PGA of America CEO JOE STERANKA's decision to leave the organization at the end of '12 "surprised some industry leaders, and even he struggled to call it 'retirement,'" though he "made it clear" he was not leaving to take another job, according to Gene Yasuda of GOLFWEEK. Steranka said, "It's always hard to know when's the best time to step away. But the PGA is in very good shape, and I can step away and know that the association has very strong financial resources to fund the initiatives that are so important to growing the game." He added, "I've been hard at it for a long time, and I'm ready to reap some of the rewards of all that hard work. But I'm not kidding myself. I think I will get bored after a couple of months of just playing golf and reading The Wall Street Journal. I'll be up for something else, but I can take my time to choose." Steranka said that the PGA of America is "establishing a search committee to find his successor." However, he "declined to say whether a short list of potential replacements already existed, adding that the PGA would 'look internally and outside' for candidates." PGA Tour Commissioner TIM FINCHEM said of Steranka, "He's been creative, he's an absolute hard worker, and he's been a guy who's in favor of the collaboration of golf organizations to do stuff, which I think is real important" (GOLFWEEK.com, 4/11). Steranka: "I'm at a point in my life where I'm still young enough to look at new challenges. Golf does so many good things" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/12).
