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 Marcoux Samaan. I’m going to be dead-ass honest with you, that was a big part of it. I love the trajectory of the tour. I love the way the pace has been going. If I would’ve saw a more radical pattern the last few years, I would say ‘Eh, not so sure I like what I see’, but I haven’t seen that. I’ve seen growth. … I think she’s a wonderful person with a nice family and I hope that she’s at the helm for many more years here. I think it not only encourages me, but other sponsors to continue on with our opportunity. …
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks to the media prior to the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
I read that one article about did [the LPGA] take enough advantage of what’s going on. OK, let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about ladies basketball, what an explosive event. Where was ladies basketball three years ago? Two years ago? Nowhere to be found.
The last tournament of [Caitlin’s] last year was the biggest event. The year before that it was not. It was only the last year. Why was that? It was because of other participants that were also rivals all of a sudden, right? It wasn’t because Caitlin was gunning 3s from everywhere on the court, which is exciting in and of itself. But she had rivals in the sport and that made it exciting for people. …
We all want to say why isn’t Nelly Korda bringing more to the tour? OK, she’s not Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is not Nelly Korda. They’re different. I think Tiger literally did more for the tour than any single person, no disrespect to Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. I think those three people did more for golf than anybody on the planet, including women’s golf. … Tiger is a huge fan of the LPGA and he’s done a lot for them, but they don’t talk about that. They’re talking about Caitlin Clark … I’ve been dealing with the media a lot, I think that’s unfair. And then we hang that on the leader.
I’m OK with that because I’ve been through that my whole career. You get slapped around forever and then, as you all of a sudden turn around, you’ve created $80 billion of value in the company and finally somebody will say, I guess he was doing an OK job. I’m telling you, through the whole process, it’s a shit show.
My point is, with Mollie, I’ve talked to her over the last several weeks about what we’re doing, and I’ve told her how much I appreciate her leadership, her dedication to it.
Caitlin Clark and Nelly Korda at the pro-am prior ahead of The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican 2024 at Pelican Golf Club. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
What specifically is it about her leadership that you appreciate?
Nothing in particular. I like the trajectory. You know what people hate most in business? It’s uncertainly. You know what breeds uncertainty? Erratic behavior, whether it’s regulatory behavior, or it’s other behavior, people like to have a path that they can understand where they can invest in.
They don’t want to have a path where it’s going to be great today and horrible tomorrow.
What is your understanding of Mollie’s long-term vision?
I think her long-term vision is to continue on a path to build this tour to continue to go forward, with the understanding that some things are in your control and some things aren’t, and you’ve got to work through it. And that’s no different than any other CEO. That’s why I like the way her attitude is and she’s under a tremendous amount of pressure and I know this, because I used to run a member-owned organization. She runs a member-owned organization. CME, before I took it public, was owned by its members. It’s hard to have a couple thousand bosses. She only has a couple hundred, I had a couple thousand, so I understand what she’s going through.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan presents the Rolex Player of the Year trophy to Lydia Ko after she won the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
So, in your mind, the ultimate litmus test is as long as purses are going up on the LPGA, that’s the ultimate report card?
No, not for me. The report card for me is young women having a path forward to the LPGA, whether they go on tour or not is irrelevant. If it makes them better people in life, there’s more to it than just being a tour player as a young girl that’s growing up in a very difficult world and giving them structure and a place to have structure so that they can be a more well-rounded person, be a better person in life. That’s what’s important to me. Not the purse on the LPGA. So that’s how I look at it, that’s how I judge it. I look at it in the bigger picture. Are people benefitting from the game and is the ladies game benefitting young people to make them better people for the future, whether they play golf or not? To me, that’s success.