LPGA names Mollie Marcoux Samaan new commissioner

According to Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest on Tuesday, the LPGA has named Mollie Marcoux Samaan of Ithaca, New York as the second female commissioner in LPGA Tour history. Marcoux Samaan follows Carolyn Bivens of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who held the position from 2005 to 2009.

It should be noted that Marsha Evans of Springfield, Illinois was the interim commissioner of the LPGA Tour from July of 2009 to October 2009 when the LPGA was looking for a replacement for Bivens. They finally settled on Mike Whan of Naperville, Illinois, who was the LPGA Tour Commissioner for 13 years from 2009 to 2021, before resigning to be the chief executive officer of the United States Golf Association.

Marcoux Samaan played golf as a teenager, before her time at Princeton University where she was a two-sport athlete in women’s ice hockey and soccer from 1987 to 1991. Whan also had a hockey connection as he was the president and chief executive officer of Mission Hockey, a hockey equipment company.

Marcoux Samaan’s major at Princeton was history. Her thesis while attending the school was about the history of women in sports from 1895 to 1946.

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Since 2014, Marcoux Samaan was the athletics director at Princeton University. However during that time the Tigers were unable to win a championship at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level in any sport.

According to Amy Rogers of Golf Channel,  the focus for Marcoux Samaan will be to improve women’s golf purses, partners, global growth and exposure. It should be noted the top 10 golfers on the PGA Tour in 2020 made $51.8 million. Meanwhile, the top 10 golfers on the LPGA Tour in 2020 made $5.3 million. There is also a serious issue with the lack of television exposure in women’s golf compared to men’s golf. The number of television hours a men’s golf major receives is significantly more.

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