As Craig Kessler Looks to Usher in New Era, Former LPGA Commissioners Weigh in

After nearly six months of searching and deliberating, the LPGA finally announcement Craig Kessler as its next leader. Kessler joins the tour from the PGA of America, where he was the COO, overseeing all operations of the organization, including its non-profit foundation. He also previously served as the COO at Topgolf from 2016-21, helping scale the company’s blend of sports, entertainment and technology.

Though Kessler doesn't begin the new gig as commish until July 15, he's already beginning to lay the ground work for what he hopes is a new era for the LPGA, not just a a tour but as an organization—and for him it's about hitting the ground running.

In an online presser hosted by the LPGA and Kessler, he explained why he feels he needs to come running right out of the gate.

"There really isn't time to go on a 100-day listening tour," Kessler said. "We have to come out of the blocks strong, and because of the several-month-long process I've been through, a lot of those patterns that have emerged will lead us down a path, and that path links back to the pillars described earlier...I'm going to say them again: It's building trust, building visibility, building fans, and building a solid financial foundation, and everything we do is going to link back to those four things."

RELATED: The LPGA Announces Craig Kessler as New Commissioner

Courtesy of the LPGA

From what we can tell already, Kessler has his own agenda about how he plans on running this ship, but what words of wisdom do his predecessors have for the 39 year old?

I spoke with the most recent commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who stepped down from her post in January of this year, about her time as the organization head and if she had any parting thoughts to leave with interim commissioner Liz Moore and the eventual new commissioner.

Marcoux Samaan, was adamant that one of the tour's biggest pain points lies in its data collection and tech.

"I think tech is a real growth area," Marcoux Samaan said. "We launched a new website in the fourth quarter of 2024 which allows us to really have better communication with our fans, to have single user sign on, to know how our fans are engaging in our content, to be able to see who our fans are and what they are interested in, and that's something that we're really going to build on in the future."

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She continued to outline how the tour should look to data and tech to be a leverage point in communicating with fans and partners.

"I think the LPGA needs to continue to grow its data," Marcoux Samaan said. 'Data is really important in this professional sports world these days, making sure that you know who your fans are, how you communicate with them, how you get them to be a part of your whole organization.

So that's something that I know that Liz will do and the whole marketing, comms, and content teams will be out there pushing to continue to bring more people underneath our tent. I think we are behind from a tech standpoint, and so continuing to focus on developing our sports tech, but also business tech and marketing tech across the board."

RELATED: The Mollie Marcoux Samaan Exit Interview

While the conversation with Marcoux Samaan focused on aspects of the job that need massaging, Mike Whan, former LPGA commissioner and the now CEO of the USGA, spoke about the comparisons that have been made between himself and Kessler.

"I thought I was a young Mike Whan. I don't really like that quote," Whan, 60, joked during his presser at the U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills.

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So far, the comparisons being made between Whan are Kessler are centered around their communication and leadership styles. Whan was very vocal and straight-shooting with everyone, from the players to media. And from the few interactions folks have seen from Kessler, they feel as though they share those qualities.

It was all in good fun, Whan and the press, and he elaborated on his advice for the incoming 10th commissioner. "Yeah, I'm excited for the LPGA. I'm excited for Craig. It's a great job. It's a great organization, and there's great people. But what I really liked about Craig is, listen, I had my share of candidates that would call me. I felt like halfway in the call, they probably called me to say, of course I talked to Mike Whan. But Craig did not call me with those things. He talked to me with tough questions, tough concerns."

Whan went on to explain that a lot of Kessler's concerns extended beyond golf, he's a dad and a family man, this decision would also impact his wife and children.

"What I said to Craig is your kids are watching you and if you attack this job because it means something to you, if you can make a real difference in the lives of these women on Tour and these professional coaches, you're going to get more back than they are," Whan said."

"So I just told him, don't ever lose that because every woman on this Tour can relate to that. They're here all the time, always traveling, but when they're home they wish they could be out here.

That rub that you're going to always feel will make you a better commissioner because they respect that. They understand sometimes saying I've got to go because my son is in high school football game. I'm really excited. I'm excited for the LPGA, and I'm really excited for Craig because I think he's doing this for all the right reasons."