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LPGA announces new international team competition

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:07:00 GMT

ORLANDO -- The popularity of the Solheim Cup and the interest it spawned in expanding the number of countries involved was the impetus behind the newest LPGA event, the International Crown, that LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan announced Thursday at the PGA Merchandise Show.

The International Crown will be a biennial event, to debut in July of 2014, featuring teams from eight countries, comprised of their top four highest-ranked players from the Rolex Rankings. The first International Crown will be played at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.

The eight countries will be chosen based on the Rolex Rankings of each country's top four players at the conclusion of the 2013 CME Group Titleholders. The four players from each qualifying country, meanwhile, will come from their four highest-ranked players on the Rolex Rankings as of the Monday of the Kraft Nabisco Championship the spring of 2014.

As for the format, the eight teams will be seeded into two brackets, with each team playing the other teams in its bracket in the first three rounds. Two points will be awarded a victory, one for a halve and none for a loss. They will cut to five teams for Sunday singles.

Whan said that he kept hearing how the Solheim Cup ought to be expanded, given the international flavor of the LPGA, but ultimately decided "you don't mess with the event." Thus an idea previously floated as the Continental Crown began to take shape, culminating with the announcement on Thursday.

It should prove a popular idea among players from countries that are not part of the Solheim Cup, including Taiwan, home of the No. 1-ranked player in the world, Yani Tseng.

"Every time I watched the Solheim Cup I always wished I was there," she said.

The international Cup will have a purse of $1.6 million, with $100,000 going to each of the four members of the winning team.

The second International Crown, in 2016, will be plyed at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., site of the 2009 Solheim Cup.

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Sirak: LPGA pays tribute to a fallen friend

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:50:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

NAPLES, FLA. - In a moving tribute to head LPGA rules official Doug Brecht, who died last month at the age of 62 after a several month battle with West Nile Virus, the tour placed a golf cart on No. 17 at Twin Eagles, site of the season-ending CME Group Titleholders, as a reminder of the man who policed the game for 22 years.

The tribute is to a lasting memory of Doug for the Brecht family. LPGA commissioner Mike Whan explained the tribute in this email to LPGA players.

AP Photo

"LPGA Titleholder Players,

As I explained in Korea, our plan for remembering Doug Brecht this week is very unique, and very consistent with 'how Doug would want it'.

On Friday and Saturday, just after you walk over the bridge on the par 3, 17th hole -- you will see a red golf cart (Oklahoma Red to be precise). The sign on the front of the cart will say "LPGA Rules Official -- Doug Brecht". You notice the OU sticker and Chicago Cubs sticker on the side of the cart, as well. :))

We would invite you to take a quick seat in "Doug's cart" and/or say a little prayer to our teammate, as you pass. Also there will be a silver and black Sharpie on the steering wheel. We hope you and your caddie can/will sign the cart (anywhere you want -- sides, on the seats, tires -- whatever).

After Sunday's round we will take the cart to LPGA Headquarters in Daytona, where other staff members will sign as well. Then, we'll give the cart to Steph Brecht (as our gift to her).

As Steph told me, there is nothing Doug enjoyed more than chatting with players, caddies, and fans in his cart. As you head to the 17th green, if you are feeling like a quick chat with Doug, or want to sign a little note to him -- please do so. If not, no worries -- we simply wanted to make it easy to do. Best of luck to all of you this week."

Mike

Steph Brecht is Doug's wife and Oklahoma University is where he played college golf. Oklahoma is also where the Brechts live. On a personal note, I can say my most memorable chats with Doug all took place sitting in his cart.

The tour was in Asia when Doug died, and the CME Group Titleholders was the first opportunity in the United States for the LPGA to memorialize Brecht. I'm happy to say one of the names on that cart that will go to Steph is mine. Goodbye Doug, I'll keep writing about improving pace-of-play, my friend.

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Pete Bevacqua named PGA of America CEO

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:04:00 GMT

By John Strege

The PGA of America's search for a successor to retiring chief executive Joe Steranka has culminated with the appointment of former USGA executive Pete Bevacqua.

It seemed a natural fit for an organization involved in both the business of golf and operating championship events. Bevacqua was the director of the U.S. Open for the USGA before becoming that organization's first chief business officer in 2007.

Steranka announced in April that he would retire at the end of the year, his seventh at the helm of the PGA of America, an organization of 27,000 golf professionals and one that conducts the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

Bevacqua, 41, is a graduate of Notre Dame and earned a law degree from Georgetown. He joined the USGA in 2000 as in-house counsel. He resigned from the organization in March of 2011, three weeks after the USGA appointed Mike Davis as its executive director, a position for which Bevacqua reportedly was a candidate.

He also was rumored to have been a candidate for LPGA Commissioner, before the LPGA hired Mike Whan in October of 2009.

Bevacqua, who has run the golf division of CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency, since May of 2011, is an accomplished golfer, carrying a 2.4 handicap index at Manatee Golf Club in Branchburg, N.J., and at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y.

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After an exciting start to 2012, the LPGA returns home

Alex Myers — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:11:00 GMT

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- The only thing that could have made the start of this LPGA season better is if more people had noticed. The first three tournaments included a six-way playoff won by 18-year-old...

Get published in Golf World: The Front 9 Punchline Contest

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:00 GMT

Are you a fan of Golf World's weekly "Front 9" magazine feature? If so, we're offering you a chance to co-author it.

Inspired by The New Yorker's cartoon-caption writing contest, Golf World is featuring the "Front 9 Punchline Contest" in each issue. Here's how it works: Every Sunday around noon, Golf World's editors will post a Front 9 setup line to our magazine's Facebook page. We'll give you until 3 p.m. on Monday to enter your best punchline to that setup.

(An example from a recent Front 9: LPGA releases 2012 schedule; number of events increases from 23 to 27.

It's only January, but is it too soon to pay commissioner Mike Whan his bonus?)

Golf World editors will then select the winning entry, which will appear (along with the writer's name and hometown) in that week's issue of Golf World. In addition to having their entry published in the magazine, winners will receive an official Golf World logo hat.

Our last winner was John Fox of Wyoming, Ohio, whose winning entry appeared in the Jan. 30 issue of the magazine:

The set-up line: Donald Trump threatens to shut down Scottish golf project because of nearby wind farms.

The winning punchline: "Giving new meaning to the term, 'Earth, Wind and Fired.' "

-- Geoff Russell, Golf World Editor-In-Chief

LPGA announces 2012 schedule with four more events

Alex Myers — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:00:00 GMT

There has never been any doubt that LPGA commissioner Mike Whan can work the front end of a deal. He is a born salesman with a quick wit and an agile mind fueled by...

LPGA's Futures Tour adds a title sponsor

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:52:00 GMT

ORLANDO - The Futures Tour, the LPGA's developmental circuit from which 10 players annually earn privileges for the following season on the LPGA, has a new title sponsor and a new name. Symetra Financial Corporation, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., has a multi-year deal for the naming rights. Financial terms were not disclosed at the Wednesday announcement, but LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said he did not expect purses on the Symetra Tour to increase in 2012. There were 16 Futures tour events in 2011, with purses ranging from $100,000 to $135,000. A similar schedule is expected in 2012, "15-plus" events, according to LPGA spokesman Kraig Kann. "I would tell you 16 to 18 events is sort of what would be our minimum," Whan said. "To me, if that number was 20, I'd feel a lot better. I think 16 to 18 is fine. I think 20 is better. I don't know that it has to be 20-plus, because what we're really talking about is a season-long qualifying tour." Kathleen Ekey topped the 2011 Futures money list with $66,412, with the 10th-ranked player, Sophia Sheridan, earning $28,724. "I think you'll see some [purse] increases over the years, but it's not designed as 'Wow, look how much the top five players are making,' " Whan said. "It's not really a tour where you can sustain a living long-term." As on the PGA Tour, where more cards are now being awarded through the Nationwide Tour rather than Q school, the LPGA is moving in the same direction. "One of the things we're looking at is providing more opportunity through the [Symetra tour] and maybe a little less through Q school," Whan said. "We like the idea that somebody qualifies over the course of a season as opposed to a few weekends." The Futures Tour began in 1981 and has been tied to the LPGA since 1999. In 2011 Symetra sponsored the Symetra Classic in San Antonio. "This is an exciting day for Symetra," said company CEO Tom Marra. "Like the rising stars of the LPGA, Symetra is a company on the move." -- Bill Fields

Lexi's LPGA Arrival Is Cause For Celebration--And Also Caution

Ron Sirak — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Lexi Thompson may be the LPGA's next superstar, but it will take time.

Join The Club

Ron Sirak — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

After 16-year-old Lexi Thompson's historic win in Alabama, the LPGA appears ready to offer her membership

Even with historic win, Thompson must wait on tour card

Sam Weinman — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:39:00 GMT

A decade after a tall, young talent was anointed as the home-grown superstar needed for the LPGA to solidify its American fan base, that promise might finally be fulfilled. Not by Michelle Wie -- the...