Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. We come to
Speaker 1: you every Wednesday. UM. I was up at the LPGA
Speaker 1: Tournament of Champions last week, the first tournament on the
Speaker 1: LPGA Tour, and UH this week's guest is the commissioner
Speaker 1: of the LPGA Tour. UM. I got to meet Molly
Speaker 1: last week for the first time, and it's really cool
Speaker 1: to have her on the podcast. UM Listen. I work
Speaker 1: with a number of players that that play on the
Speaker 1: l p g A Tour. UM. I think the women's
Speaker 1: game has never been stronger, and to get an opportunity
Speaker 1: to sit down and talk with Molly about it, UM
Speaker 1: is a really cool opportunity for me. We had the
Speaker 1: commissioner of the Asian Tour, Showman Fat on recently. UM.
Speaker 1: If you haven't had the chance to check that podcast,
Speaker 1: check it out. Um Hey. This past summer I asked
Speaker 1: Jay Monahan if you wanted to come on the podcast.
Speaker 1: Still waiting for that call from j. But UM, it's
Speaker 1: really cool to to to listen to Molly talk about
Speaker 1: all the great things UM that's going on at the
Speaker 1: l p g A. If you haven't had an opportunity
Speaker 1: to go to an LPGA event, whether it's a regular event,
Speaker 1: whether it's one of their majors. Do yourself a favor
Speaker 1: and go check it out because I'm a huge fan
Speaker 1: of the product. M I'm a huge fan of the players,
Speaker 1: and I think they're doing some great things. So really
Speaker 1: excited to um, have everyone listened to what Molly has
Speaker 1: to say about the LPGA tour, So sit back and enjoy.
Speaker 1: So Molly, the LPGA three season underway. The Tournament of
Speaker 1: Champions at Lake No No last week. UM, I was
Speaker 1: up there. What a great event. Brooke Henderson wins the
Speaker 1: first one. You've got all the stars, Um, A lot
Speaker 1: of the stars on the LPGA were on the leaderboard.
Speaker 1: You must be pretty happy with the way the season started. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was awesome. But first of all, it's great to
Speaker 1: meet you in person, and um, it was a fabulous week.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think again the leaderboard was was fantastic.
Speaker 1: At the end, I got to um sort of see
Speaker 1: the finish and the crowds were awesome. The music, the
Speaker 1: eighteenth team, so much energy, so much positivity. The celebrities
Speaker 1: were amazing. You know, you had a really wide variety
Speaker 1: of different types of players playing in it, and all
Speaker 1: were just so impressed by the talent of our players,
Speaker 1: but also just the personalities and the engagement. So overall
Speaker 1: it was a great start. Hilton Grand Vacations, what a
Speaker 1: fantastic partner. I got to see Mark Wang at the
Speaker 1: end of the at the end of the tournament and
Speaker 1: he was just beaming and did a great job with
Speaker 1: the trophy presentation, and Aaron Stewart and I think they
Speaker 1: were all flying pretty high, and it was. It was
Speaker 1: a really great week. So the three season, UH thirty
Speaker 1: three events, over a hundred million in prize money, UM
Speaker 1: eleven states, twelve countries, service a great UM thing going
Speaker 1: around social media and animated version of all the places
Speaker 1: UM the LPGA is going to go in m Do
Speaker 1: you feel like, probably more than any of the tours
Speaker 1: around the world, the LPGA really is a globe tour,
Speaker 1: not only from the amount of players that are playing
Speaker 1: from around the world, but the destinations that that the
Speaker 1: LPGA goes to. Yeah, I mean it's incredible, particularly being
Speaker 1: you know, a first year UM commissioner and I traveled
Speaker 1: to I think I hit twenty eight or twenty nine
Speaker 1: of our events, and I got to see golf in
Speaker 1: all over the world, you know, and see how people
Speaker 1: embrace the game, how people love our athletes seeing you know,
Speaker 1: you're sort of one week in in a Midwestern town
Speaker 1: and the next week, you know, you're in Europe or
Speaker 1: you're in you're in Asia, and you're sort of seeing
Speaker 1: the commonality among golf fans, which was really fun for
Speaker 1: me to be able to see. And I really wanted
Speaker 1: to do that. I really wanted to get out to
Speaker 1: as many events as I could possibly get to and
Speaker 1: see our fans and see our partners and see how
Speaker 1: our players engaged so so as you said, so globally
Speaker 1: and it's it's so I love that about our tour.
Speaker 1: I think that is a significant competitive advantage, working with
Speaker 1: brands and partners all over the world, and you know,
Speaker 1: you really are, truly we are the best players in
Speaker 1: the world playing on this tour. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: just the best players from the United States, it's the
Speaker 1: best players from the from around the world. I think
Speaker 1: we have thirty five countries may be represented who have
Speaker 1: cards this year, which is is pretty incredible. And we
Speaker 1: had I don't quote me on this, I think we
Speaker 1: had winners from fourteen different countries last year. Um, which
Speaker 1: again the commonality is golf. The commonality is women exceeding
Speaker 1: at something succeeding and um excelling at something that's really hard,
Speaker 1: really challenging and inspiring people through the work that they're
Speaker 1: doing over five hundred hours three on broadcast TV. I
Speaker 1: mean the obvious question, Molly, because I mean I work
Speaker 1: with girls from the l p G a UM, I
Speaker 1: go to the tournaments. I think the product is great,
Speaker 1: But the constant theme around women's golf is how do
Speaker 1: we get more eyeballs? How do we get more people involved?
Speaker 1: How many how do we get more people to the tournaments? Um,
Speaker 1: you're the ninth commissioner of of the l p G
Speaker 1: a UM, how do you feel that's going and what
Speaker 1: is the plan moving forward to just try and get
Speaker 1: more people to see what what the ladies on the
Speaker 1: LPGA are doing. Yeah, it's definitely a you know, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a chicken and egg, right. If you don't
Speaker 1: have the fans, you can't drive some of the same
Speaker 1: revenue that you need to have the manpower and the
Speaker 1: technology and all the things you need to have more fans.
Speaker 1: So I think we're trying to sort of start that
Speaker 1: chicken and egg cycle. A little differently and it really
Speaker 1: invests in it, really invest in you know, fan engagement,
Speaker 1: fan development, fan acquisition, really trying to have I always say,
Speaker 1: you know, the world needs to see how amazingly talented
Speaker 1: are athletes are, and how engaging they are and how
Speaker 1: interesting they are and hear their personal stories as well
Speaker 1: as their their golf talent. So that's a huge priority
Speaker 1: of ours. And it's sort of this you know idea
Speaker 1: of two way communication too. We have to know who
Speaker 1: our fans are. We've got to be able to talk
Speaker 1: to them. We've got to be really aggressive and creative.
Speaker 1: But even things like with the with the tournament this
Speaker 1: past week, you know, were bringing in um, people who
Speaker 1: love golf that aren't necessarily always connected to the LPGA
Speaker 1: to start to spread the word and start to promote
Speaker 1: our brand. And you know, you have a whole new
Speaker 1: audience that you bring in with some of these celebrities
Speaker 1: have huge fan bases um themselves and so getting them
Speaker 1: to say the things that they were saying, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean you hear the quotes from Marty Fish and
Speaker 1: others saying that if anyone thinks that they could play
Speaker 1: with these women, they're a hundred percent wrong. You know,
Speaker 1: any any single digit hand I think he said something
Speaker 1: like any single digit handicapper wouldn't have even a morsel
Speaker 1: of a chance playing against UM these best in the
Speaker 1: world athletes. So we're also focused really a lot on technology.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think technology can be a great equalizer,
Speaker 1: and so we want to invest and you know in
Speaker 1: improved scoring and UM improved a website and improved just
Speaker 1: overall UM you know, CRMs, and ability to sell, sell
Speaker 1: and promote our our product to such a broader me
Speaker 1: and some technology is now allowing that. So thinking about
Speaker 1: how we utilize more digital assets and streaming opportunities, so
Speaker 1: just to bring more people into under our tent. And
Speaker 1: I think the product will speak for itself, but we
Speaker 1: have to be really really intentional with that, and I
Speaker 1: think we have to invest in it. I will say.
Speaker 1: The other thing is getting partners to help us with that,
Speaker 1: and I think that you know, one example would be
Speaker 1: the KPMG Performance Insight program. You know, when when we
Speaker 1: invest in the in the performance insights and the and
Speaker 1: the data, we can start to tell our story and
Speaker 1: start to say, you know, hey, this is what the
Speaker 1: women were doing on the tour last year and this
Speaker 1: is how it compares to what the men were doing.
Speaker 1: And you know, we're exceeding um some of their numbers
Speaker 1: in a lot of categories. You know, the proximity to
Speaker 1: the whole from various distances. Um Minji Lee was leading
Speaker 1: the world, not just the women's meaning. If you look
Speaker 1: at the way that Lydia Co played last year, if
Speaker 1: you look at her bowl striking, if you look at
Speaker 1: as you mentioned Minji, I mean, they're doing things that
Speaker 1: no one else in golf. He's doing the way that
Speaker 1: their performing. I thought a great moment from last week
Speaker 1: Molly was in her interview Nellie Corda. I mean she
Speaker 1: played the p n C with her dad and a
Speaker 1: bunch of the guys were saying, you know, justin Thomas
Speaker 1: Jordan Smith. They were all saying, she's got the best
Speaker 1: golf swing, you know, in the world, and I thought
Speaker 1: it was great. Nelly said, well, you know, they should
Speaker 1: come to more lazy mons because I spent last year.
Speaker 1: I went to the Women's US Open down at Pinehurst,
Speaker 1: and I got to the Raine early because there's so
Speaker 1: many girls that I've seen on TV, but I haven't
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to actually see their golf swings up
Speaker 1: close in in person, and as a golf instructor and
Speaker 1: as a golf swing nerd to actually just be able
Speaker 1: to stand on the driving roid. So the first time
Speaker 1: I'd really seen Nellie Corda hit golf balls in person,
Speaker 1: and I got there about a half hour earlier. Before
Speaker 1: you know, Marine Alex did what I was working with,
Speaker 1: and I just sat and watched um Nellie hit balls.
Speaker 1: And she she has one of, if not the best
Speaker 1: technically sound golf swing in the world. And and when
Speaker 1: you play and you you go out in practice rounds
Speaker 1: with these women, I mean, first of all, they hit
Speaker 1: the golf ball so unbelievably straight. It's it's hard to
Speaker 1: fathom because the guys, the guys hit it all over
Speaker 1: the place, right, because they're hitting it with much more speed.
Speaker 1: But when you look at the quality of the product,
Speaker 1: do you think sometimes, Molly, that you're a little bit
Speaker 1: behind the eight ball because everything is compared to what's
Speaker 1: happening on the p g A Tour right from the
Speaker 1: way they run it, from their sponsorship, from the brands
Speaker 1: associated with it, from the television contracts that they have. Um,
Speaker 1: It's it's almost like it's not a fair comparison. It's
Speaker 1: not apples to apples. It would seem it would be
Speaker 1: because you're both in the competitive professional golf space. But
Speaker 1: trying to compare to what you all are trying to
Speaker 1: do on the LPJ versus what J and the boys
Speaker 1: at Pontovidra are trying to do with the PGA Tour,
Speaker 1: they're two completely different things. Yeah, I mean, and that's
Speaker 1: what you know, that's a little bit what I was
Speaker 1: talking about before with the with the chicken and egg
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, you you have a set amount
Speaker 1: of resources that you can use to to activate and
Speaker 1: are you know, be for many structural reasons. You know,
Speaker 1: most of it stems from TV deals, right and media
Speaker 1: deals and kind of how the revenue flows in there.
Speaker 1: And so you're you're you just don't have the same
Speaker 1: set of resources to use to put on the same
Speaker 1: type of product. But we're we're thinking of this as
Speaker 1: an opportunity to to keep growing and to keep doing
Speaker 1: things differently, and we still have a lot of room
Speaker 1: to go. I mean, if you think about, um, how
Speaker 1: interesting the product is and how some people just don't
Speaker 1: yet know about it and haven't quite engaged so we
Speaker 1: think there's a huge opportunity there. We think that the
Speaker 1: talent and the and the data that we're showing will
Speaker 1: continue to grow that. Um but yeah, it is. It
Speaker 1: is apples to oranges, and so we've got to make
Speaker 1: sure that we do everything we can do within our power,
Speaker 1: and we use our partners, we drive revenues in different ways,
Speaker 1: we continue to be creative, we continue to to to
Speaker 1: give different opportunities for new fans to come on. And uh,
Speaker 1: I think we'll get there. I mean, we are growing.
Speaker 1: We're also working with you know, a lot of the
Speaker 1: industry to sort of help grow and and and to
Speaker 1: to use resources from around the you know, from around
Speaker 1: what they've been doing. So yeah, I do see that
Speaker 1: as a different we'd apples and oranges, But I think
Speaker 1: we're making really good progress. And um yeah, I did
Speaker 1: love to what Nellie said. It's like, this isn't a surprise.
Speaker 1: And I also like what she said is you know,
Speaker 1: come in and you'll see a whole whole lot of
Speaker 1: women who's playing the club really really well and who
Speaker 1: are phenomenal athletes and phenomenal players. Nellie obviously being one
Speaker 1: of the biggest stars on the LPGA Tour and and
Speaker 1: and in my opinion, one of the best players on
Speaker 1: on on in professional golf, regardless of whether it's men's
Speaker 1: or women's. How important do you think um Nellie getting
Speaker 1: um new sponsors, big massive sponsors, Nike coming in and
Speaker 1: looking at Nellie who plays on the LPGA Tour and saying, listen,
Speaker 1: we want to have her as one of our athletes.
Speaker 1: Taylor made one of the biggest club companies in the game.
Speaker 1: We want to have her as part of our brand.
Speaker 1: Do you think that's hopefully going to be a catalyst
Speaker 1: for more of the golf manufacturers and the golf companies
Speaker 1: saying okay, let's invest in these great players. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: I think also just other brands, not just the manufacturers,
Speaker 1: but I think others seeing you know, the the value
Speaker 1: of these ambassadors. And if you think about it, you know,
Speaker 1: the numbers have grown really high, UM from prize earnings
Speaker 1: for our players. You know, we had twenty seven players
Speaker 1: make over a million dollars last year UM, which is
Speaker 1: which is great, and a couple more over the two
Speaker 1: million dollar mark and the three million dollar mark. So
Speaker 1: that's all growing. But I think that some big dollars
Speaker 1: like in tennis really comes from the endorsement deals that
Speaker 1: they have, So we want to we want to put
Speaker 1: our players out there so the world sees the value
Speaker 1: of them as as really strong corporate ambassadors as well.
Speaker 1: So we we think that that's a big opportunity and
Speaker 1: we think that they should be showcased in that way.
Speaker 1: I mean, these are athletes playing the hardest sport in
Speaker 1: the world, under the most sort of intense pressure situations
Speaker 1: and performing like none others. So yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think it's a big Some of the big announcements over
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks have been really good for
Speaker 1: the LPGA, obviously really good for our players, but we
Speaker 1: see that as a big growth opportunity for the top
Speaker 1: of the leader board as well. We'll continue to grow purses,
Speaker 1: will continue to grow their earnings UM, but we also
Speaker 1: think that they can take a really big leap up
Speaker 1: in the endorsement dollars that they bring in. We talked
Speaker 1: last week on the range at like not to UM.
Speaker 1: You know, you were saying that you were really proud
Speaker 1: of the fact that there were so many women that
Speaker 1: had made over a million dollars UM in prize money
Speaker 1: last year. The payum, the pay gap between what the
Speaker 1: men are making and the women. I mean, how do
Speaker 1: how do you as an organization go about trying to
Speaker 1: bring that gap closer together and have more players on
Speaker 1: the LPGA tour. Because it's interesting when I when I
Speaker 1: do talk to some of the girls on the LPGA
Speaker 1: to the difference in their lives versus what they can
Speaker 1: afford to do off the golf course. I'll give you
Speaker 1: a great example. Um, there are girls that come up
Speaker 1: and and take lessons from me and they said, listen,
Speaker 1: can I get on a launch monitor? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: you don't have a launch monitor? And they're like no,
Speaker 1: they're they're thirty grand I can't afford that, um, Whereas
Speaker 1: pretty much the majority of the guys on the PGA tour,
Speaker 1: everybody's got a thirty launch monitor. That's an easy thing.
Speaker 1: You see that on the PGA tour as a way
Speaker 1: that you have to have something a product like that
Speaker 1: to try and get better. But that's hard for a
Speaker 1: lot of of of the women on the LPJ That's
Speaker 1: that's a big investment for them to make relative to
Speaker 1: how much they're earning. Yeah. I mean again, it goes
Speaker 1: back to a little bit. I hate to use that
Speaker 1: phrase though, but the chicken and egg when when you
Speaker 1: don't have that technology or you don't have that team
Speaker 1: around the team that can elevate your game, then you're
Speaker 1: one step behind when you reach the first tea and
Speaker 1: so and even things like travel, you know when yours
Speaker 1: when you're first of all, we're traveling all over the world,
Speaker 1: which is a really great thing for us, but it's
Speaker 1: it's hard on the body, it's hard on recovery, it's
Speaker 1: it's hard on all of those things. And when you're
Speaker 1: you know, doing all of your own travel planning or
Speaker 1: where you're not flying privately and you're you know, having
Speaker 1: to be on long flights and and you need that
Speaker 1: ability to to get your body ready to compete. And
Speaker 1: so those are all things that we're working on. What
Speaker 1: are ways that we can get partners to help reduce expenses.
Speaker 1: Think about how we you know, we have some minimum
Speaker 1: payouts for some events, so you because don't don't forget
Speaker 1: when you get to an event. You may spend all
Speaker 1: this money and you get there and you don't make
Speaker 1: the cut, and you come home without any revenue, and
Speaker 1: you now have a decent amount of cash that you've
Speaker 1: outlet to be there. So we're we're thinking really holistically
Speaker 1: about the player experience, both from what's the environment at
Speaker 1: the tournament site, what's the environment that they had before
Speaker 1: they got to the tournament site, and then how do
Speaker 1: we help them make a living. I always say that's
Speaker 1: commensurate with their with their world class talent. I mean,
Speaker 1: the differences are pretty intense, you know. I said that
Speaker 1: we had twenty seven We had twenty seven people make
Speaker 1: over a million dollars last year on the PG Tour.
Speaker 1: I think they had a hundred and twenty seven players
Speaker 1: make over a million dollars um. That's a big difference.
Speaker 1: The hundred best player on the LPGA last year made
Speaker 1: a hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars and earnings, and
Speaker 1: it probably cost her that amount to be out there. So,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a really tangible goal for us to
Speaker 1: say that the hundred best player in the world should
Speaker 1: make a living playing golf. I mean, that's a that's
Speaker 1: something that has to change, um. And yes, we're doing
Speaker 1: much better at the top, and we want to continue
Speaker 1: to to pay our stars. When when there are stars
Speaker 1: and when they're winning at that level, they should also
Speaker 1: make money that's commensurate with that really world class talent.
Speaker 1: But hundred best players, the hundred best players in the
Speaker 1: world should make more than they spent, you know, significantly
Speaker 1: more than they spent. So we're looking at all of
Speaker 1: the ways that we can do that, obviously raising prize
Speaker 1: funds and and being able to to grow our corporate
Speaker 1: sponsorship business where we can invest and subsidize and kind
Speaker 1: of grow those term and that's the most important thing
Speaker 1: we do, but there's other ways to do it too.
Speaker 1: Short term that that we're focused on. Let's take a
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Speaker 1: that's the code c H three at for Wellness dot
Speaker 1: com slash podcast. Your predecissor Michaelan who's now at the
Speaker 1: U s g A UM I read that you asked
Speaker 1: him for hit some advice and he said, the tournaments
Speaker 1: are the most important thing. Have a relentless pursuit of
Speaker 1: trying to get the best tournament opportunities for the players. UM.
Speaker 1: In three, where everybody is trying to get corporate dollars.
Speaker 1: UM the usps that that the LPGA has for you
Speaker 1: when you go out to try and sell that to
Speaker 1: corporate sponsors. Um, what is that message that you're trying
Speaker 1: to to to get across and and bring them into
Speaker 1: the world of of the LPGA. Well, I think there's
Speaker 1: a couple of things. We I think we have some significant,
Speaker 1: you know, competitive advantages in that area. Obviously we've got
Speaker 1: the best in the world, and that sponsors and and
Speaker 1: everyone wants to align themselves with the best in the world.
Speaker 1: We so there's there's real commercial upside and golf, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, there's tremendous hospitality opportunities. We are on television
Speaker 1: with great branding opportunities. So there's a great business case
Speaker 1: for in aging with the LPGA, and that continues to
Speaker 1: grow as we get more fans and as we grow
Speaker 1: our audience, and as we grow the talent and the
Speaker 1: player's talent continues to grow. There's that real strong commercial
Speaker 1: value that they're getting out of engaging with us. But
Speaker 1: in addition, they're helping us solve a really important problem.
Speaker 1: You know, they're they're really getting to show the world
Speaker 1: that they care about equity, they care about women's sports,
Speaker 1: they care about highlighting and empowering women who are doing
Speaker 1: something really hard. So I think we're really positioned very well,
Speaker 1: and our our partners are really responding to that. A
Speaker 1: lot of them have said, listen, we we love the
Speaker 1: business value of this, and we're super excited about that
Speaker 1: because we think it's moving our business forward. But we
Speaker 1: also love that we get to say to our female
Speaker 1: employees or to our customers, we care about women, and
Speaker 1: we care about equity, and in sports, you know, pay
Speaker 1: equity is one of the last places where women are
Speaker 1: not paid properly. Where in corporate America could you say, hey, listen,
Speaker 1: I know you're really good at your job, but you're
Speaker 1: gonna make five percent a ten percent of what Joe
Speaker 1: is gonna make. UM, because you know that that's where
Speaker 1: you are in life, and so we want to change that.
Speaker 1: And I think our partners want to change that, and
Speaker 1: they want to help us solve that problem. So it's
Speaker 1: a really best case scenario in my mind. It's like, listen,
Speaker 1: you get these great benefits of being an LPG partner,
Speaker 1: a traditional sponsorship benefits and partnership benefits, but we also
Speaker 1: help us solve a really important challenge and you get
Speaker 1: to really talk about your values to your customers, to
Speaker 1: your employees, to the world. One of the things that
Speaker 1: you and I spoke about um last week. UM, I
Speaker 1: know you're incredibly excited about some of the venues and
Speaker 1: some of the courses that the LPGA is going to play,
Speaker 1: not only on the LPG, but also if you look
Speaker 1: at what your major championships, the venues that they're starting
Speaker 1: to go to, those are going to be some of
Speaker 1: the great venues. Some of the great iconic golf courses
Speaker 1: in the United States that people that follow maybe the
Speaker 1: PGA too, or have seen other tournaments playoff. Um, the
Speaker 1: US Open this summer at Pebble Beach. I think that's
Speaker 1: going to be a fantastic showcase, um for the women's game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean you we talked about it. I mean just
Speaker 1: the Pebble obviously, Bolta's Rale, Liberty National, Well Heath. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just that the list goes on and on. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're we're UM and then we've what we've always played
Speaker 1: at some great golf courses that are regulars on our
Speaker 1: on our tour, but um, you know, to be able
Speaker 1: to showcase their talent at venues the people know it. Again,
Speaker 1: I think a big part of this is saying, listen,
Speaker 1: we value your talent, we value your skill, we value
Speaker 1: how good you are at this really hard game, and
Speaker 1: we're going to have you play at the very best
Speaker 1: venues in the world. And and that's what we're doing.
Speaker 1: And I think it makes a gigantic difference, and UM,
Speaker 1: our players are really excited about it. I mean when
Speaker 1: I when I sit and have dinner with some of
Speaker 1: the players, you know, these are athletes. This is their
Speaker 1: their forum, this is their career. They care about the
Speaker 1: golf course, they care about the details of the game.
Speaker 1: Their nerds, they're they're they're golf nerds, and they that's
Speaker 1: their whole venue, that's their that's their work environment. So
Speaker 1: it matters when they roll to a golf course. You
Speaker 1: know where they're playing and what it feels like, and
Speaker 1: how people value and respect you know those venues. So
Speaker 1: we've got a lot of great ones on the schedule
Speaker 1: and we're excited about it. How do you balance, Molly
Speaker 1: um the tours role and the player's role Because I've
Speaker 1: always been on the players side of thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously I was never a player, but I've always worked
Speaker 1: for professional golfers, professional athletes, and so it's easy when
Speaker 1: you're in on my side of the fence. My lens
Speaker 1: is listen. Without the players, there is no tour, regardless
Speaker 1: of which tour it is. But then coming from your standpoint,
Speaker 1: you're like, okay, well we're providing you this opportunity, So
Speaker 1: how do you you find that balance between what the
Speaker 1: tour listening to what you have to do from the
Speaker 1: LPGA standpoint and growing what the LPG is doing, but
Speaker 1: also understanding and listening to what the players want as well. Well.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think that they're separate. I mean
Speaker 1: I think that they're actually the same. And one of
Speaker 1: the things I really love about this job is that
Speaker 1: our job is to serve the membership. I mean, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we wake up every day
Speaker 1: trying to make the LPGA better, which in turn really
Speaker 1: is to make the players experience better, to make their
Speaker 1: lives better, to give them more opportunity. So obviously there's
Speaker 1: times when what the full organization needs might not be
Speaker 1: exactly what one individual needs on the tour, but ultimately
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do is elevate their experience. So
Speaker 1: I don't see them as separate. I think sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: people disagree on the way to get to the end result,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, we're all working
Speaker 1: towards the same thing, and this is essentially this is
Speaker 1: their tour. That's the way the founders set it up.
Speaker 1: It's a membership organization. Um, we want to do what
Speaker 1: they want us to do. At the at the same time,
Speaker 1: they don't always have the full perspective, right, they don't
Speaker 1: understand the ends and the outs of selling sponsorships and
Speaker 1: partnerships and and growing the business, and it's it's certainly challenging,
Speaker 1: but they're really I think they believe that it's their
Speaker 1: tour and that they have a voice and all of that.
Speaker 1: We have, you know, player directors on our board. We
Speaker 1: very much value and listen to what they have to say.
Speaker 1: We hear their input. We try to get as much
Speaker 1: input input from players as we possibly can, because ultimately
Speaker 1: we're all in this for the same purpose. You know.
Speaker 1: That's one of the great things about this job is
Speaker 1: we're not we're not serving an owner, you know, I
Speaker 1: always think about that in professional sports, we're serving the membership. UM.
Speaker 1: In some professional sports you obviously have the team owner,
Speaker 1: you've got the league, and you've got various levels. Here,
Speaker 1: we work directly with the players to grow the organization
Speaker 1: for for them. How important has the international presence, in
Speaker 1: your opinion, been to the growth and the development of
Speaker 1: the LPG. I mean, if you look at the amount
Speaker 1: of players coming from the LPGA tour in the last
Speaker 1: ten years from Asia, UM, I think we're starting to
Speaker 1: see a little bit more of that in the men's game.
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody's you're raving about Tom Kim, who Korean
Speaker 1: came from the Asian Tour now playing on the PGA
Speaker 1: Tour and we're starting to see more of the Korean
Speaker 1: men start to come from. Where that's been going on
Speaker 1: in the LPGA for you know, the last ten fifteen years.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like the growth of different markets, he's
Speaker 1: been a big part of the LPGA's growth as an organization. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, I got to play with
Speaker 1: Tom Kim by the way out in out in Vegas.
Speaker 1: We had a great time. I played nine holes with him,
Speaker 1: and then I played nine holes with with Freddie Couples,
Speaker 1: So it was quite quite a day for me. Um
Speaker 1: and he was phenomenal. But no, I think like, listen
Speaker 1: to your your market is the world so and and
Speaker 1: it's the other thing that's different than other professional sports
Speaker 1: leagues if you think about it. Um as the commissioner
Speaker 1: of the LPGA or the p G A when you
Speaker 1: when you wake up, you don't have someone handing you
Speaker 1: a schedule and saying, okay, this is you're gonna play
Speaker 1: Dallas this week, and you're gonna play um you know
Speaker 1: you're gonna play Florida this week and this is how
Speaker 1: this is gonna go, and then you figure out all
Speaker 1: the other pieces of the business. Our main thing, as
Speaker 1: you said before, is how do we create that schedule?
Speaker 1: And that's really hard, you know to find the right
Speaker 1: partners and the right venues at the right with the
Speaker 1: right purses and so um. You know, when your world
Speaker 1: is bigger, when the market is bigger, and when you
Speaker 1: can hit you know, you can find the top sponsor
Speaker 1: in Korea, that gives you another playing opportunity over there,
Speaker 1: That gives you another opportunity in Japan, that gives you
Speaker 1: an opportunity in Scotland. It gives us an opportunity to
Speaker 1: to have as many tournaments as we can possibly have.
Speaker 1: That makes sense for you know, for the schedule. So
Speaker 1: I think it helps with just the size of the
Speaker 1: market and the size of the interest around the world, um,
Speaker 1: the size of the fan base. It also helps with
Speaker 1: you know, international television rights. That's a big revenue driver
Speaker 1: for us and and so you know there's interest and
Speaker 1: I think we're in a hundred and seventy different markets
Speaker 1: that we were televised in, so that drives revenue for us,
Speaker 1: really really valuable revenue that we can reinvest in the tour.
Speaker 1: So I do think that the you know, in embracing
Speaker 1: the global nature of our tour has been really good
Speaker 1: for us. And um, you know again we're back to
Speaker 1: the best players in the world competing on the LPGA.
Speaker 1: You think we'll get to a point to where so
Speaker 1: uh to me an interesting example, So I worked with
Speaker 1: see W. Kim for about three years and see what
Speaker 1: just got married and his wife played on the Ladies
Speaker 1: um Tour in Korea and she one tournaments and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. And the running joke from sea who is
Speaker 1: she makes way more money and endorsements than I do
Speaker 1: because golf, women's golf and Korea is so big, right,
Speaker 1: is such a huge I mean when you look at
Speaker 1: the tournaments that get televised, Um, when the women go
Speaker 1: over and they play in Asia, there's certainly more people
Speaker 1: at those events then there are when the men go
Speaker 1: play on the Asian Tour or when the men go. Um,
Speaker 1: how do we get to a point where that, like
Speaker 1: you said, that pay equality. Um, they're superstars in Korea
Speaker 1: and in the US they're not. Yeah. Well, I think
Speaker 1: that's just another another example of if if they see it,
Speaker 1: if people actually get to know it, and people engage
Speaker 1: with it. It's very a p link. It's the very
Speaker 1: appealing product. I mean when I went to Korea, like
Speaker 1: you said, I was blown away as I was remember
Speaker 1: just driving out of the course and I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what the numbers were, but it was
Speaker 1: fifty sixty seventy thousand people there that day and I
Speaker 1: think it was the Thursday um and and there are
Speaker 1: fan clubs all dressed up in different colors for their
Speaker 1: favorite players, and there was just so much excitement. I
Speaker 1: think that's extremely possible here in the US and in
Speaker 1: Europe and in various places. So just to me, it
Speaker 1: gives me hope and opportunity to say this, this game,
Speaker 1: these players are super appealing, and you know, we're going
Speaker 1: to continue to grow it in all markets. There's always
Speaker 1: going to be a segment of the US population to
Speaker 1: where if they're not American players, they're going to say, listen,
Speaker 1: I'm not. I think tennis is going through that a
Speaker 1: lot where there haven't been this amazing group of American
Speaker 1: tennis players, both uh certainly on the men's side, and
Speaker 1: then people say listen, we don't. We don't watch a
Speaker 1: lot because there aren't Americans playing? How do you guys
Speaker 1: balance that? Because I think some of the best stars
Speaker 1: you have are are not Americans. And I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the strongest things that the LPGA has that
Speaker 1: you have all of these unbelievable stores that aren't from
Speaker 1: the US and it makes the product more unique and
Speaker 1: more interesting just by the fact that you've got these
Speaker 1: people that have come from completely different backgrounds and they
Speaker 1: speak different languages. Um. I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: strong suits. Yeah. I mean the world is trying to
Speaker 1: be more global now, right. I mean if you look
Speaker 1: at all the other professional leagues, UM, they're really trying
Speaker 1: to brand the US based. Um, top professional sports leagues
Speaker 1: are all trying to branch out internationally. We've been doing
Speaker 1: it for a long time, so um, we just have
Speaker 1: to keep recognizing that. But I mean, like you said,
Speaker 1: look at some of the stars on our tour, they're
Speaker 1: they're not Americans. I mean, we have many amazing Americans
Speaker 1: and we're really we're proud of them and we continue
Speaker 1: to to elevate what they do. But Lydia, I mean,
Speaker 1: who who could be more appealing than Lydia co right,
Speaker 1: I mean from a worldwide superstar. She has everything from
Speaker 1: the personality to the gratitude to the I mean not
Speaker 1: to mention the most amazing golf game. So I think
Speaker 1: she's been fantastic for the LPGA, and she's just spans
Speaker 1: so many different audiences. I mean, look at Brooke winning
Speaker 1: this weekend. I met a guy at the tournament who's
Speaker 1: I'm not going to get the numbers right, but he
Speaker 1: follows her around. She he's from Upstate New York, He's
Speaker 1: an American. He follows her around. He's become like super fan,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, just because he's so engaged by
Speaker 1: her and the person that she is and the talent
Speaker 1: that she has. And there's a lot of that. So
Speaker 1: I think we're an inspiration in an example of what
Speaker 1: a real global, you know, tour can look like. And
Speaker 1: I certainly think that's a competitive advantage for us. The
Speaker 1: Solheim Cup is a huge part of of what happens
Speaker 1: in women's golf. Um it's the equivalent of the Wryter Cup.
Speaker 1: But with so many players coming from Asia, um, is
Speaker 1: there a way that you think that we could get
Speaker 1: more team involvement with all of the various teams. Team
Speaker 1: from Asia, team from Europe team from the US. Um,
Speaker 1: do you think that's something that could could could happen
Speaker 1: in the future to make it a real competition between
Speaker 1: the best women's golfers, not just the best team concept
Speaker 1: from the women in the US and the women in Europe. Well,
Speaker 1: we have you know, we're we brought the International Crown
Speaker 1: that life plus you know International Crown, which I'm really
Speaker 1: excited about. We changed that's a great that's a really
Speaker 1: good event. It's a great event, and and you know
Speaker 1: we're we changed the format around. I heard that there
Speaker 1: was a little bit of sort of confusion on Sundays
Speaker 1: and our team kind of, um, change things up a
Speaker 1: little bit for Sunday. So it's gonna be a phenomenal competition.
Speaker 1: And um, you know we already know which teams are
Speaker 1: in it, but we don't know which athletes are are
Speaker 1: are going to be a selected per team, and um,
Speaker 1: that'll be a really interesting competition. But again you know,
Speaker 1: Lydia and Brooke are not in it, which again too
Speaker 1: just because they don't have the the they hadn't qualify
Speaker 1: their the Canada and New Zealand didn't qualify. So but
Speaker 1: we gotta figure out a way to get them playing
Speaker 1: in that event too, right, I mean, just because those
Speaker 1: guys are amazing. So I think that's a great competition.
Speaker 1: And I know that I've never seen it. Obviously they
Speaker 1: we used to play that event, and from what everyone's
Speaker 1: told me, it was really popular. There was tremendous energy
Speaker 1: out on the course, great affinity towards their country team,
Speaker 1: Golfs Fund and so yeah, so I think that's a
Speaker 1: great opportunity. The Olympics are obviously a really great opportunity
Speaker 1: to showcase the various talents from around the world. But yeah,
Speaker 1: more of that is exciting and and um, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll keep being creative. Um. Obviously in three the professional
Speaker 1: golf landscape, um, you know, across the board has has
Speaker 1: really shifted in the last couple of years. What what
Speaker 1: lives done on the PGA Tour, um and and that
Speaker 1: kind of constant battle. But the LPGA UM, the the
Speaker 1: European Tour, the Ladies European Tour, they have the ARAMCO series. UM.
Speaker 1: I think it's been interesting that that you that you
Speaker 1: as an organization have taken an opposite attack to what
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour has done to where your let Lydia
Speaker 1: Co is going to go play in Saudi Arabia, that
Speaker 1: tournament is going to have the exact same purse as
Speaker 1: the men. We talked about trying to bring that pay
Speaker 1: equality down. How do you as an organization balance just
Speaker 1: the all the craziness that's going on in professional golf
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, I mean, I think obviously, like you said,
Speaker 1: we're in a we're in a very different situation. Um.
Speaker 1: But with the with the events on the l A
Speaker 1: t you know, we have a set of rules and
Speaker 1: regulations that allow our players to play, you know, again
Speaker 1: within the confines of our rules, to play on different tours, um.
Speaker 1: You know, in a limited way. They have to get
Speaker 1: releases if it's happening at the same time as one
Speaker 1: of our events, and we balance that with our with
Speaker 1: our partners to make sure that we're still providing them
Speaker 1: with the very best you know players, and we're it's
Speaker 1: just a constant battle of that. But we do want
Speaker 1: players to be able to go play in their home
Speaker 1: country and to be able to grow the game. Um.
Speaker 1: And we we think, you know, sort of a connected
Speaker 1: golf community is important. And you know, we had a
Speaker 1: number of women play on the uh the Women's Australian
Speaker 1: Open in December, and I know from speaking to them
Speaker 1: they had a great experience there. So it has to
Speaker 1: obviously all be balanced. We are the leader and women's golf,
Speaker 1: and we you know, plan to continue to be the
Speaker 1: leader in women's golf and to have the very best
Speaker 1: players play on our tour, but we also want to
Speaker 1: provide some flexibility when it makes sense for them and
Speaker 1: when you know, they want to go play at different places.
Speaker 1: We we can do that within the confines of our
Speaker 1: rules and regulations, and so we're trying to be flexible
Speaker 1: where we can. There your relationship with j Monahan, Um,
Speaker 1: you know who runs the PJA tour. How much of
Speaker 1: an asset is is having that relationship and being able
Speaker 1: to have that open communication with J and say listen, um,
Speaker 1: this is what we're trying to do. UM. Let me
Speaker 1: pick your I mean, do you have that kind of
Speaker 1: relationship where you talk to Jay and say listen, UM,
Speaker 1: let me run this idea by you. We're we're thinking
Speaker 1: about maybe doing this. We're thinking about maybe going in
Speaker 1: that direction, um, because obviously, with with the leadership that
Speaker 1: that J has had to get the p g A
Speaker 1: to or where it is UM, he must be a huge,
Speaker 1: huge resource for you. Absolutely. I mean Jay has been
Speaker 1: phenomenal from I mean I think he he called me
Speaker 1: the day that I was announced as the commissioner, and UM,
Speaker 1: you know, he's one of the first phone calls coming
Speaker 1: in to say congratulations and to offer his assistance. And UM,
Speaker 1: you know, I definitely have learned a ton from from
Speaker 1: him and from his experience. And he's been very you know,
Speaker 1: very very willing to UM not only just to talk,
Speaker 1: but to share information and to share knowledge and to
Speaker 1: to help the LPGA. I think the golf community really
Speaker 1: sees the value of the LPGA and they see the
Speaker 1: value of of helping us. I mean that we've gotten
Speaker 1: assistance from you know, Augustina National has been unbelievable and
Speaker 1: helping with you know, introducing us to partners and being
Speaker 1: supportive of what we do. Obviously the R and A
Speaker 1: with the UM, what they've done with the A I G.
Speaker 1: Women's Open has been phenomenal and the way they've really
Speaker 1: pushed on equity there raising purses the PGA of America,
Speaker 1: you know seth Wa and and his commitment with the
Speaker 1: KPMG UM you know, PGA Women's championship is really important,
Speaker 1: and his commitment to to the women's game, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: and obviously having Mike at the U s g A,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's amazing for women's golf. And he
Speaker 1: has a whole different lens on what to do to
Speaker 1: grow women's golf through the U s g AS platform. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, we so so I think that the golf
Speaker 1: community sees, first of all how important it is for
Speaker 1: the women's game to grow just more broadly, um, but
Speaker 1: also wants to help. They want us to get closer
Speaker 1: to equity, and they want us to to succeed. And
Speaker 1: so that's been great and we're really appreciative of what
Speaker 1: everyone does for the LPGA. You mentioned Mike Juan, who
Speaker 1: had the role before you did one of some of
Speaker 1: the things that that when you look back at his
Speaker 1: tenure at the LPGA, that you look back on and say,
Speaker 1: you know, that was that was a really really cool
Speaker 1: thing that he did. That was a really I mean,
Speaker 1: he really set this up for me to now help
Speaker 1: this grow. When you look at kind of his tenure,
Speaker 1: what are the things that you take away from that, um,
Speaker 1: that are that are hugely positive not only for you
Speaker 1: but what you think his role has been in moving
Speaker 1: the women's game forward. Yeah. Well, first of all, Mike's
Speaker 1: like a he's a visionary, you know, he's an idea guy.
Speaker 1: He's very winning, you know, he people want to follow him.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he's been. He was awesome for the LPGA,
Speaker 1: and I think he had a real plan and he
Speaker 1: implemented the plan and he got the organization to the
Speaker 1: point where we now have. You know, we don't have
Speaker 1: PGA resources. We still need to grow revenues in every area.
Speaker 1: We've got to change some structures around. We've got to
Speaker 1: do a number of things to be able to to
Speaker 1: be able to invest in in you know, whether it's
Speaker 1: subsidizing purses, whether it's you know, sort of having other
Speaker 1: programs for players for for their own performance. There's lots
Speaker 1: of areas that we still need to grow. But he
Speaker 1: set us up for that six s, you know. And again,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned earlier in the conversation, he really focused
Speaker 1: on the tournaments, which is what we have to do. Right.
Speaker 1: The first thing is what is the product that we're
Speaker 1: putting out there for our players to play in and
Speaker 1: for the fans to engage with. So he really focused
Speaker 1: on that he focused on really good communication with the
Speaker 1: players and um, so I think he set us up
Speaker 1: for the next step. And what he likes to say is,
Speaker 1: you know, listen, everybody has the baton for a little
Speaker 1: while and then they passed the baton. And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously our our team, our leadership team, has the baton now,
Speaker 1: and um, we're trying to advance it to the next level.
Speaker 1: It's all it's all linear, you know, hopefully it's it's
Speaker 1: linear and and it's it's very the upward trajectory is palpable, um,
Speaker 1: and we've been able to benefit from that. But I
Speaker 1: think our job is to say, Okay, what are the
Speaker 1: next big moments. How do we drive sort of revenues
Speaker 1: in different ways based on the technology, based on the
Speaker 1: sponsor interest to be able to reinvest in the in
Speaker 1: the tour. But yeah, I mean again, Mike, just like
Speaker 1: like I said, with j and And and Martin and
Speaker 1: Seth they he you know, I called him two days ago,
Speaker 1: Hey what do you think of this? You know, what
Speaker 1: do you what do you what do you see us
Speaker 1: doing next? And so it's very much of a partnership
Speaker 1: and I feel that, and I felt that for a
Speaker 1: minute one with the whole golf community. So, WELLI where
Speaker 1: do you want the LPGA to be in five years?
Speaker 1: I mean, what in a perfect world, if you could say, okay,
Speaker 1: in five years, we would have been able to do
Speaker 1: some of these things. I mean, obviously you can't. You
Speaker 1: can't predict the future. You don't know what's going to
Speaker 1: happen globally, But the idea of where you want the
Speaker 1: the LPGA to be in five years, how would in
Speaker 1: your vision um if you could kind of go through
Speaker 1: your whish list, what would be some things in in
Speaker 1: five years that are different about the LPGA where it
Speaker 1: is today versus where you hope it could be in
Speaker 1: five years time. Well, I mean again, I think it
Speaker 1: does start and end with the tournaments. I think we've
Speaker 1: got to we've got to make that tournament schedule be
Speaker 1: a little easier for the players to manage, to kind
Speaker 1: of line it all up a little better than I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty darn good this year, but there's a
Speaker 1: little back and forth that we've got to kind of
Speaker 1: work on and continuing to elevate all of the events
Speaker 1: and do that at the right time with the right partners,
Speaker 1: you know. I think again, we're super grateful for all
Speaker 1: the partners that we currently have, and they all want
Speaker 1: to grow and and continue to to offer more opportunities
Speaker 1: to the players. But I think really nailing down what
Speaker 1: that schedule looks like and hearing from the players, like
Speaker 1: what's the off season look like, what's the you know,
Speaker 1: when does the season start, when does it end? What's
Speaker 1: is the mix of tournaments in terms of, you know,
Speaker 1: the full field events versus some of these specialty events
Speaker 1: where we get more eyeballs, or the tent pole events
Speaker 1: where we get more eyeballs into the game like a
Speaker 1: Solheim Cup or an International Crown, or some of these
Speaker 1: unique match the Bank of Hope match play where where
Speaker 1: it's people are watching and bringing in new fans. But
Speaker 1: then how do we balance that with the full field events.
Speaker 1: So I think it starts and ends there with getting
Speaker 1: that schedule that everybody gets the schedule and they go
Speaker 1: this is awesome, like this is amazing events at best
Speaker 1: golf courses with with really high purses that continue to grow.
Speaker 1: And then I think the result of that is maybe
Speaker 1: that's you know, part of the result rather than the process.
Speaker 1: But as I said before that the first of all
Speaker 1: to start with the hundred best players in the world.
Speaker 1: The hundred best players in the world make a living
Speaker 1: that's reasonable and that's commensurate with their talent. Right now,
Speaker 1: we're not there, so we really need to fix that.
Speaker 1: I think we want to be more relevant in the
Speaker 1: sports community. Right We want people to know the LPGA players.
Speaker 1: People should know who Nellie Corta is. Everybody should know
Speaker 1: who Lydia Co is, who Lexi Thompson is. I can
Speaker 1: go down the list, Minji Lea, Tia Tinnico. You know,
Speaker 1: people should know. Those should be household names. And so
Speaker 1: I want to make sure that those are household names
Speaker 1: as well as you know, so many others Jim Young,
Speaker 1: co and Brooke. I mean, you know, the people should
Speaker 1: say oh, just like they do with Serena Williams. You know,
Speaker 1: we we need people to be a bit to have
Speaker 1: our players be a bit more relevant in the in
Speaker 1: the global sports landscape. Um. And so we've got a
Speaker 1: strategy and we're working on that. And you know, I
Speaker 1: would also like our players to to feel, like I
Speaker 1: said before, they arrive on that first team ready to
Speaker 1: compete at the very highest level of their ability, and
Speaker 1: so to reduce some of the the hardship of being
Speaker 1: out on the LPGA. So those are some big goals. Um,
Speaker 1: And I think we'll get there. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: we're close, and we've got work to do, but I
Speaker 1: really do think we'll get there. Lastly, Molly, Um, what
Speaker 1: do you hope the ten year old girl that went
Speaker 1: to Lake Nona with her parents over the weekend and
Speaker 1: got to walk around and and and see the girls
Speaker 1: on the LPGA um play over over last week? What
Speaker 1: do you hope is is is to take away from
Speaker 1: that for her? Because we hear so many times, you know,
Speaker 1: guys that that you see winning on the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: and there's a picture of them get you know John
Speaker 1: rom Getting getting Henrik Stenson's autograph when he was a
Speaker 1: kid at Valderrama, Right, I mean, what do you hope
Speaker 1: is to take away for the young for the young
Speaker 1: girls that were at the LPGA last week? Um, and
Speaker 1: and and and and how do you think that experience
Speaker 1: can can help them move, you know forward in the
Speaker 1: in their golfing careers. Yeah, I mean, listen, part of
Speaker 1: what we do is we are you know, we we
Speaker 1: think that we have this huge opportunity to be a
Speaker 1: latform to elevate opportunities for girls and women not just
Speaker 1: on the golf course, but off the golf course too.
Speaker 1: So I hope that young young athletes and young girls
Speaker 1: see golf as a great opportunity for them to make
Speaker 1: an amazing living as an athlete and being valued for
Speaker 1: their talent. But I also hope that they inspire girls
Speaker 1: just generally to be empowered and to know that they
Speaker 1: can do hard things, and they can be resilient, and
Speaker 1: they can be respected um at the highest level of
Speaker 1: things that they maybe traditionally haven't been UM front and
Speaker 1: center on. So I think that's a gigantic opportunity. We're
Speaker 1: a women's organization. We're promoting girls and women with everything
Speaker 1: we do, and we're kind of intentional with that. So,
Speaker 1: you know, I, as a young young girl watch the LPGA,
Speaker 1: and my parents didn't play golf. They weren't we weren't
Speaker 1: a golf family. But that's what I saw on TV.
Speaker 1: So I said, I want to do that. You know,
Speaker 1: how do I get to the public golf course and
Speaker 1: and and play like uh, you know, Nancy Lopez, or
Speaker 1: play like um, you know Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel
Speaker 1: and Cathy Whitworth. You know, these were people that I was, um,
Speaker 1: you know, just followed all the time because I said, oh,
Speaker 1: women can be athletes and they can make a living
Speaker 1: doing this. So I'm really excited about that. And I
Speaker 1: think that, um, you know this week for example, last
Speaker 1: week when they're playing next to the men, and people
Speaker 1: were much more engaged in what the women were doing
Speaker 1: because they were the truly the best in the world.
Speaker 1: So again, that platform is really important for us. And
Speaker 1: the LPGA has been doing it for seventy two years.
Speaker 1: We've been doing hard things for seventy two years. And um,
Speaker 1: think about that, I mean twenty two years before title nine.
Speaker 1: The l p g A was founded by some incredible
Speaker 1: women and people have made a women have made a
Speaker 1: living playing golf for seventy two years. But now we've
Speaker 1: got to have them make a living. That's more, you know,
Speaker 1: in line with with that world class talent. But it's
Speaker 1: fun being out there and seeing those little girls and
Speaker 1: you know, this club, but like who are better than
Speaker 1: our players with engaging with fans. I mean, Lexie Thompson
Speaker 1: is unbelievable. She'll she'll sign every autograph, she'll you know,
Speaker 1: lighten up the day of Lydia, the same thing, Minji.
Speaker 1: You know, the list goes on and on. Um Brooke
Speaker 1: is phenomenal at that. So these are ambassadors, ambassadors for women,
Speaker 1: ambassadors for the game. They do a great job in
Speaker 1: the pro am as you know, I mean, UM, it
Speaker 1: was really fun to hear Taylor uh Twellman talk about
Speaker 1: how great um Maria and Selene. I think it was
Speaker 1: we played with who He said, if my daughters can
Speaker 1: be half the women that these women are, UM, I've
Speaker 1: done it. I'll have done a great job as a parent.
Speaker 1: So those are the things we're trying to do. I
Speaker 1: love that about this job. I love that about our players,
Speaker 1: and we have a platform and we've got to use it. Well.
Speaker 1: Last week was a great success. I had a blast
Speaker 1: there and congrats. I'm excited to see what holds for
Speaker 1: the LPGA tour. Um, keep keep fighting the good fight.
Speaker 1: I think you're doing a great job and UM, I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see where things go. Well, thanks for caring
Speaker 1: and thanks for talking um so you know passionately about
Speaker 1: what we do. I listened to your podcast with Ashley
Speaker 1: Boo Hi, which I loved, I mean, and it was
Speaker 1: great that you'd watched that whole you know, her whole
Speaker 1: back nine and that tremendous playoff, and she's just she's lovely.
Speaker 1: I mean, all the women on the tour really do
Speaker 1: love the lpg A and they they love the opportunity
Speaker 1: they have to to change the world. Well, we'll hope
Speaker 1: to see out there soon and keep up the good work. Okay,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot. So that was a really really good
Speaker 1: talk with Molly Hooton. And as the commission of the
Speaker 1: ALPG Tour, listen, she's got a tough job, but I
Speaker 1: think she's she's doing a great job. And um, I
Speaker 1: think the LPGA is going from strength to strength. There
Speaker 1: are some unbelievable golfers on that tour, some of the
Speaker 1: best golf swings on the planet, um, in my opinion.
Speaker 1: So I hope everybody enjoyed that. That's kind of the
Speaker 1: goal of the podcast to try and bring more voices
Speaker 1: from all different kind of aspects of this crazy game.
Speaker 1: And uh, who better to talk about the women's game
Speaker 1: than Molly, So I want to thank her for doing that. Um,
Speaker 1: had a great time at the lpg event last week. UM,
Speaker 1: it's always fun to I've spent so much time as
Speaker 1: a part of the men's game, and it's always really
Speaker 1: cool to to go UM to a women's event and
Speaker 1: see the products, see you know, the type of players
Speaker 1: and and and as I said in the pod, it's
Speaker 1: a great opportunity for me to go see uh some
Speaker 1: players up close that you know that I don't get
Speaker 1: an opportunity to see all the time. So I want
Speaker 1: to thank everyone for listening and some of a buch
Speaker 1: comes to you every Wednesday. We will see everyone next week.