Former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan named CEO of the U.S. Golf Association
Whan, who will succeed Mike Davis, oversaw an 85% increase in prize money during his 11 years as head of the LPGA and made women's golf a global game.
Mike Whan, who in his 11 years as LPGA commissioner oversaw an 85% increase in prize money and helped make women’s golf a worldwide sport, was named Wednesday the new CEO of the U.S. Golf Association.
The association said Whan, 56, would assume his new role in the summer succeeding Mike Davis. Davis, who became the USGA’s executive director in 2011 and its first CEO in 2016, is leaving to team with Tom Fazio II on a new golf course design venture.
Davis said Whan, who announced last month he would step down as LPGA commissioner, will remain with the LPGA until a new commissioner is in place, but will begin the transition to his new position before then.
“He and I will certainly be working together,” Davis said during a virtual media conference, “talking about strategic plans, annual goals, our organizational structure, and understanding of our budget, our finances, our assets, and just kind of a deep dive into what we do.”
Whan said he’s gotten to know all of golf’s major stakeholders during his time as LPGA commissioner and that he would be comfortable with “building strategic alliances where we share goals but have to work together to get there.
“I know if the USGA is going to be successful in the next 10 to 15 years, it’s going to be because we created these powerful alliances with the groups that matter and the ones that are going to want golf to be great for the next 50-100 years, just like the last 50 to 100,” he said. “I know I have a lot to learn, but I think I’ll be surrounded by people who can teach me.”
One of Whan’s biggest concerns in taking over will be the continuing investigation into the impact of distance in the game. Earlier this month, the USGA and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews issued a report citing “specific areas of interest to help mitigate continuing distance increased” while proposing changes to equipment rules.
Whan said he doesn’t want to discourage manufacturers by putting “handcuffs” on innovation.
“The one thing I know from spending time in the manufacturing world is as soon as we establish new standards, whatever those standards are, a thousand engineers will wake up the next morning and start figuring out how to push the envelope within those standards,” he said.
During his time as LPGA commissioner, Whan increased prize money from $41.4 million to $76.5 million while raising the number of tournaments from 24 to 34. Television hours have grown from 125 to more than 500 per season, and the LPGA is seen in more than 170 countries.