1 regret for former LPGA commissioner? He gave an honest response

Erin, Wis. – Mike Whan, former LPGA Commissioner, was asked around new lpga chief When he interrupted the question.

The reporter had begun her saying that some had considered Craig Kessler “a new friend”.

“I thought I It was a new friend, “Whan Cracked.” I really don’t like that quotation but go ahead. “

As he was talking on Tuesday as General Director of the United States Golf AssociationPOSITION to which he left lpga in 2021. His humor seemed largely optimistic. In two days his organization will host its biggest women’s event of the year, US Women Openhere in Erin HillsAnd it’s somewhat a week in the old home for the WAN. This was clear after the late morning press conference when he and LPGA Star Lydia hugged before dais.

Kessler’s questions were inevitable, then, after Kessler last week was named as successor to Mollie Marcoux Saman, who had replaced the Whan. Initial impression? Well Wan said he has spoken to Kessler, who comes to the LPGA after an attack like the PGA of America’s leading operating officer. Wan said Fred Perpall, the USA president, was a Kessler mentor.

What stood in which was that Kessler was not talking to him just to say he would control “I talked to Mike Whan Box”. His questions, said, were honest.

“He is the father of really young children,” said Wan, “and he asked me how old my children were when I got that job. They were a little older than him. They were young young, and he has high school. I think, I’m the worst father in the world.

“But I promise you, your Kids will be watching you love what you would. Like my kids today we were talk about dad’s caareer, They talc about lpga commisioner i’ve seen my dad so energyinated. I Said to Craig is you are you, and if you are attacked by jab becase it means something, if you can make a real differentiation in thesee on tour and these professional coaches, you are going to get more than they are.

Were there any regrets he would share with Kessler?

The first thought of Wan turned back again Starting the founders’ cup Without a bag – all the money will be charity. “What an excellent idea was, until I really told all the players for him,” Wan said. “But it turned out to be fine, so it was great. But I made a lot of folly folly.”

The WAN also mentioned the LPGA television coverage, or its absence.

“I really believed I could take us a lot more hours of the LPGA network than I was able to take us,” he said. “I’ve said this many times. I don’t know if women’s golf – when someone tells me, why don’t women’s golf play for more money? I would say, well, they generate for a fifth of men’s golf viewing.

“But they also get a tenth of men’s golf network opportunities. I’m not really sure if chickens and eggs. I would like to have two seasons where women are on TV on the network for 37 weeks and see what it looks like, but we never had that opportunity. I have that regret.”

Will things change under Kessler? It is not as if it were not proven, but you can argue that there has never been an interest in women’s sports.

Touching on the topic at his press conference, Kessler said one of his “four pillars” as a commissioner was “visibility”.

For Kessler, that is, “making sure that the incredible stars that the LPGA has leaving it in the weekly course and the week outside are actually visible, and it goes beyond only transmissions.”

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