The LPGA is going to undergo a significant change at the start of 2025, with Mollie Marcoux Samaan announcing this week that she will be stepping down as the Commissioner after more than three years.
The LPGA has provided a glimpse of its potential in the last few months. Nelly Korda is threatening to breakout as a mainstream star having had a phenomenal 2024 on the golf course.
Meanwhile, having Caitlin Clark feature in the Pro-Am ahead of The ANNIKA appeared to be a potential needle mover for the LPGA. And the season concluded with Jeeno Thitikul winning $4 million for beating Angel Yin to the CME Group Tour Championship title in Florida.
Nevertheless, it seems that Marcoux Samaan feels that she has taken the tour as far as she can. She is set to step aside in January 2025 with Liz Moore taking over on an interim basis.
Brittany Lincicome reacts as Mollie Marcoux Samaan steps down as LPGA Commissioner
And speaking to Golf Channel, two-time major champion Brittany Lincicome hinted that there is likely to be mixed feelings amongst the tour about Marcoux Samaan’s announcement, with the tour on the verge of a really exciting period.
“I was actually surprised, like 50-50 I guess. There had been rumours, some negative stuff that the players felt that Mollie wasn’t doing. But at the end of the day, you’re never going to please 144 women. It’s a hard job, it was going to be a hard job for whoever came in. Mike Whan obviously crushed it,” she said.
“I am sad to see her go, because I do think she was really putting her heart and soul into it and helping us, and she really cared about the LPGA and was trying to help us. But at the end of the day, like Amy mentioned, there was a couple of things that players wanted her to work on. But she was only there three years, so maybe she just needed a bit more time.
“But here we are, we’re moving forward and the LPGA is in a great spot. We have so many new events, we’re playing for so much more money. I wish I was a rookie this year and not retiring, just to get a piece of that money, but the LPGA is in a great spot.”
Why Marcoux Samaan was criticised during the latter stages of her tenure
In some ways, it is a good problem to have that the biggest criticism of Marcoux Samaan, from the outside, appeared to be that she was not making the most of the progress the LPGA was enjoying.
The LPGA was accused of not capitalising on Clark’s appearance alongside Korda at Pelican. Clark is one of the biggest names across all sport right now, and the LPGA would obviously be hoping to elevate Korda to that kind of status in the years to come.
Obviously, the tour will not want to look back in a few years and rue the missed chance to capitalise on the potential shown up until 2024. But perhaps Lincicome’s comments show that the golfing world may only be able to reach a true verdict of how good or bad a job Marcoux Samaan did in the years to come.
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