In-Depth
Golf's Leaderboard
Industry executives who are on the move and who will be ones to watch over the next year.
Courtesy of the PGA Tour
Alex Baldwin
President, Web.com Tour
A rising star at the PGA Tour, Baldwin in January was named as the tour’s first woman to lead any of its six global tours.
She joined the tour two years ago, bringing a formidable skill set to the property with her previous work as a golf agent at IMG and with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan when both were at Fenway Sports Group.
The developmental tour has grown significantly in recent years and it will be up to Baldwin to continue the upward trajectory.
Courtesy of the PGA Tour
Len Brown
Chief Legal Officer, PGA Tour
Brown plays a huge behind-the-scenes role at the PGA Tour where he has taken the lead of its increasingly aggressive sports betting efforts that Commissioner Jay Monahan and company are banking on to help drive fan engagement.
Brown, who played football at Penn State, knows sports. He previously worked as legal counsel for the Atlanta Braves and Turner Sports, and there isn’t a major business decision at the tour that doesn’t involve him.
Courtesy of the PGA Tour
Greg McLaughlin
CEO, World Golf Foundation;
President, The First Tee
A longtime veteran of the golf industry, McLaughlin took over at the end of 2018 from the retiring Steve Mona in leading the World Golf Foundation and The First Tee in a consolidated post that also includes management of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
It’s a job that requires strong relationships given that all of golf’s major bodies in the PGA Tour, LPGA, PGA of America, the Masters and the R&A all sit on the World Golf Foundation board. McLaughlin, former president of the Champions Tour, spent 15 years running the Tiger Woods Foundation and has been tournament director for a number of major tour stops.
Arnold Palmer Enterprises
Jon Podany
CEO, Arnold Palmer Enterprises
Podany caught the industry’s attention last fall when the longtime golf executive left the LPGA as chief commercial officer to run Arnold Palmer Enterprises.
It will be worth watching what changes Podany brings in leading the Palmer business portfolio that includes Palmer’s charitable foundation, Arnie’s Army; the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational; Arnold Palmer Design Co.; the Arnold Palmer Cup; and both the Bay Hill Club and Latrobe Country Club.
Courtesy of the PGA of America
Suzy Whaley
President, PGA of America
Whaley was elected last November as the PGA of America’s first female president and it bears watching what the highly respected executive and teacher brings to the top level of the game over her two-year term. Whaley has been on the PGA of America’s board of directors since 2010 and has deep ties to the game dating to her professional playing days.
She is seen as a strong leader who can use her role to better represent PGA of America members, help grow the game’s participation and bring much-needed diversity to the sport.
