In the first part of a series on the state of the LPGA
Tour, GOLFWEEK's John Steinbreder writes that it is
"accurate to say that the overall state of the LPGA is good.
In fact, it has never been better." Last year, the LPGA
earned $38.2M in revenue against $37.9M in expenses, to
which Steinbreder adds, "The association is on solid
financial footing and is way past the time when it had to
expend almost all its energy just to survive week-to-week."
Former LPGA Tour Commissioner Jim Ritts said that there were
stories "questioning our financial viability ... whenever we
lost a sponsor or a tournament." Ritts: "I finally began to
see the problem as perceptional and cultural. Sponsor
turnover is inherent in sports. ... But because we had lost
some sponsors and events in the past, people automatically
assumed that when we lost a sponsor now, it meant the event
was going away." Former LPGA Commissioner Charlie Mechem
said that he would "needle" some in the media because when
the LPGA Tour lost a sponsor, "it was front-page news, but
if it happened to the regular (PGA) or Senior PGA tours, it
would end up on page 25" (GOLFWEEK, 5/22 issue).