NAPLES, Fla. – It’s difficult to imagine a better year inside the ropes for the LPGA than what’s transpired so far in 2024. Nelly Korda’s remarkable seven wins combined with Lydia Ko’s self-described fairy-tale season – that put her into the LPGA Hall of Fame – provided the ultimate one-two punch for generating interest.
And yet, many observers in and around the game question whether or not the LPGA has been able to capitalize on the moment, especially given what’s going on in the greater landscape of women’s sports.
Is LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan delivering enough wins for the tour?
Terry Duffy, one of the biggest supporters of the women’s game, didn’t hestitate to give her high marks. The CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer recently signed a two-year extension with the tour, taking the partnership for the year-long points race and season-ending event through 2027. After Duffy and Marcoux Samaan hit a rocky patch two years ago at this event, it’s been smooth sailing since, with CME continuing to raise the bar in the women’s game.
As Duffy gets set to hand out an historic $4 million winner’s check at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, he sat down with Golfweek to discuss the state of the tour and Marcoux Samaan’s job performance.
What follows are excerpts from that conversation:
We’re a little over three years into Mollie’s tenure. How would you assess the direction of the tour and how it’s going?
I don’t know how you could not give A++ to where the tour is at today under her leadership. I run markets. I don’t care if you’re running a business at a hardware store or an exchange or professional golf, there’s ebbs and flows to everything in life and everything in business. What you ultimately want to make sure is you understand there’s ebbs and flows but ultimately up and to the right is really good. It’s a progression in business. If you’re worth more today than you were 10 years ago or three years ago, you’re doing the right things. ….
When I look at Mollie Marcoux Samaan, I think, and listen nobody pays me to say s***, you need to put that in there, I say what I want. And I look at my company and where we’re at, this is Friday afternoon. I assure you that three years ago, Friday afternoon, this was not like this, an eighth of the people were here. This was a Sunday [crowd] three years ago. That’s progress for me. …
I signed that deal because of Mollie…
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