How The LPGA Can Right Its Wrongs

A big part of me was hoping that a good night's sleep would help bring some clarity to what transpired on Sunday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions—but alas—I, like so many of you, still have questions about how we got here.

And in case you missed it—here's a recap of what happened on Sunday afternoon in under three minutes.

The TOC field is an elite one, with the best of the best competing on the tricky test that is Lake Nona. Throw in the celebrity element, and this was meant to be an easy lay up for the Tour and its new commissioner Craig Kessler. And yet, it has turned into anything but easy.

Sure, the weather taking an unexpected turn was an unfortunate luck of the draw—but there's been a disappointing lack of communication from the Tour to expand on why the decision to not play was made.

Had the celebrities also been kept off the course, that at least would be a little less damning, but having comments from Annika Sorenstam no less, say that conditions were "very playable" is another bad look.

As you can imagine, the social media reactions have been ruthless. The LPGA has found themselves in a PR nightmare, when this event really deserved a fairytale ending (yes, that was my attempt to make a pun about the tournament's next door neighbor Disney World). Nelly Korda played lights out golf on Saturday, and she had some serious names chasing her down in Amy Yang, Brooke Henderson, and Lydia Ko—and all of which deserved to play—and for fans to see them play.

Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols cited similar feelings she had during the Solheim Cup bus debacle.

I reached out to the LPGA to get clarity around the decision, and was sent the statement they issued across their channels, and the last sentence, "we take responsibility for continuing to learn from moments like this so we can be even better going forward", has my attention.

After sitting with this, and reading through other takes, I think the real root of the issue isn't shortening the event, but the way the Tour went about communicating as such.

Two of Kessler's four main pillars weren't upheld at TOC: (1) trust with fans, players, tournaments and sponsors, (2) visibility for both players and the LPGA brand.

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The fans, both on site and watching home, were confused by what went down. It's difficult to ask for more eye balls and then offer zero solution that included allowing your fans to see your product. And the attention they've been getting from this isn't the kind they're wanting.

The Tour messed up, and somebody, ideally the commissioner, should come out and say that. The only spokesperson we've heard from was Ricki Lasky, the LPGA's Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer, who joined Grant Boone in the broadcast booth to explain the day’s developments.

(Editor's note: Craig Kessler sent out a memo to players addressing his decision to shorten the event to 54 holes. Read the story here.)

Lasky said that when speaking with players before the original 10 a.m. scheduled start on Sunday, the athletes reported that the ground was really hard and it was changing the trajectory of their shots as they were practicing. "The balls were releasing when they weren't supposed to be, so we pushed back." She also said to Boone that the Tour tried to figure out a way to play 72 holes, saying, "We certainly did everything we could."

Even if they were to lay out every scenario they ran through, the damage has been done and the path forward is for the LPGA to own this one and look ahead to the rest of the season. Correct the communication piece and be vocal to players, media, partners, and fans—that's really it.

This won't break the LPGA, but this isn't the kind of start they were hoping to make.

Nelly Korda's 16th career win doesn't deserve to be overshadowed in this way, but it's important to see this situation for what it is, and hope that everyone involved just does better, and faster.

Let's all take a breath, and look ahead to Thailand in a couple of weeks.

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*This page was first published on February 2, 2026. Last updated February 3, 2026.