‘There’ve Been Rumors of Negative Stuff’: Nelly Korda’s Success Not Enough to Fix LPGA’s Deep-Rooted Issues

The LPGA Tour has come a long way, especially in 2024. For the past couple of years, there has been a visible spike in the popularity of women’s golf. There are better deals on the table. The purses are higher. The tour’s prize fund has grown by over 90% since 2021, and the average earnings for the top 100 golfers increased from about $570,000 in 2021 to more than $1 million this past season.

Take the purse of the CME Group Tour Championship, for instance. It increased from $7 million in 2023 to $11 million this year. Overall, there is one person to thank for this. The ninth and soon-to-be out-of-office LPGA Commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan. But it seems all of it was not enough, says the retiring 8-time LPGA Tour champion Brittany Lincicome.

In an interview with Golf Channel, she shared her thoughts on why Marcoux Samaan may have decided to step down as the commissioner effective from January 9, 2025: “There have been rumors of negative stuff the players felt Mollie wasn’t doing. At the end of the day, you are never going to please 144 women,” she said. Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko significantly added to the visibility with their sensational seasons, but many accused the Tour of not being able to capitalize on this rise for its benefit.

That’s the thing: Marcoux Samaan maybe could have capitalized on the Tour’s fame a bit more and could have brought better deals to the table, but she did help the Tour’s uprising. Britany Lincicome was asked, “Do you think that Mollie maximized the opportunity that was in front of her with this boon to women’s sports, the popularity of Nelly Korda this year winning 7 titles?” Her answer addressed both arguments.

“We could always say, ‘What if she would’ve done this or that?’ But, again, we have new events on the schedule, playing for $131 million, which is up. We are moving in the right direction. The majors are all stepping up, we’re playing for more money. I feel like we were still going in the right direction, even with maybe missing the mark with Nelly or having Caitlin Clark out last week at Pelican,” the retired professional added. But the thing she said about not being able to please every golfer? It’s true.

It is very difficult for the Tour commissioner to do what everyone thinks is right for the league. Take Jay Monahan, for example; he has garnered both backlash and support for the 2026 PGA Tour changes. You see, LPGA Tour players urged the LPGA Commissioner to focus on three key issues: advancing gender equality in pay and representation, finalizing the merger with the Ladies European Tour for global expansion, and addressing concerns over the LPGA’s relationship with Golf Saudi amid ethical concerns about human rights and sports-washing.

“I thought she was putting her heart and soul into it and cared about the LPGA Tour and cared about us, but there were a couple of things that players wanted her to work on. She was only there, what, three years? Maybe she needed more time, but we are moving forward, and the LPGA is in a great spot with so many new events,” added Lincicome. Sure, the prize money was higher, but this year truly wreaked havoc, mainly about the management issues. Remember the Solheim Cup?

During the event, most of the fans could not make it to the opening round at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club because half of them were stranded in parking lots. This one garnered a lot of criticism. Beth Ann Nichols, Golf Week’s reporter, criticized her last month, stating how her leadership skills were yet to improve. The lack of transparency with the issues pointed out by the players and the Solheim Cup fiasco was all because she failed to build relationships with the members of the Tour.

That was why, unlike the WNBA, the Tour failed to capitalize under her tenure. She even added the instance of Cognizant backing down from being the title sponsor of the LPGA Founders Cup, which was again a huge setback. But was it all bad? There is always something more that can be done.

For the 2025 season, there is the Black Desert Championship that is new; the LPGA Tour will return to Mexico for the first time since 2017 for the Riviera Maya Open in Cancun, and the 2025 major championship season will see golfers compete for more than $47 million and visit three new major-championship venues. Do you know that since 2021, majors’ purse has increased by a whopping 104%?

Marcoux Samaan did not specify any reason for her stepping down except for wanting to spend more time with her children and “continue to pursue my passion for building leaders, uniting communities, and creating value through sports, particularly women’s sports.” She further expressed gratitude, “In this role, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside a remarkable community of athletes, teachers, partners, tournament operators, industry colleagues, media, fans, volunteers, and staff who share a deep commitment to growing the LPGA and using the organization’s unique platform to empower and advance women and girls.

“I am proud of the unprecedented growth the LPGA has enjoyed since I began my tenure. The strategy we have built for growth and impact along with the infrastructure we have added to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity ahead, will serve the LPGA well in the coming decades.”

The players might have had a bit of scrutiny for Mollie Marcoux Samaan, but not her peers. As she let the world know her decision, praise followed.

Marcoux Samaan earns praise from Terry Duffy after criticism
Terry Duffy, CEO and chairman of CME Group, which sponsors the LPGA’s $11 million season finale, recently expressed high praise for LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan’s leadership. “I don’t know how you could not give A++ to where the tour is at today under her leadership,” he said. He told Golfweek that he couldn’t imagine how anyone could rate the Tour anything less than an A++, given its progress under her guidance.

However, just two years ago, Duffy had strongly criticized Marcoux Samaan and the LPGA leadership after no players attended an early-week dinner for sponsors before the CME Group Tour Championship, despite 11 players having RSVP’d. “They better get their act together,” Duffy said in a Golfweek story in 2022, “because they’re going to lose people like me over stuff like this.” So, one could say that she did turn things around.