When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
A wire story from reader Nick and LPGA Fan:
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Daniel Kaplan cites an LPGA tax return as showing that Commissioner Carolyn Bivens earned $238,872 in the last six months of ’05, her first months on the job, which means her pay “would come to almost $478,000 annually.” Bivens’ predecessor, Ty Votaw, earned $459,677 in ’04 and $300,000 in ’03 (SBJ, 4/9 issue)....
My NSA sources took time out from their search for those lost RNC emails to share a Sunday night conversation between the LPGA's Commissioner Carolyn Bivens and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. This followed Sunday's bizarre day in which the LPGA event on CBS was delayed, the PGA Tour's Heritage play on CBS cancelled by high winds, and with the delayed LPGA's event on CBS airing on The Golf Channel.
DaBrandLady: tim, you there?
twfPGATour©: Hi Carolyn.
DaBrandLady: Rough day for the product.
twfPGATour©: I know, our consumers had to listen to Bobby Clampett on two channels at once.
DaBrandLady: oh. I meant the winds.
DaBrandLady: i thought he was great on the ginn. we feel lucky to have his insights.
twfPGATour©: Yes you are. He's a big talent.
DaBrandLady: say tim, I know the ginn on cbs was an ad buy for us and all, but since it was running long and the heritage was in that hurricane delay, don't you think we could have seen more of our event shown live on cbs instead of tape from last year's heritage?
twfPGATour©: Well you know I wish could have helped, but as you well know the platform layering dynamics are intensely complicated.
DaBrandLady: ha! i actually wrote a dissertation on that when I was at the usa today and they wanted to change the life's section color from purple to navy blue.
DaBrandLady: anyway, i do know all about the parameters involved. it just seemed odd to have our event going on with so many dynamic young women-American golfers competing with a future hall of famer, and then to turn and see you all teasing the viewer with updates before heading back to tape of last year.
twfPGATour©: I feel your pain Carolyn. It's out of my hands.
DaBrandLady: and for cbs, what an opportunity to declare their devotion to young women-american athletes in light of the dan imos de-branding thing.
twfPGATour©: It's actually Don Imus I believe.
DaBrandLady: of course, silly me!
DaBrandLady: say, that new creative with zach johnson was quite exquisite.
twfPGATour©: Yes, fortuitous timing for strengthening our family of brands and for Zach's ability to leverage the equity in his newfound brand stature.
DaBrandLady: whoever thought of using him in those new spots should get a big raise!
twfPGATour©: Glad you reminded me of that Carolyn. I'm making a note right now to bump Tom Wade's salary another $100,000 a year. He's undervalued at $550,000 per year.
DaBrandLady: say, speaking of salary Tim, did you see this sports business journal article about how much I'm making?
twfPGATour©: They had you at around $500,000 I believe.
DaBrandLady: yes they got it off this battlestar web site that monitors non-profits.
twfPGATour©: Guidestar.
DaBrandLady: well, anyway, i was looking around their site and i noticed you guys have managed to keep your most recent tour returns off. how do i do the same thing? because my brand coaches feel i took a hit in light of the fact that i'm only making a half-mil while you are making $7 million and Len Zelig is making $14.5 million.
twfPGATour©: it's Bud Selig and can you believe that? I need to go back to the policy board for a raise.
DaBrandLady: right, so how do I stop this brand-damaging from going online?
twfPGATour©: well it's a legal issue for us, but if you call Ed M he'll explain how to do it. It's a layered process that involves many dynamics and metrical platform delineational restructuring with the IRS.
DaBrandLady: oh, and here i was hoping it was just something powell-tate handled up in d.c.
twfPGATour©: Well, there's that too.
DaBrandLady: great! thanks tim!
twfPGATour©: My pleasure Carolyn. Give my best to, uh...
DaBrandLady: he says hi back!
The Brand Lady did a wonderful job with those softballs lobbed by those 18-to-34-year-old demo drawers Verne Lundquist and Judy Rankin during today's Dinah Shore final round. Me thinks the LPGA Commish has been working overtime with her brand coach, but she did stray into foreign territory this week and thanks to LPGA Fan, we get some juicy insights from Ms. Bivens.
From Janet Cromley's LA Times story on women hitting the ball longer (or not):
But they can get closer with improved mechanics and technique, says LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. "Frankly," says Bivens, "the women have to be more fit than the men and their mechanics have to be better. A guy can mis-hit a ball and mis-hit it farther."
To hit the ball farther, the women are focusing not only on upper body strength but also leg and core strength, with balance as the ultimate goal. "You've got to have technique and balance to pull off the long shots," says Bivens.
It's been a while since LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens made any noise, and while this may not get much attention, it's nonetheless shady.
LPGA modifies field criteria for select events
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) today announced a modification to field criteria for select events that will enable the LPGA to offer a sponsor exemption to the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion if an LPGA event is staged in her home state. This exemption would be in addition to the event’s contracted sponsor exemptions and would only be enacted if the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion is still an amateur at the time of the LPGA event and, when offering an exemption, would not decrease the playing opportunities for LPGA players.
Did you get all of that? Gee, this comes up so rarely, I'm sure it won't be relevant anytime soon. It's just basic platform strengthening and...wait, oh there's more.
Next month’s SBS Open at Turtle Bay and Fields Open in Hawaii, the first two official events of the 2007 Tour season staged on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, will be the first events to benefit from this modification. Reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kimberly Kim is from Hawaii.
“We are pleased to offer the SBS Open and Fields Open the opportunity to invite Kimberly Kim in addition to their traditional sponsor exemptions,” said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens. “This is an opportunity to recognize the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Hawaii as well as to promote the pipeline of up-and-coming players.”
Get that? Pipeline. Hawaii. She's good!
My NSA sources forwarded another exclusive, this time another of golf's two commissioners chatting it up via instant message. As with the past exchanges (here, here and here), the insider details are rivetting, I must say.
This time they are chatting right after Bob Hope Chrysler Classic play where high winds, grump players and a sluggish Golf Channel telecast made it all but impossible not to watch the Saints-Bears game. Commissioners...
Bob Harig pieces together an analysis of Tim Finchem's lousy year, and paints him as severely out of touch. But instead of drawing a conclusion about what this means for the PGA Tour and a man making $7 million a year, Harig details the rough year of Carolyn Bivens.
Still, it's a significant piece because a highly visible writer is offering the sharpest mainstream media criticism of the Commissioner's handling of the Western Open, drug testing and the FedEx Cup.
Readers here know that this story has been festering, but so far the major publications have not delved into the various misfires and other excessive spending in Ponte Vedra. If they want to attack what seems to be an enormous story, they also might want to consider the demise of the TPC "brand" under Finchem's watch, the Champions Tour decline, the...well, you get the idea.
It should be interesting to see if other writers pick up on the same theme as Harig, or perhaps take things a step further and suggest a change at the top.
The total prize money on the LPGA Tour this year was about $54 million. Total prize money on the PGA Tour was $260 million.
The PGA Tour will get about $1 billion from its six-year contract with the television networks next year, along with a 15-year deal with The Golf Channel to broadcast weekday rounds. The LPGA Tour has to buy most of its television time, and some tournaments could not be found anywhere on TV.
There were a record 11 millionaires on the LPGA Tour this year. The PGA Tour had 93.
And the list goes on.
What was that I wrote about Bivens being the better commissioner? And now this interview with Golfweek's Beth Ann Baldry. It's as if Baldry startled her in the night...
In regards to drug testing, do you feel like you put pressure on PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem (by announcing the LPGA would become the first tour to have a drug-testing program)?KInd of makes you long for that wordy, meaningless, empty spin. Okay, now it just gets weird.
Tim Finchem has a whole different set of issues that he's dealing with. We did what's right for us.
Would you like to see the PGA Tour follow (the LPGA's lead)?
I don't care if the PGA Tour follows. My concern is the LPGA.
The LPGA has hired Shirley Shin to help Asian players study transcripts to better their English skills.
We've also had Shirley walking the pro-ams with the South Korean players. (She is teaching) conversational English. How do you help an amateur player line up a putt?
How do you listen to the associate vice president from ShopRite tell a boring hole-by-hole story? How do act like you actually care that your team might crack the top ten in the pro-am? Oh sorry...
It's functional English if you will. ...
A subject Bivens knows something about: speaking functional English. Barely.
I think we've heightened the sensitivity that we are an international tour, and when we're here in this country everyone that plays on this tour ought to have a command of the English language. ... You've got some cultural barriers there, parents who for the most part think any hour that's not spent practicing is a wasted hour. You've also got the cultural pressure, particularly the Asian pressure, that if you don't do something really well, then you don't do it.
Hey, you got love her honesty. Uh, the Asian pressure. Is that like, The Google?
How do you bring the average fan on board when the leaderboard is dominated by Koreans?
The English is part of it. We just got some great research from the Bonham Group back called the Barrier Study.
Oh no, it's got a name. The Barrier Study. A satirists dream come true.
One of the reasons very avid sports fans or very avid golf fans don't make the transition to the LPGA is when they watch the television coverage, they don't know enough about the women that they're watching. When we watch the PGA (Tour), we know just about everything there is to know about Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, their childhood, who they are married to, everything about them. ...
Well, I don't know if we know everything about Phil! And we still haven't seen all five bathrooms of Privacy.
It's especially true for the Asian players; the media tends to talk about them monolithically. Paula (Creamer) is as different from Natalie (Gulbis) as any other player. It's building those personalities and letting people know.
Monolithically? They didn't teach me how to use that word at Pepperdine.
How about making the cut 60 and ties (instead of 70) or limiting the fields to 120?
There are a number of issues overall, I would consider them very seminal issues, that the LPGA needs to address in the next couple years. The size of fields. As we play better and better golf courses it gets more difficult to get 140 women around them.
Interesting. The better the course, the slower the round? Hmmm...no, the hillier, longer and more spread out by housing developments, the longer it takes. Nice try though!
In regards to ShopRite, people keep telling me the other side of the story isn't being reported. What is your side?
I think that what has gotten missed is that we tried to contact the Harrisons (tournament owners Larry and Ruth) repeatedly. We had met with every tournament owner before we got to their tournament except the Harrisons. The Harrisons are difficult to deal with under the best of circumstances. By the way, the ShopRite people had nothing to do with this and they really don't like their name being brought into this. ... There's two messages that have gotten out in some cases and we just plain haven't been able to reel back in. One is that we were very capricious and the (ShopRite) date went to the highest bidder. No. 2 is that we just don't care about long-term sponsors. Again, not the case.
Capricious. Uh, according to answers.com: Characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable. That could never describe our Carolyn!
There's been a lot written about your husband's (frequent) presence in the media room. How should people interpret his presence.
I travel 40-45 weeks a year. We ripped our lives from Los Angeles, where he was close to his kids and where he had a life, to come here and do this. This is not my first marriage. If you look at the last few commissioners, it's not a good track record. I don't intend to be subject to that again. Bill has nothing to do with running the tour. He does enjoy the players and the caddies.
Enjoys the players and the caddies. Eh, that might not have been the best way to put that.
Do you ever feel like, as a woman, you have to come across a little bit tougher to prove yourself?
I actually try to do the opposite because when I say 'No, I don't think that's the best way to do things,' it comes across very differently than when a man says the same thing. I try to stay back at least until I've worked with people or developed a relationship that's strong enough to maybe come straight ahead at it. (NBA commissioner) David Stern is one of my role models. I look at some of the things that David has been through this past year and he's reported as being very decisive, very pragmatic, doing exactly what has to be done.
Yes, he's been through a lot. Cashing that $10 million paycheck can be such a burden.
I'm reported as being take-it-or-leave-it, arrogant. It's different words that are describing the same behavior. (Whether it's with) television, production media, tournament owners, sponsors, I don't want to say that I'm coming across as softer, but I'm trying very hard to make sure (it's known) the reputation I'm being tattooed with isn't the way we operate.
Well, this interview ought to really help!
I haven't been able to bring myself to wondering out loud if Carolyn Bivens is actually doing a better job than Tim Finchem. But you have to give her credit for saying fewer stupid things lately, pushing the innovative ADT Championship (well...not sure how much this was her idea) and most of all, initiating a drug testing program while the PGA Tour stumbles all over itself.
But is this really a statement about Bivens and the great job she is doing, or just how out of touch Finchem has become?
I'm thinking the latter, and Joe Logan agrees in his column today.
But with commissioner Carolyn Bivens proclaiming she wants the LPGA to be "proactive" even though she sees no evidence of a problem, it makes Finchem look, well, asleep at the wheel.
It makes you wonder what the player directors must be thinking after re-upping Finchem for four years and $7 million a year.
Or did those player directors actually renew his deal?
Alan Shipnuck pens a brief look at the year and probably earned himself a case of PGA Tour wine for this incredibly kind nod to the Commissioner:
It's more fun being a piñata than commissioner. Both Tim Finchem and Carolyn Bivens have had brutal years, taking flak from disgruntled players, mystified reporters and angry sponsors. On the bright side, you can chalk a lot of this up to growing pains that are the result of a former boutique sport straining to carve out a bigger place in the sports firmament. Both tours are positioned for big years in '07, though.
For those of you in the business world, here's a bit of advice from Carolyn Bivens, talking to the Sun-Sentinel's Randell Mell:
"To be successful, you have to figure out how to maximize the product when it is at its strongest and most competitive,'' Bivens said.
Translation: we need to new screw up this opportunity.
I know I ask this all the time, but does this kind of tortured MBAspeak talk actually impress anyone?
You don't need to get me a Christmas gift, just more press conferences with the Commissioners. Here's Ms. Bivens speaking at the ADT Championship, played at Trump International...
CAROLYN BIVENS: Thanks, Paul. Good morning. As Paul said, this is a very special week for us. I want to start it off by seeing some folks in the back of the room that need to be thanked. I want to thank the ADT people for making this possible. Thank you. All right. I know that you are looking forward to a fantastic tournament and so are we.Actually, that was Tim Finchem pulling the plug because he heard you were announcing a drug testing program.
The ADT Championship is the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning by a lot of people. And I think we just lost electricity. I wasn't so much worried about the lights I was worried about the air conditioning. (Laughter.)
It's been a remarkable season on the LPGA Tour and these girls have really rocked out on the field.Remember, I merely copy and paste this stuff.
Cultural icon and inspiration to the entire nation of Mexico, Lorena Ochoa ended the Webb Sorenstam stranglehold of the Rolex Player of the Year honors by securing the title on Sunday.Cultural icon?
All of these dramatic finishes, and incredible performances have translated to more fans watching the LPGA and its stars than ever before.Nice touch repeating that. Really strong on the emphasis. Gosh she's good.
Our cable viewership is up 59 percent from 2005. Let me say that one more time, 59 percent from 2005.
So you combine the financial gains with our increases in popularity, the LPGA.com traffic, attendance numbers and television viewership, and it's easy to see that the LPGA has made incredible strides and we're all celebrating those successes. I'm very proud of what has been accomplished by the members of the staff of the LPGA year over year. The road wasn't without some bumps. That's one way to characterize them, along the way. But we came into this knowing that change wasn't easy. So we kept our eyes straight ahead, and we kept our direction.Work those metaphors!
But the LPGA senior staff and I have spent a great majority of the last two months working into 2008, 2009 and 2010. What we will be in three years is not what we were last season. And not what we're going to look like this time next year. But that's the point. We have to continue to evolve.Talk about a rally killer!
To that end, I want to announce that with the beginning of the 2008 season, the LPGA will institute a drug testing policy for participants in the LPGA Tour.
Over the next year we'll work to establish the LPGA's policy with the National Center for Drug Free Sport. This is going to be an aim to implement the program at the beginning of the season in 2008.Oooo...a partnership. Not only is she doing testing, but joining up with a fully branded feel good organization. Take that Tim!
We have the most talented and marketable trend setting group of athletes that a sport could ask for. And we're providing value for the rest of the world, and we're beginning to benefit from a product that's turning in a great return on investment and the best is yet to come.Wow, not a single paragraph of MBAspeak and then that. She was doing so well too!
I want to thank you for your time and attention, and I'm going to turn the podium over to Zayra, and then we are going to go to Chris for the 2007 schedule. Zayra, CEO, Duramed Futures Tour.Not really.
ZAYRA CALDERON: I don't have to adjust the mic. I think I'm about an inch taller than Carolyn, that's about it.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for the opportunity. Have you thought about what happened to that All American collegiate player before you saw her again after college who played on the LPGA? Where was she?
I have the answer of course. She was playing one or two seasons maybe even three on the Duramed Futures Tour, getting ready to win, getting ready to kick in the door of the LPGA. Our mission has remained the same for over 25 years, to provide the best professional women golfers from around the world, the optimum environment to get ready to move on for a career on the LPGA.That's great. Time to hit the fast forward button.
The strategic plan basically aims at aligning the Duramed Futures Tour, in all aspects of our business, with the LPGA.Hmmmm...what's it going to be? A move to bigger markets? Maybe a fourball event with LPGAers and Futures players?
We realize that we must have shared values and objectives so that we can make the transition for our players onto the LPGA seem less. We also realize that collaborating with one another will only reinforce our position in professional women's golf and it will help both organizations increase our market share. We want more fans. We want more tournaments. We want more sponsors. We want more money and together we can do that better. Aligning with the LPGA will also allow the two organizations to capitalize on the synergies that are obvious to both organizations. So we have a plan that begins 2007.
We will embark on the National Branding Campaign.Nice touch putting it in caps. Okay, time for Chris Higgs to talk about the schedule...
We will see the debut of three previously announced tournaments. The NW Arkansas LPGA Classic, the Navistar LPGA Classic, and the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam.Jeese I know the gals are hitting it a long way, but wedges and putters into the Road green? Maybe that drug testing needs to start sooner.
Women's professional golf will enjoy a history making stop at St. Andrews when the Weetabix Women's British Open is held on the old course.
As many of you will recall, this was announced at the inaugural World Congress of Women's golf. And since that time, this day and this event has been eagerly anticipated by all of the players, the fans and the media. I think all eyes will be on those who have seen the history of the old course and wondering what will they do on the Road Hole. Will they make the failed mistake and use the wedge when they should have used the putter?
PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you, Chris. I would like to welcome back Commissioner Bivens to the podium for any questions you might have for her or any of our speakers.Oh boy, starting to get a little fragmented here. Is that air conditioning on?
Q. Carolyn, what's your biggest achievement you think this your first full year and biggest regret, if there is one thing you can change? Is the ShopRite (LPGA Classic) still a possibility for that May 17th through 20th?
CAROLYN BIVENS: No, the ShopRite (LPGA Classic) is not a possibility for May 17th.
The biggest accomplishment? The biggest accomplishment is that we put a really good foundation on top of this great organization to be able to conduct business as business going forward. It wasn't easy. And as I said earlier, the road wasn't always smooth. But we now are positioned to being able to do business with title sponsors existing as well as new. So we made some major moves there.
I think you will begin to see some of the things that the staff, and the board of directors, particularly the Executive Committee. Heather, the out going president of the Executive Committee and member of the board of directors. Heather and the Executive Committee have been terrific this year.
One of our goals that I feel very good about is we opened things up in every one of the player meetings. What we've tried to do, this is a member owned association. We want the members to understand more about this business that they own. I talk about them as being our shareholders. So where the money comes from, how it's made, where it goes, what are the priorities, all players, but beginning with the Executive Committee but with the help of the staff we made great progress in that this year. I feel terrific about that.Nice, a little family values touch there.
What do I regret? I regret having to call my mom and dad so many times and say don't open the newspaper today, you're not going to like it. (Laughter). And I'm going to leave it there.
As you all know, I come from a business background. We do a lot of scenario planning going forward. I'm used to that. We also do a lot of critiquing. After every event that I've been part of in my career, part of the process is to sit down soon after and look back and say, what could you have done differently? If you knew then what you knew now, what would you do differently? And I have yet to participate in anything that was perfect, or anything that I wouldn't have done differently based on the learning that I got going through it. And I put this year under that heading as well.Based on the learning that I got going through it? Hmmm...looks like someone needs to ask if maybe skipping English 101 wasn't such a hot idea.
Q. Carolyn, I want to ask you, there were issues with the Tournament Owners Association, I know you met with them Monday or Tuesday earlier this week, and there were issues over sanctioning fees. If I look at this right, outside of the four tournaments that you lost, it would appear that everybody renewed, so there must have been some resolution with the sanctioning fees. Can you address the sanctioning fee issue and how that was resolved?
CAROLYN BIVENS: The sanctioning fee was actually resolved back in January, you wouldn't have necessarily known it from the media reports.I think that was a zinger!
Q. How fitting is it that the first million dollar paycheck is on Donald Trump's course?CAROLYN BIVENS: It makes it a lot more fun, doesn't it?
Oh it does, especially if one of the inmates at the nearby prison can be heard heckling a player coming down the stretch.
I don't know if you were out there. We got buzzed by the Donald Trump's airplane. Donald has been terrific for the LPGA. He has been a long time supporter. He is very supportive of women overall, and we're very appreciative of the support that he's given to the LPGA.
Yes he is a supporter of women. Ivana, Marla and...right.
Q. How badly do you want the final putt on 18 to be for a million bucks?
CAROLYN BIVENS: How bad do I want the final putt? I'd love to see a playoff.
You go!
Craig Dolch talks to Carolyn Bivens about her eventful year and she offers a few keepers...
"We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and be certain it's not an oncoming train," Bivens said during a phone conversation last week. "A few months ago, we weren't so sure."Nice metaphor usage, I give it 6 on the Finchem scale. No, make it an 8 for the first show of humility by the Commissioner.
"The way we operated before isn't going to get us where we want to go," Bivens said. "A lot of major, successful companies are finding out their business models are no longer working. The LPGA was in the same situation the PGA Tour was 20 years ago and the NBA was 10 years ago - we have a good slate of stars, and we have a chance to maximize our product and turn it into a business. That's never easy."
Eh, not very fresh, make that a 5.
"Some of the media and our partners tried to make this year about me, but it really wasn't about me," Bivens said. "I hope our partners, supporters and detractors understand we're not being capricious or arrogant or cocky in what we do. What we are is confident.
"I hope when people look back on this year, they will say it was a major turning point for us."
Capricious gives that a 7.
Meanwhile Adam Shupak at Golfweek analyzes the 2007 schedule, which produces this discussion of Bivens' uh, confidence.
"We agree with what she's trying to do to change the business model of the LPGA," says TOA chairman Jack Benjamin. "It's the tactics that we are concerned about."
Counters Bivens: "We're trying to operate more as a 2006 business, which means we operate with signed contracts. That's the way title sponsors like to operate. Frankly, that's the way most businesses operate."
My NSA sources have been tied up with the elections and all, but they did forward this IM exchange between Commissioner Tim Finchem and Carolyn Bivens yesterday. Previous exchanges between these two can be read here and here.
Maybe I've gotten so used to tap-dancing in press releases, but it seems like this on announcing the end of the LPGA's ShopRite event (background here and here) is unusually blunt but informative:
Northfield, NJ -- The Atlantic City LPG Benefit Association today announced that it has been forced to cease operation of the ShopRite LPGA Classic, one of the longest-running events on the LPGA Tour. Tournament chairman Larry Harrison issued the following statement:
“It is with great sadness and profound regret that we take this step to discontinue the tournament, however, we were left with no choice but to do so. In July, the LPGA commissioner notified us that they were awarding our date on the Tour schedule to another tournament despite a commitment from the previous Tour leadership that our date would remain intact through at least 2008. Since that time, we have attempted to negotiate a workable date and a new contract with the LPGA, to no avail.“In effect, there has been no true negotiation with the Tour, and no direct communication with the Tour commissioner or her staff throughout this process. Rather, the Tour, through its outside legal counsel, has simply offered a few undesirable and/or unworkable dates, of which only one was even remotely acceptable.
“As a result, despite a 21-year record of enormous success, a total outlay of more than $16 million in purses to LPGA players, and charitable donations totaling more than $12 million to scores of worthy non-profit organizations, we find ourselves in a position whereby it is no longer feasible for us to continue with this event.
“During the period of time when we were working to resolve the scheduling issues, we also attempted to negotiate a new contract with the LPGA, contingent upon reaching an agreement on a new date. Again, there was no meaningful negotiation, only a ‘take it or leave it’ proposition on the part of the LPGA. To make matters worse, the LPGA imposed unrealistic deadlines for execution of the agreement and showed no willingness to try to resolve issues surrounding the contract, all of which would have made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to succeed going forward. In the end, and mindful of the best interests of our beneficiaries, we could not proceed with the unfavorable terms put forth by the LPGA.
“The untenable circumstance we are confronted with was created by the leadership of the Tour, their decision to rescind our date and their unwillingness to negotiate in good faith on an alternative date and a contract.
“This is an outcome that we desperately hoped could be avoided, but, in the final analysis, it was made necessary by the decisions and actions on the part of the LPGA leadership.
“We remain deeply proud of the significant contribution we have made to the growth, success and stability of the LPGA Tour over the past 21 years, and the sizable impact we have had on so many worthy non-profit organizations. It is truly sad and unfortunate that our region has lost a high profile, world class sporting event, and that these charities will no longer be able to count on our funding.”
I'd make a joke, but this is so pathetic that there is nothing to say.
Well, actually, reader Tom, who sent this in, did point out that this, coupled with the demise of the HSBC Women's World Match Play (played at Hamilton Farm in NJ and the Sybase Classic at Wykagyl, means that under The Brand Lady's watch, the LPGA has gone from three significant events in the world's largest media market to maybe, just maybe one if the match play sticks around.
The LPGA responds:
In a tersely worded statement Wednesday night, the LPGA challenged the accuracy of Harrison's version of events and hinted at legal action. "Harrison's statement is full of falsehoods and incorrect accounts," the LPGA statement said. "We've directed our legal counsel to contact Mr. Harrison's attorney and have him rescind the statement."
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
