Everything Craig Kessler Said in Player Memo About Last Week's TOC Drama

Shortly after the drama at Lake Nona unfolded, the LPGA's commissioner, Craig Kessler, issued a memo to players addressing how the event ended.

In the memo obtained and posted by GOLF.com, Kessler writes, "I said that trust would be our highest priority with all of you, partners, fans, staff and media. This weekend at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, that trust was tested."

After the dust had settled a bit, I offered up my two cents on the matter mentioning Kessler's main pillars that outline his vision for the Tour, and how I felt like two of those pillars were not upheld. And it appears that Kessler was on the same page per his opening statement in the letter.

It was strange, and frankly disappointing to not hear from Tour leadership to further clarify their decision to shorten the event, and this is the attempt to remedy that silence.

The commissioner made it clear that it was his decision to limit the event due to "worry about athlete injury", and that he could have used other ways to manage the situation. Kessler continued with saying, "I recognize this decision, and others we made in real time, were confusing and disappointed to our fans. And our communication around the decision wasn't clear or timely enough. Your frustration is valid—I own that and I'm sorry."

He then outlines two main points of improvement in: (1) establishing clearer principles for play decisions in challenging situations, including strengthening weekly contingency planning and (2) communicating faster, more clearly, and with better real-time information.

This is more like it.

Accountability was taken and issues were addressed, not publicly, but a commissioner expressing himself to the athletes he's representing is important, and a huge way for the Tour to move forward after this little misstep.

And yes, I will call it that because the further we get from the situation, the more we should realize that mistakes in this game happen all the time. Kessler and his team are going to mess up, and will do so a whole lot more. It's these kind of learning opportunities along with a heavy dose of risk that go hand-in-hand with making meaningful changes toward earned successes. He's learning his role and there should be grace extended to him as he continues to find his footing.

Kessler's memo concluded with, "This is a special Tour with an incredible future ahead. We won't be perfect, but we will be accountable learn quickly and keep earning your trust."