an economic rise. And then it’s easier for the purse to rise, too. Some of this is part of the process, and some of it is part of the journey and not only the destination. I think we’re focused much more on the process to get to that level of equality.”

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The USGA and R&A will be proposing a new golf ball testing standard for elite competition that would roll back performance by 20 yards or more. But that proposal still must navigate a Notice and Comment period which lasts through mid-August.

The proposal will be explained in a media conference later today, led by Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, and Martin Slumbers, CEO of the R&A. Equipment manufacturers were notified on Monday afternoon.

According to sources, the proposal is to institute what’s known as a “model local rule”, which is basically a guideline existing for any level of tournament that might wish to adopt its provisions. In this case, the model local rule would be reserved for elite competitions. It is not clear what level elite competition might take, but it is safe to assume that high-level men’s professional golf is the primary target. In short, this would be a form of bifurcating the equipment rules where elite players would use equipment tested at different standards compared to how equipment used by all other golfers is deemed conforming. The sources detailed that the model local rule would apply to the way the golf ball used in these competitions is tested for conformance.

The primary proposed change would revise how golf balls are tested for conformance. The swing speed for the robot would increase from 120 miles per hour to 127 miles per hour. That likely would make all current golf balls used in elite competition non-conforming. Given that at elite speeds, every mile per hour increase in clubhead speed equates to approximately 2.5-3 yards in total distance, increasing the test speed by 7 miles per hour could result in a distance loss of about 20 yards or more.

The proposed MLR would be scheduled to take effect in January 2026. This proposal is the result of the ruling bodies’ position on driving distance outlined in its conclusions from the Distance Insight research project. Previously, “the objectives were to identify mechanisms to address the persistent increases in hitting distance over time that have fueled the pace at which golf courses are lengthening, as well as to enhance the reward of a central impact”.

Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy are two of the longest drivers of the golf ball in the elite game. Tom Pennington

The proposal is a slight shift from the “areas of interest” that the ruling bodies announced last spring. In that document, the ideas that were floated included a similar change in the ball test that would apply to all golfers, not just elite players.

Also in that document were proposed ideas to roll back the springiness of driver faces and make them less forgiving. But those latter proposals were only going to be model local rules for elite competitions. The announcement only focuses on the ball and only for elite events, and suggests no specific changes for club performance rules.

One possible outcome of a model local rule providing for a shorter golf ball: Events held at certain historic venues — Augusta National, the Old Course — could employ such a ball for their events. That said, it would be odd for the ruling bodies to propose a model local rule designed to deal with what they see as the distance problem and not employ that rule unilaterally in all their events. A USGA spokeswoman declined to comment on any specifics.

Several manufacturers contacted by Golf Digest declined to comment on the proposal, but it is clear that many have been opposed to a distance rollback in comments previously filed with the ruling bodies. According to comments filed with the USGA by Acushnet, parent company of Titleist, during last year’s comment period and subsequently made public: “The game’s growth and global appeal are linked to unification. Bifurcation of the rules breaks that link.”

A spokesman for the PGA Tour declined to comment “until things are made public”. The difficulty for the tour in supporting any rollback is the vast majority of players on the PGA Tour receive some compensation from golf ball manufacturers. No ball manufacturer has announced overt support for a ball rollback of any kind up to now.

There’s also the question of whether distance continues to be a selling point for elite golf. PGA Tour players certainly achieve notoriety for the distance they are able to hit the ball. Last year, on the PGA Tour average driving distance reached nearly 300 yards for the first time (299.8). Since 2011, driving distance has increased 8.9 yards, or an average of 0.8 yards per year, considerably less than the average of 2.6 yards per year from 1994-2003. In 2002, the ruling bodies announced in a Joint Statement of Principles a desire to more closely monitor elite driving distance.

So far in the 2022-23 season, driving distance is down 2.6 yards. Average swing speed on tour has increased a little over two miles per hour since 2011 to 114.72 miles per hour. Or 12 miles per hour slower than the proposed test speed detailed in Monday’s notice.

The test swing speed for the Overall Distance Standard was changed in 2004 from 109 miles per hour to the current 120 miles per hour, but at the same time, the maximum distance for a conforming ball was raised to 320 yards. Under this new proposal, the speed increase would not include an increase in the maximum distance.

To put the proposed change in perspective, currently there are no players on the PGA Tour with an average swing speed of 127 miles per hour. However, approximately 20 players have posted a high swing speed of more than 127 miles per hour.

The notice sent by the ruling bodies to manufacturers on Monday indicates that the shift to only a model local rule on the golf ball reflects the comments the ruling bodies received last year. “The USGA and The R&A were not considering changes that would result in substantial reductions in hitting distances at all levels of the game,” the notice states. “The proposed MLR would enable golf event organisers and committees to use specific balls for certain elite championships and tournaments but would not impact the current recreational game in any way.”

For now, the proposal announcement does not make clear how far the phrase “elite competitions” applies. It may be for elite men’s professional events, but even then, what might that mean for elite college and amateur events? What might it mean for elite events that have qualifying tournaments? And what would that mean for events such as the US Open that have a handicap qualification for entry, given that said handicap would likely be achieved through using a ball that would be nonconforming in the US Open, under the proposed model local rule? Any such change to the golf ball used at an elite event is subject to a new set of complications that competitive golf hasn’t confronted before.

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By Ryan Herrington
With Fred Perpall having served on the USGA Executive Committee in the role of President-Elect for the last year, there was no surprise when the governing body announced this week that the 47-year-old Dallas resident was nominated to become the USGA’s 67th president starting in 2023. Yet with his expected election at the USGA Annual Meeting in Napa, Calif., in February, the governing body remains on a path toward history, as Perpall would be the first Black man to hold the position in the USGA’s 128-year history.

A native of the Bahamas who played basketball and ran track at the University of Texas at Arlington and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian national basketball tea, Perpall has been nominated for a three-year term. He would replace outgoing president Stu Francis, whose term expires this year. Perpall has worked on the Executive Committee since 2019, most recently chairing the Championship Committee and helping launch the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open this past summer.

“Fred is a dynamic leader who has a tremendous passion for the game,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan in a press release. “Our entire team is incredibly excited to work with him more closely over the coming years.”

Outside of golf, Perpall is CEO of The Beck Group in Dallas, where he oversees the company’s architectural design, planning, real estate consultancy and construction businesses.

The USGA also announced on Wednesday former major champion Jeff Sluman among four new nominees to serve three-year terms on the Executive Committee beginning in 2023. Sluman, 65, was a six-time PGA Tour winner, including the 1988 PGA Championship, and has played more than 1,000 combined events on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He would fill a roll that Nick Price had previously served while working on the Executive Committee since 2018—offering the perspective of a tour pro during discussions.

Also nominated for the Executive Committee are Leslie Henry, Bryan Lewis and Michael McCarthy. Henry, a lawyer from Houston, is a past president of the Texas Golf Association and has competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur championships. Lewis, from South Haven, Mich., has been a USGA volunteer since 1998 who has worked as a rules official at 84 USGA championships, four Masters and the 2021 Walker Cup. McCarthy, executive VP and chief investment officer for Franklin Equity Group, played for the 1988 NCAA champion UCLA golf team. He’s on the board at San Francisco Golf Club and with the First Tee of San Francisco.

If elected, the new four members will assume seats vacated by retiring members Price, Francis, Thomas Barkin and Paul Brown.

Additionally Courtney Myhrum of Pittsburgh, has been nominated to serve a second term on Executive Committee.

Current USGA Executive Committee members include Myhrum; Perpall; Tony Anderson of Chicago, Ill.; Chuck Brymer of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Sinclair Eaddy Jr., of Baltimore, Md.; Cathy Engelbert of Berkeley Heights, N.J.; Kendra Graham of Winter Park, Fla.; Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, Fla.; Deborah Platt Majoras of Cincinnati, Ohio; Tony Petitti of Irvington, N.Y.; and Sharon Ritchey of Longboat Key, Fla.

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Maybe you picked out Brian Bemis, a one-legged golfer who uses two crutches to move around and then tosses them aside to balance on one foot before he swings. Or Jake Olson, the former USC football snapper who was the only fully blind athlete in the field. To watch him two-putt a 40-foot double break is a marvel. Or the numerous veterans left paralyzed in wars, swivelling in carts to slot a swing. Or the entertaining trick-shot artist Dennis Walters, who at 72 years old proved he can still put together a score by winning the seated division. The World Golf Hall of Famer was joined every yard of the journey by his fluffy and eminently patient service dog Gussie, who deserves the copper medal around her neck and a tasty T-bone for riding around for six hours a day.

The point is, there were 96 players in the inaugural Adaptive Open, and each of them arrived with extraordinary backgrounds and equally unique swings. Go to a tour event and every guy seems to look like a robot; watch these golfers, with their seeming robot parts, and every swing is flawed in such a beautifully useful way.

All week, while the participants talked about how grateful they were for such a grand opportunity, everyone else gawked in amazement at their ability while genuinely feeling fortunate to be in their presence. Among the admiring “normies” was Mike Whan, the USGA CEO who was on hand for much of the play and walked in the sandhills country’s stifling heat and humidity in long pants and fitted dress shirts. In those moments when Whan soaked in the competitors’ funky swings, their effort, their determination, their good nature, he said it “grounded” him.

“I’ll be honest,” Whan told me. “I’ve come off a year of LIV questions and purse increases and TV deals, and you realise when you’re out here … how much more this is really what golf is, and that other stuff is just that other stuff. You’ve got to do it; it’s part of the business. But I think a lot of times we get so caught up in one per cent, we forget about the real people who make up this game.”

Amanda Cunha, left, high-fives Natasha Stasiuk after the final round of the 2022 US Adaptive Open. Jeff Haynes

On the grounds, Whan expected to find enthusiasm from the players, fans, volunteers and media. What blew him away: the reaction from his own staff. “I’ve had 20 to 30 staff members say this the most important thing they’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “You don’t get too many opportunities to change the way employees feel about the logo on their shirt. This changed the way they feel about the logo on their shirt.”

When the competition was over on Wednesday, the golfers almost universally praised the experience. Among the most complimentary was five-time PGA Tour winner Ken Green, a leg amputee who finished solo second in his division at 11-over. He called it the most important event he’s ever played in.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that the USGA created this event,” Green said. “I got to meet so many new people that I hadn’t met yet. To watch their joy and their desire … that they had a legit national championship. I know it sounds weird, but this is their coup de coup de coup. This is as good as it gets.”

Mandy Sedlak, a lower-leg amputee, came to Pinehurst from Nebraska with her husband/caddie Jim, and they were floored by the experience as soon as they got on property. Back home, their friends and family didn’t seem to understand the magnitude of the championship, and then they started following scores online and seeing highlights on TV. The reaction from a cousin and her kids was, “They’re eating this [stuff] up.”

Then Mandy knew it was truly big when her father, who’s not one to make a fuss over most things, got a bit emotional in asking her if she had an extra glove to autograph. He wanted to put it in his scrapbook.

Conor Ennis smiles after making a par on the 17th hole during the second round at the 2022 US Adaptive Open. Jeff Haynes

With an event of this magnitude there were bound to be some glitches. Carts were a valuable commodity in general, and Stephanie Parel, the USGA’s director for the championship, said it was a scramble to have enough. Some of the carts for the seated players had battery problems and had to be replaced mid-round.

From a competitive standpoint, the biggest concern expressed by some players was that the yardages played too long, especially one-armed men who were put at the 6,500-yard tees rather than 6,000 they believed had been decided on well before the event.

“It becomes demeaning at some point. It beats you down,” said Steven Shipuleski, 51, an arm-impairment golfer whose three-day total was 65-over. There may be a need for flights within divisions, he added, considering the top player in the arm group, Conor Stone, shot 14-over for the tournament.

Among some of the other players suggestions was possibly eliminating bunker play for seated players who had to take a one-stroke penalty for dropping out of the sand, and a further assessment of various impairment differences within the categories. Some suggest the variances are too large to make them “fair” for a single division.

Parel, who said “I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I got to do this,” noted that player surveys will be taken, and Whan says there is room to make changes.

Cathy Walch hits her drive on the second tee during the second round at the 2022 US Adaptive Open. Robert Beck

The most important development in the USGA offices is that the association pulled off its first sanctioned adaptive event with the hope that many more will come in all forms around the US and the world. Whan said getting golf into the Paralympics is certainly on the radar. And by action, the challenge has been made to other golf associations to consider doing more with adaptive golf. The USGA would certainly like more to jump on board.

“The fact that we’re saying adaptive golf is an important part of our mission,” Whan said. “Those who want to work with us and benefit from us will want to work with us on adaptive golf as well.”

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By Ryan Herrington
They’re playing for history at the US Open this week, a major championship title being something everyone in the 156-player field aspires to win. But they’ll be playing for a historic amount of money, too.

On Wednesday, USGA CEO Mike Whan announced that the overall purse for the US Open has been bumped up to $17.5 million, a $5 million increase from 2021. In turn, the winner at The Country Club on Sunday will receive $3.15 million, up from the $2.25 million Jon Rahm took home a year ago at Torrey Pines.

The announcement elevates the US Open into the most lucrative of the four men’s majors, a title previously shared by the PGA Championship and the Masters. Both of those championships raised their purses earlier this year to $15 million.

It’s not so coincidental that the majors would make such substantial moves with their prize money payouts. Much has been made of late about how much is being made by professional golfers. Massive prize money payouts have fuelled interest in the LIV Golf Invitational series, which paid Charl Schwartzel $4 million for his individual victory at last week’s debut event with $20 million given out to the 48 competitors.

On the PGA Tour, the overall prize money payouts in the 2021-22 season have jumped to $427 million, up from $367 million the previous year. And the Players Championship still has a bigger prize money payout ($20 million) than any of the four majors.

The USGA’s increase for the US Open comes after nearly doubling the purse this year for the US Women’s Open, handling out $10 million to the field.

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What was the best piece of advice you received when you started the job?

The best advice I got was from Mike Whan. He was very generous with his time prior to me taking the job. His advice was twofold: One, the tournaments are the most important thing. Focus as much as you can on making sure we have the right opportunities for our players with the right partners. That seems obvious, but sometimes you can get caught up in parts of this complex ecosystem. Have a relentless pursuit of the best tournament opportunities for our players. I thought that really grounds you on, this is ultimately what we’re trying to do. And secondly, which would have been an instinct of mine because it’s really what I love to do, get to know the players. Get to know them, engage with them and hear their stories. Those two things were most important. They probably would have been a bit instinctual, but to have him drill down to the two most important things, I think he was spot on.

When you’re talking to players, what sort of things do you talk about?

They’ll tell you exactly what we should do. This is their world. They own the tour. They live it every day, they’re really smart, and they’re thoughtful, and they’re entrepreneurs. I have really appreciated their feedback. It’s always been with the best interest of the tour, they all come at it from that position, which is really incredible. They talk about their experience. We focus on what environment will help them achieve their goals and reach their peak. From big and small things, like the locations of events, the environment once we’re at the tournament. Performance things, like nutrition and hydration, fitness trailers … all of the things on the administrative side that make their lives easier, so then they can focus on reaching their own peak performance. They also have great marketing ideas, great content ideas. They’re independent entrepreneurs who are concerned about their own success, but mostly they come at it like, Hey, this is what we need to do to make our tour as good as it can possibly be.

Do you feel like you’re close to an ideal schedule, or are there changes you’d like to make?

The 2022 schedule we just released is excellent, thanks to the amazing partners we have, new and old. We’re in a great space. But to Mike’s original piece of advice, that’s something you have to constantly work on. We’re still evaluating it, but we’re grateful for the partners we have and how they’ve stepped up. The purses obviously are significantly higher than they were in 2021 [overall prize money jumped from $76.4 million to $85.7 million, with the winner of the CME Group Tour Championship set to earn $2 million]. We have a great number of events [34], and the flow is pretty decent. And I think we’ll see additional increases in purses in the coming months.

What has surprised you most about the job?

Despite the fact that this is an individual sport, it feels more like a college athletic program where you have individual teams, but you’re all working towards the same athletic department, same university goal. It feels similar. The golfers are all individual “teams” but they’re all thinking about the whole, and they’re passionate about that. At Princeton, we used to call it “the team around the team.” There is a team around our players. From our partners to our staff, to our board members, to media partners. Everybody has this love of the LPGA. That’s something I felt during the interview process and just being a fan of the LPGA, but when you get in it, it’s kind of shocking. I think people really do love what they do. They focus on what’s the greater good in all of it.

Could you pinpoint a greatest moment from this season?

There’s been a ton of great moments. I’ve worked my entire life in sports and been an athlete my whole life. I love those moments where sports is a community endeavour, where people come together and cheer hard for a common good. Being on the first tee at the Solheim Cup and seeing all the energy around women’s golf and seeing the excitement for our players, was a highlight for sure. That was remarkable. Hearing a crowd cheer like that at a golf event and having the women hit through the noise, it was so intense and so loud. That was really cool.

‘We want to offer a schedule where the top 150 players in the world can earn a living that’s commensurate with their talent.’
—Mollie Marcoux Samaan

Where are the tour’s biggest opportunities for growth?

In the areas of technology and data, we have a huge opportunity, and that will help us tell our story more aggressively and get a wider fan base. We have a very solid and strong fanbase, but a lot of people don’t yet know about our players and how talented they are and how amazing they are off the golf course. Personalizing and getting the world to know our athletes is a big goal, and a very achievable goal.

We have amazing partners, but I think there are so many more out there who we can help reach their goals. There is a lot of opportunity for growth in our partnership area, keeping our current partners and continuing to customize programs for them, satisfy their goals, while also gaining more partners.

The other opportunity we have is that we’re this ecosystem, with LPGA USGA Girls Golf, our amateur women’s program and LPGA professionals. One of our goals is to further integrate all areas of the organization to get maximum benefit and growth. That includes investing in our diversity and inclusion work, expanding opportunities to grow the game for a wider group of young girls and women who maybe have not been exposed to the game or don’t necessarily have the financial means to play. That’s a huge goal because I feel like sports is the great equalizer. It that has so many ancillary benefits, it’s our responsibility to think about growing those opportunities for a much wider group of people.

Michael Reaves
Getting to know Jin Young Ko and other players on tour was an early priority for Marcoux Samaan upon taking over as LPGA commissioner.

How important is getting more network TV time for the tour?

It’s always important, and I think the women deserve to be on network television. We’re doing pretty well for a women’s sports property, but it’s just not enough and it’s so significantly less than the men’s sports. Continuing to focus on that is a goal of ours. We have a great partner in NBC Sports and Golf Channel; they are part of that “team around the team” that we talked about. We obviously want as much exposure as we can get there. But we also want to be creative and see what other options are out there to supplement that, whether it’s streaming or other content delivery opportunities, particularly with the younger audience. I have three kids, and they’re attached to streams and networks and channels online and digitally. How we capitalize on that and continue to build a younger fan base is really important.

This past season had a couple events shown on tape delay. What can you do to avoid that in the future?

Obviously, sports is not great when it’s tape delayed. People love watching our women play, whether it’s tape delayed or not, but our goal would obviously be to have as much live television as possible. A very small percentage of our broadcasts were tape delayed. I think people tend to focus on that more than what is the reality of what was tape delayed. Obviously, we’d like to have as much live television as possible. But broadcast television is a finite resource, and there’s a lot of competing interests for that. We have to continue to show our value and how meaningful and interested people are in our product.

When you’re talking to partners, what do they love about the tour?

They really see the value from an exposure standpoint, a branding and commercialization standpoint, but also they generally love the association with our brand and they love the similarity in values and the way they can express to their employees and customers about what they really care about. They talk about that, and the accessibility of our players, the authenticity of our players, the talent of our players and the flexibility of the LPGA in helping them reach their individual goals. Those things are very positive. You get great exposure, but you also get to talk about your vision and values through the tour.

What sort of things do they say holds the tour back?

We’d like to be on network television more, we’d like more eyeballs on what we’re doing. That’s the biggest thing we hear. But largely, people feel they have a true partner in us, that we can customize our product to the needs of our partners, which is a really fun place to be in.

Do you think the LPGA and the PGA Tour should collaborate more? Do you talk with you Jay Monahan a lot?

Jay and the PGA have been terrific partners to me as I’ve started this job. Jay has been quite aggressive in offering support and advice and help. I’ve been really grateful for that. He’s made his team accessible to us as well. We’re just beginning to build on all of that. There’s lots of room for growth and opportunity there.

Going forward, what are your big picture goals for the tour?

We want to continue to see the pay equity gap shrink. We want to offer a schedule where the top 150 players in the world can earn a living that’s commensurate with their talent. We do really well at the top. We need to continue to think about if you’re the 100th best player in the world, that’s a pretty amazing talent, what does that look like? We want to continue to reduce the gap between the LPGA and the PGA Tour at every level—the top, the middle, the bottom—with the ultimate goal of pay equity. We want to continue to focus on an environment where the players can reach peak performance, build a sustainable life and play as long as they are competitive and as long as they want to play. I see us as the model for women’s professional sports. We’ve been around for 71 years, we’ve had an enormous amount of success and there’s so much more growth to be had.

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By John Strege
It is not a victory lap, precisely, though a strong argument could be made that Mike Whan’s tenure as LPGA Commissioner warrants one. But he is here in this desert community to oversee the ANA Inspiration for the last time, and the exit interviews have begun.

A man who can speak more words per minute than anyone this side of an auctioneer spent 25 minutes with the media on Wednesday, answering questions about his 11-year tenure generally and the growth of the female game on the professional and grass-roots level.

“I think the coolest thing about this,” he said, noting he had just run into Shirley Spork, one of the LPGA’s founders, “the thing that Shirley and the rest would be most proud of is what we’ve done for the future. The future of this game is so female, not just here in America, but all around the world. Events like this are what matters to young girls.

“I don’t think, if you said 12 years ago to anybody, the future of the game, junior golf, was going to look almost 40 per cent female, back when we were in that 13-, 14-, 15-per cent range. This is important. We’re leaving this game pretty female. I’m leaving this game a lot more female than when I got here, thanks to a lot of people that made me look good.

“I don’t think these women will have daughters that will have the experience my mom had trying to join the game in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. They should be proud of that, and we should be proud of that.”

Paying homage to the founders of the LPGA, including the formation of a new tournament, the Founders Cup, will be part of his legacy when he leaves this job to become the CEO of the USGA this summer. And it began, even before he had been introduced as the commissioner in late 2009, with words of advice from another founder, Louise Suggs, delivered over a drink in a hotel bar during the LPGA Tour Championship.

“She said, ‘Kid, keep it simple.’ Then she went on to talk about an hour,” Whan said. “Nothing she said was simple. She talked about all the aspects of the LPGA. In the end, I said to her, ‘Louise, when you say keep it simple, what do you mean?’ ”

Suggs gestured to a group of players and said, “Mike, it’s just this simple. Give them a better place to play.”

“I knew what she meant. It wasn’t courses and purses and TV, but all of them. She said give them a better place to be. Care about the future. It caught me off guard. As a brand new commissioner in 2009, I’m like, What do you mean? She said, ‘We have a tour today because we cared about the founders.’ Make them care about the future.’

“She said, ‘Get the boys involved.’ What do you mean get the boys involved? ‘You know, the boys. The guys that run all the boys’ stuff.’ What are you talking about?”

Suggs was talking about the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the USGA, the R&A. “She called them the boys,” Whan said. “‘Get the boys involved. They’ll help.’

“If you think about it, KPMG, PGA, U.S. Women’s Open, LPGA, USGA, Girls Golf, the European Tour, I really think the boys, as she called them, are involved.”

Suggs also told him to be “a good and honest man,” that his family comes first, but to look at the LPGA players as his extended family.

“Juli Inkster said something to me very similar, which is we can handle honesty. We just can’t handle lack of honesty out here,” Whan said.

“The next thing for the next commissioner, keep it simple. Give them a place to play. Make the future involved for them. Keep the boys involved. And when you’re talking about your family, be pretty honest. At the time she said it, I didn’t think any of it was powerful, but I was smart enough to write it down. I think that’s a good way for me to exit.”

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By Dave Shedloski
Mike Whan didn’t waste much time moving into a new slot in the golf leadership hierarchy.

The man who orchestrated a record turnaround in the fortunes of the LPGA while serving as the longest-tenured commissioner in the organisation’s history, was named CEO of the USGA on Wednesday, set to succeed Mike Davis in the post.

“This one’s pretty simple for me. I love this game. I love this sport. I love this country, and I really love the process of getting better and learning and building strategic alliances. And I get all of that in the USGA,” Whan told Golf Digest after agreeing to become the eighth top executive in USGA history. “When I announced my departure from the LPGA, I said that I’m at the age where I sort of have one more big thing to do. I need to get some first-tee jitters again. I need to get nervous, and suffice it to say, I’m nervous. But I revel in that.”

Whan, 56, is expected officially to take over at Golf House sometime this summer, giving him a period of time to work with Davis in a transition while enabling the LPGA to find his successor.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mike Whan for many years, and I view him as a trusted, strategic leader who has a proven track record of building collaborative partnerships,” Davis said in a statement. “I know the USGA will be in great hands, and I look forward to partnering with Mike to ensure a smooth and successful transition for the USGA.”

“We had a ton of inbound interest, and we went through a pretty good process, but the shining light in all of that was Mike Whan,” USGA president Stu Francis said. “Mike was head and shoulders above everybody else in terms of what he brings to the table. It’s just sort of the perfect fit in our view.”

Whan announced Jan.6 that he was stepping down as LPGA chief after 11 years, telling staff and the LPGA Board of Directors, “One of the hardest jobs of a leader is to know when their work is done.” At that time he did not indicate where his next career steps might lead, but his decision to exit the LPGA came slightly more than three months after Davis revealed his plans to enter the golf course design field and leave the USGA after 32 years, including the last 10 in the role of Executive Director/CEO.

Scott Halleran
When Mike Whan took over as LPGA commissioner in 2010, the tour’s schedule featured only 24 official events worth $41.4 million in prize money. This year, it has 34 events and a record $76.45 million in total purses.

Though sensing his work was done at the LPGA, Whan apparently didn’t think he was done leading. He now will head up an organization that conducts 14 national championships, including the U.S. Open, as well as international and team competitions. Additionally, in conjunction with the R&A in Scotland, the USGA writes, interprets and administers the Rules of Golf. Headquartered at Golf House in Liberty Corner, N.J., the USGA employs approximately 450 people.

In taking over for Davis, Whan will inherit a handful of notable tasks on the USGA’s short- and long-term agendas. Chief among them is the ongoing investigation into the impact of distance on the game. Earlier this month, the USGA spelt out a handful of proposed technical modifications to the equipment rules while outlining six areas of interest that could set the stage for future rules changes amounting to a potential rollback in distance.

Additionally, Whan will now help oversee the development of Golf House Pinehurst in North Carolina. The USGA announced in September that, with assistance from state and local authorities, it would build include a satellite office, museum and a new $18 million equipment test centre.

Eager, he said, to continue to “make a difference in this sport,” Whan said he has yet to map out a list of priorities for the USGA, making sure he educates himself thoroughly while working with Davis. That’s not to say he doesn’t have goals.

“I’ve got seven things that I think are going to be seven things for Mike Whan [to do], but I know from my experience with the LPGA that four are going to be wrong. I’m just not sure which four,” Whan said. “I walked in with this vision of what I think are the right strategic priorities. But as I told Stu, I’m going to need 100 days, 100 days to make sure that all this stuff I think is right is right. Like any person I walk in with my points of view, and then I’ll figure out pretty quickly, what are the areas of focus? And then my job, quite frankly, is to make sure between me and the [USGA Executive Committee] we’ve got real clarity so that we can let this team run. Cause I think we’ve got a good team there. We just want to make sure we’re all aligned in the priorities and then get out of their way to achieve them.

“I wouldn’t do a job I couldn’t have fun doing, and I can promise you, I’m going to have fun doing this job, even if people don’t have fun having me do this job,” he added. “I don’t know a commissioner of sport who’s not comfortable with the fact that every decision you make, probably 30 percent of people don’t like, and it doesn’t mean you’re right. It just means you got to make decisions to move forward. I’ve got to walk into a new place where they don’t know me [except] by name. They don’t know how I’m going to be better or worse for them. There’ll be all kinds of anxiety about Mike’s different from us, which is true. And getting through all that to real success is the fun part.”

Whan took over as the eighth commissioner of the LPGA in July 2009 after Carolyn Bivens was forced out by a player revolt following a disastrous four-year term. (Marty Evans served as acting commissioner in the interim.) In 2010, when Whan assumed control, the LPGA schedule featured only 24 official events—its lightest slate in nearly 40 years—worth $41.4 million in prize money. This year, the LPGA schedule features 34 events and a record $76.45 million in total purses.

Michael Reaves
Whan played golf growing up in Ohio, growing his interest in the game while working as a caddie and on a grounds crew before going to college.

Whan’s initiatives at the LPGA included the creation of the International Crown, the Founders Cup and the Race to the CME Globe, a season-long competition similar to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup. He also forged a partnership with the Ladies European Tour and bolstered the LPGA’s signature major by partnering with the PGA of America to transform the LPGA Championship into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The debut of the UL International Crown, an eight-team biennial match-play event, the start of the Race to the CME Globe, and the deal that resulted in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship all occurred in 2014. In 2015, Sports Business Journal tabbed the LPGA as one of its five finalists for Sports League of the Year along with the Big East Conference, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, and the NBA.

“I think if you look at Mike’s track record, certainly at the LPGA, he had a brilliant ability to think about where the future is going and move the organization to be most responsive to that,” Francis said. “And we’re no different, as the USGA is a great organization, but the world around us is changing rapidly. … There are a host of societal changes that we think Mike is just uniquely suited to work together with the senior team to figure out how can the USGA most effectively serve the game, and how can the USGA take advantage of that and be ahead of it?”

A native of Naperville, Ill., Whan cultivated an interest in golf as a youngster by working first as a caddie and then on the grounds crew at Cress Creek Country Club, which mostly interested him because he could play the course for free. When the family moved to Cincinnati in the early 1980s, Whan immediately found another golf job, at nearby Coldstream Country Club.

His first golf-related post after graduating with business degrees in economics and finance from Miami University, in Ohio, in 1987 came seven years later at Wilson Sporting Goods in Chicago, where he served as vice president and general manager of the golf ball and glove division. He also managed the marketing department, two manufacturing facilities and the Research & Development division. Two years later, he moved to Carlsbad, Calif., and TaylorMade Golf, where he eventually rose to executive vice president and general manager for the North American region.

Donald Miralle
At the USGA, Whan will take over as the governing body, along with the R&A, continues its investigation into the impact of distance on the game.

Whan began his business career at Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati. His last position before joining the LPGA was as president and CEO for hockey-gear maker Mission-Itech Hockey. He joined Mission Hockey in 2002, and during his seven-year tenure Whan restructured the company and oversaw its acquisition of Itech Sports in 2004 to create Mission-Itech Hockey, one of the largest hockey companies in the world.

The LPGA announced Feb. 1 that it formally opened its search for a new commissioner and that it was retaining the services of executive search and leadership advisory firm Spencer Stuart—the same organization that helped identify Whan as a candidate for the commissioner post in 2009.

“I remember when I walked into the LPGA,” Whan said, “I told my father, ‘I can’t mess this up because the game means too much to me.’ And my dad said, ‘Because the game means that much to you, you won’t mess this up.’ And I feel the same way here. Golf matters to me. It’s always mattered to me. I’m excited to feel like I can still make a difference in a sport that’s made a huge difference in my life.”

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