The LPGA this week is playing the first of six consecutive tournaments in Asia, but Commissioner Mike Whan said the '14 season already has "been an incredible year." Whan, appearing this morning on Golf Channel's "Morning Drive," noted it has been a "career-defining year for so many of our players." He said, "No matter what angle you take -- whether it's TV ratings, whether it's who's winning on tour, whether it’s the Race for the CME Globe -- all of the stories are pretty good this year." The season will conclude in late November in Naples, Fla., and Whan said that the Road to the CME Globe "holds our whole season together." Whan: "It makes every event lead to the next. The bottom line is to get into that event, you either have to win on tour or be one of the top 72-point earners from the whole season. Everybody is trying to figure out where they stand.” This year marked the debut of the International Crown event outside Baltimore, which features eight four-person teams from different countries. Whan believes it will become "one of the two or three global showcase events." He said, "We have majors, but International Crown is really going to be a place where the world stops and watches women’s golf." He said this July's event "just blew it away." Whan: "We thought eight countries would really embrace International Crown, (but) 171 countries watched it. We totally missed how many countries would care. What I’m seeing now is how many countries are saying, ‘What do we have to do to get into the Crown?’ I think in 2016 ... you’re just going to see that ramp up another level" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 10/2).
