So too has the story of him showing up at LPGA headquarters for his first day on the job in 2009 and asking that his reserved parking sign be removed, a nod to his belief that he was no different than the tours other employees. That is, until Whan made a few quiet phone calls to other leaders in the industry Jay Monahan (PGA Tour), Keith Pelley (European Tour), David Abeles (TaylorMade) and the man he would replace at the USGA, Mike Davis. If you need to showcase how you can conserve water, well be there. Everybody evolves not only to make the game better, but to make sure its great for the next 100 years. I feel like its embarrassingly past time. Since April, hes been enveloped in lengthy talks with everyone from Monahan and Waugh, to Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, to manufacturers like Callaway and TaylorMade. Particularly in the case of the ongoing distance debate, which as the USGA moves to the solution phase of its Distance Insights Report, there continues to be strong feelings on both sides of the aisle. Were just talking about the best of the best. Whan? What incoming USGA chief Mike Whan was thinking watching the U.S. Women's Open. We understand that we have to protect the game enough to make sure we dont obsolete ourselves, said Whan, but at the same time were not trying to stick R&D in a box. I think at the USGA, again, whatever asterisks you need to put on everything I say Thats great, hes been there four days I think the USGA, and I said this to the executive committee, is golfs trusted partner. We all woke up and said, Holy shit, look whats happening. We were running out of equipment, golf courses were running out of tee times. Under his leadership, the LPGA experienced unprecedented growth, with significant increases in the number of tournaments, purses and television coverage. And then when it ended, we all went back home. I havent had those conversations with everybody yet, but I will. If youre there, theyll talk to you. He made us feel empowered and invested in the future of the tour. Shell get her name on that trophy before shes through. It only seems like Thompson has been around forever. There exists an environment in which we can talk to everybody and get things done, he says. So, he called in. Here (from left) with Jess McAlister, Randi Zuckerberg, Kira K. Dixon, Jeehae Lee and Marissa Mar. Then the LPGA commissioner, Mike Whan reacts after a shot during the CME Group charity event to benefit St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital prior to the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in 2018 in Naples, Florida. Where are you playing your golf these days? I just got off the phone with a recruiter and I gave him your name, Whan replied. His main source of income is from his primary work as a golf executive. Ive got to learn theirs. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Mike . To the fans, to the broadcasters, to the players. He spent the next 11 years leading the tour to massive growth expanding the schedule from 24 events to 34 and nearly doubling the prize money. In February, Whan was named the next Chief Executive Officer of the USGA. Much of Whans success at the LPGA building the tour up from near ashes when he took on the job in 2010 and then passing the ultimate stress test by seeing the tour through a global pandemic has been the strength of his partnerships. There was a bigness of the stage.. Check out the prize money payouts at the 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship. We just have to make sure that the out of bounds stakes arent so far out that we wake up without the sport., The fast-talking Whan is quick to admit that there are plenty of areas within the USGA in which he is no expert. If Im smart enough to let them teach me while Im trying to teach them, I could be good for them, and they could be good for me. And thats part of the beauty of any U.S. Open.. Im in a hurry to catch up. Why isnt that a thing? They are Austin, Wesley, and Connor. Obviously, the success were having now with a different face of the game and the future, weve got to pour fuel on the fire and were in a great position to do that. Mike Whan named next USGA CEO, ready to embrace challenges and He also oversaw the expansion of the LPGA to include both the Symetra Tour and Ladies European Tour, as well as a nearly 50 percent increase in membership of LPGA Professionals, the associations teaching division. Getty Images. That was not only new for me, but I think it was new for them because they havent been in the office a whole lot. GOLF DIGEST MAY EARN A PORTION OF SALES FROM PRODUCTS THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR SITE AS PART OF OUR AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH RETAILERS. When Mike Whan took over as LPGA commissioner in 2010, the tour's schedule featured only 24 official events worth $41.4 million in prize money. Im curious about USGA CEO perks. Fact is, though, his rise is anything but. . Mike Whan net worth. Hannah Green couldnt hold back the emotion after clinching her first LPGA title in nearly four years. I have a tournament next week, so well take it from here, Lexi Thompson said, wrapping up her week with a brief press session. Mike Whan Wife Age, Salary and Net Worth: Everything About LPGA Im never really sure which 30 until the next morning when I wake up and I hear back, but if that fear of the 30 percent stops you from hitting the send button, then youre not the right person for the job. Former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan dishes on money, distance and what he wakes up thinking about as the new CEO of the USGA. Their reaction was the game-over point for me, said Whan. I cant say definitively, but I think your memory of my perspective is true. We're going to go to range finders on the LPGA in 2022 across the board. Before that, he spent nearly 23 years as senior writer for Sports Illustrated. However, he is active on LinkedIn which pretty much gives oversight to his career and professional biography. His foot was on the gas. It is difficult, though, to get him to acknowledge the weight he now carries. Youve got to invest in them.. Then the conversation turns to golf and he really starts going, talking faster, sharing his vision. We all went through this awkward transition, and that got a lot of attention, but today, I cant think of a rules change in that modernization that wasnt a home run. There will be no shortage of bridge-building. One significant challenge is that mens purses arent slowing down any time soon, including majors. The decisions coming down the pike that he will have to put his name on particularly in the area of rolling back distance at the highest levels of the game are ones that will ultimately be both hugely impactful on the future of golf and bullet points on his legacy. It is a provocative rsum for the leader of the USGA, but Whan carries his outsider status with pride, noting that he is hardly an expert on the rules. That group is really what I consider my friends. Even when I was doing the LPGA thing, I was doing some there. No question he is a doer, a visionary, and that he brings ideas to life, says USGA president J. Stuart Francis. And the USGA doesnt usually dodifferent. With that, a 56-year-old who prefers playing golf with a speaker pumping music in the cart and who is admittedly unqualified to make on-course rulings became one of the single-most impactful decision-makers in the game. Who is Mike Whan Wife? You dont worry about the ghost of Sandy Tatum haunting you because caddies at the U.S. Open are shooting things with a laser? Top 100 Courses in the U.S.: GOLFs all-new 2022-23 ranking is here! Seated face to face in a room at the Olympic Club's City Clubhouse, about 10 miles north of the U.S. Women's Open venue, two of the game's power brokers candidly riffed on childhood jobs . forbes.com. Maybe disappear, spend the year at the family lake house in Georgia. Hes in the early stages of his tenure as only the eighth USGA executive director since 1922. I know that because I lived through it at the LPGA without a similar nest egg. Whan graduated from Miami University of Ohio and began his corporate career at Proctor & Gamble. On this, no one is quite sure what to expect. New decade of Mike Whan: 'Turning up volume' on women's empowerment Why dont we have a U.S.A. development program for kids? No ones wants to take away grandpas Big Bertha. When I left the LPGA, I certainly did not have a job at the USGA. Maybe disappear, spend the . . Julia Pine - Director, Championship Communications. Whan, who has admitted that he might not be a great fit culturally for the USGA, will no doubt change the culture of the organization as it will inevitably change him. He owns American nationality, and his full name is Michael Whan. What do you wake up thinking about these days? USGA Boosts U.S. Women's Open Purse to $10 Million, Adds Five Future But why now? Michael (Mike) Whan joined the USGA as its chief executive officer (CEO) on July 1, 2021, becoming its eighth chief executive. He was saying, Onward. Prior to joining the USGA, Whan served as the commissioner of the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association), one of the longest-running and most successful womens sports organizations in the world, from January 2010June 2021. Hes off-the-record almost immediately, sharing a couple of good yarns he asks not be written. Im impressed and excited about the level of involvement the USGA has in so many different aspects of the game. I dont know many players on the mens tour. Mike Whan is married to his wife, Meg Whan. THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED, TRANSMITTED, CACHED OR OTHERWISE USED, EXCEPT WITH THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF DISCOVERY GOLF, INC. 2023 DISCOVERY GOLF, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Im still trying to understand why bifurcation scares everybody as much as it does. And weve got to get comfortable with each other.. I dont mean that in a bad way. They still need work., Whan says he cant come right out and open up the folder at this breakfast table because in part, Im not sure my staff knows whats coming yet. These ideas are indeed coming, though. To hear Whan tell it, the odds, as he saw them, were overwhelmingly stacked against him.
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