The LPGA formally introduced new Commissioner Jim Ritts
yesterday, with Ritts identifying four primary areas of concern:
focusing on "sponsor-related" activities, garnering greater
exposure for the Tour, "investing" in junior golf, and developing
the LPGA's "brand identity." Ritts was Channel One
Communications' President of Network Affairs and has a strong
background in marketing and communications (Leonard Shapiro,
WASHINGTON POST, 6/9). Ritts meets LPGA players tonight at the
Edna Realty Classic in Brooklyn, MN, according to USA TODAY.
Ritts: "I don't have a concise plan for the next five years, and
I'm not going to tell them I do. They know I don't come from the
game of golf, but I do have 20 years of business and marketing
experience and have been dealing with sponsors for cable
television" (Steve Hershey, USA TODAY, 6/9). In a related story
in Minneapolis, Rachel Blount writes that the Ben Wright
controversy was a "PR bomb turned PR boon." She writes that the
LPGA's players hope the positive impressions they created will
linger. Tour veteran Meg Mallon: "In a sense you want it to go
away, but its brought a lot of attention to the tour"
(Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/9).
