"The two tours can even do co-ed events. Golf needs to think outside the box on things like this, find new ways to market itself."

A few stories on the official resignation of Carolyn Bivens and the naming of Marsha Evans as interim LPGA chief, starting with Ron Sirak who writes about Evans and the search for a Bivens replacement:

In 2005 she stepped down as CEO of the American Red Cross after a battle with the board of governors over what it called her "command-and-control" management style, according to the Washington Post. A search committee comprised of board members Leslie Gries, Juli Inkster, Helen Alfredsson and Bill Morton will work with the search firm Spencer Stuart to find a full-time replacement.

This little buried item was interesting:

Among the ideas being kicked around by some players is taking on a business partner with deep pockets to manage the LPGA, such as the PGA Tour. The two tours could coordinate schedules and have LPGA events end at 3 p.m. on Sunday, for example, before the PGA Tour television coverage begins. Or the LPGA could end on Saturday -- marketing it as Championship Saturday.

"It's a no-brainer," one agent said. "The two tours can even do co-ed events. Golf needs to think outside the box on things like this, find new ways to market itself."

Michael Buteau also looks at Evans and her past while Gene Yasuda notes that LPGA board member Dawn Hudson spent most of the announcement praising Carolyn Bivens and explains where the tour goes from here. There was also this item lost in much of the day's coverage:

It appointed Annika Sorenstam as advisor to the LPGA Board of Directors, and promoted Zayra Calderon, the tour’s senior vice president of worldwide sales, to executive vice president, tournament development and worldwide sales. Known as an engaging relationship-builder, Calderon will oversee all tournament business affairs and is charged with, arguably, the tour’s top priority: Working with tournament owners and title sponsors to secure renewals, and landing new business partners.

And finally, an unbylined AP story features this quote from Juli Inkster:

"Carolyn did a lot of great things. She tried to stand up for the LPGA, which no one has done in a long time,'' said Juli Inkster, a tour veteran and member of the board. "I just think her delivery on the whole thing was not the best.''

Rear Admiral's Reign Off To A Rip-Roaring Start

Let's review.

- The LPGA sends out an announcement and then amends it to remind everyone that it is embargoed. The announcement release says that a 1 p.m. EST press conference will be held on the Golf Channel. But since it's embargoed, no one can write even a Tweet or blog post suggesting LPGA fans could tune in to The Golf Channel to find out what the event is about.

- The LPGA allows no media (other than Golf Channel) present at this "announcement" to ask questions. We did have Christina Kim present and Annika Sorenstam on a phone line that died almost as soon as she started talking.

- Carolyn Bivens is present at the announcement of her resignation and is shown on television, but she does not speak. Cynics will presume that her presence indicates she received a substantial buyout. And why will cynics presume this?

- Marsha Evans is named the interim commissioner. A Bivens selected board member, Evans is a specialist in bouncing around boards and other executive jobs. She was on the Lehman Brothers board and we know how that turned out. She received a $780,000 buyout after resigning as head of the Red Cross just days before a likely humiliating Hurricane Katrina congressional hearing.

- She's got a husband and he likes golf! Marty DeVine in an extensive profile detailing her career, her campaigning for McCain/Palin and other information, includes this: "Nonprofits have tapped her talents as well and she serves on the boards of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, which raises money to support education of midshipmen beyond what the federal budget provides, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association. An avid golfer, her husband Jerry particularly enjoys the LPGA board meetings in prime golfing sites."

- The in-studio analysis job from Kelly Tilghman, Laura Baugh and Charlie Rymer with most of the conversation sounding like an LPGA infomercial and Baugh seeming to imply that the non-English speaking players were part of the Bivens downfall. Oy.

- But hey, Bivens is gone and that's a start. But with all but one Board member not appointed during her tenure, it's hard to imagine this amounting to a sea change for the organization.

Marsha: They want you as a new recruit!

Anne Szeker reports that retired Navy rear admiral Marsha Evans has been named interim LPGA Commissioner after Carolyn Bivens officially resigned.

Update on 2009-07-13 16:37 by Geoff

Following up on the golf.com post, I just received an embargoed press release that does not actually contain details of the LPGA announcement, but instead, shares details of a forthcoming live televised press conference announcing the changes.

Because the release was embargoed until 1 p.m. EST, I can't tell you the network name or the time. I'm sure the network in question will appreciate the LPGA's determination to make sure no one sees this press conference!

"We don't doctor rough."

Lawrence Donegan reports on Tiger's first practice round at Turnberry and files this observation about the setup:

That is exactly how it should be at the Open, and exactly what many expected of Turnberry, a terrific golf course whose absence from the championship rota for 15 years seems bizarre. The weather off the Irish Sea has the potential to wreak havoc but on the evidence of a blustery, occasionally sunny Sunday afternoon, the R&A appears to have produced to stern but sensible test. The fairways are broad, the greens fast (ish) and the rough – which has been talked up by many, Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington among them, as the closest thing to penury this side of San Quentin– is not as ridiculous as had perhaps been feared.

Make no mistake, it is wrist-breaking in places, but those places are a distance from the centre of the fairway – in part because the organisers took the decision three weeks ago to widen the semi-rough. If conditions are hard and bouncy, as they almost certainly will be, that will stop some balls disappearing off into the jungle.
"We have widened the cut sections of rough a little bit on each side. Six yards rather than the usual four and a half yards, which is what we had a little while ago," said Dawson. "It is very nasty off the fairway and off the shorter rough but the fairway and shorter rough is, I think, fairly generous. We don't want to get the reputation that the Open is about hacking out of rough because it isn't about that.

"We don't doctor rough. We take what we get naturally and leave the playing arena at a sensible level. If you spray it outside the playing arena here, it is lost ball; hack-out territory."

"Some of these guys have no idea what they're going to be in for"

Bill Elliott profiles Greg Norman on the eve of his return to Turnberry and talks about the state of his game. There was also this at the end of the piece:

"The return of V-grooves is the greatest move technologically in golf for years. That's gonna teach today's players a huge lesson on the art of understanding a lie, controlling a ball and flight trajectory. Some of these guys have no idea what they're going to be in for," he grinned.

"We're looking for someone for four, five months, three or four months, to just right the ship"

This unbylined AP story quoting Juli Inkster would seem to speak to the urgency of salvaging the 2010 schedule, something we speculated about here to explain the otherwise awful timing of the Bivens ouster.

Inkster said it's important for the board to find the right person to lead the tour into the future. In the short term, the need is immediate.

"Right now, we're in the middle of the season,'' Inkster said. "We're looking for someone for four, five months, three or four months, to just right the ship, get us going in the right direction: straight ahead.''
Inkster said the board plans on taking its time to find a new commissioner.

"Right now, we want to take our time and find the right person for the job,'' she said. "And you can't do that on a whim.''

"I get the chills thinking about it"

Gary D'Amato talks to Jerry Kelly about the killer concept he and Steve Stricker are floating to save the Milwaukee stop. He just won't actually reveal what it is, but he's excited and says Tim Finchem "loved it." And it wasn't his idea?

"I lost a couple of balls on Monday that weren't far off the fairway."

Tom English tells us about Rory McIlroy's big problem these days: the throttle on his new gun metal grey Ferrari F430. And there's Rory's shock at being the third favorite at 25-1 behind Tiger and Sergio. "Bonkers" he calls it.

But he also offers this Turnberry scouting report:

"I saw the golf course in two completely different winds, which is a really good thing. Some holes were playing a lot longer the second day and some were playing a lot shorter. It was really interesting to see how the course can change like that."

A lot of his time was spent gawping at the rough. Some if it is nightmarish, he says. It's like instant death in places. He left there on both days with a very clear thought in his head: be accurate off the tee or prepare for an early exit.

"You have to really, really drive the ball well. The rough being the way it is, the people who drive it well are going to have a chance and the people who don't hit many fairways are going to struggle. With the spring that we've had, we've had quite a lot of rain, but it's also been quite warm so the very bottom of the rough is very lush and very thick and long and it only becomes more wispy the higher up it gets. It can be very difficult to find your ball. I lost a couple of balls on Monday that weren't far off the fairway. There are certain holes where the rough is a lot worse on one side than the other. The ninth for example. You can miss it left all day at the ninth but if you go five yards right of the fairway you'll be doing well to find your ball."