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All things considered, the joint venture on which Mike Whan, the commissioner of the LPGA, and Marta Figueras-Dotti, who chairs the Ladies European Tour board, shook hands last Tuesday adds up to good Christmas tidings. The optimum solution would have been for the LET to find a Mike Whan of their own and stay as a completely separate entity but, since Mike Whans are few and far between and can command a hefty fee, that was an unlikely option.
Though Mark Lichtenhein, the LET’s acting CEO until September of this year, had steadied the ship after Ivan Khodabakhsh, the CEO from 2013 to 2017, had presided over a period of lost tournaments and dwindling funds, nothing was happening fast enough for the players. Quite simply, their patience had been exhausted by years of unrequited promises.
In 2017, during Khodabakhsh’s reign, they were down to a paltry 14 tournaments, only seven of which took place in the months leading up to the Solheim Cup in Des Moines, Iowa. The Americans, in contrast, had 22 weeks of competitive play under their belts at that same point. Meanwhile, it was a year further back that Figueras-Dotti had started advising young Spanish amateurs to take immediate aim on the LPGA Tour on turning professional instead of wasting their formative years in Europe.
Now, in the wake of talks between the two bodies which started during the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September, a raft of fresh openings would seem to be on the cards. “In the 60 days since we began working on the project,” said Figueras-Dotti, “we have already seen a dramatic impact on our LET schedule.” So far, they have been able to announce a doubling of the prize fund for the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España from the €300,000 of this year to €600,000 in 2020, and the introduction of a Race to the Costa del Sol, which will result in next season’s top three splitting €250,000, of which €125,000 will go to the winner.
Whan, along with two LPGA board members, flew to last week’s event in Andalucía to address the LET players, some of whom had been more than a tad wary at the prospect of a link with the LPGA. European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew, for instance, had voiced concerns as to how any liaison with the Americans might affect the “rivalry” and “integrity” of the Solheim Cup. Others, meantime, wanted to know what was in it for Whan.
In both cases, Whan was able to offer the necessary reassurances. He pointed to how the atmosphere at this year’s Solheim Cup had remained as intense as it ever was, and that though the Europeans had all been playing the majority of their golf on the LPGA Tour. At the same time, he noted that the LET would remain as an individual entity.
As for what was in it for him, Whan spoke poignantly of how he was only doing what the LPGA founders would have expected him to do – and that he would like to think that, had the roles had been reversed and the LPGA been the ones needing help, the LET would have obliged. He did add, though, that a thriving LET was in all their interests.
“Mike Whan’s a very charismatic character and what he said and the way he said it was compelling,” said Beth Allen, winner of the LET’s Order of Merit in 2016.
Throughout the relevant meeting, the commissioner had put his message across without sounding in any way patronising, with his emphasis on the words “joint venture partnership” steering clear of any suggestions that the LET were the poor relations. In playing terms, of course, they were anything but after winning the ’19 Solheim Cup. True, the European team had polished their games in America, but almost all had learned their trade at home.
One sentence in official statement covered more or less everything the European women needed to hear: “The partnership aims to immediately increase playing opportunities for women in Europe and to have that schedule growth lead to both increased financial opportunities and an optional pathway to the LPGA for the tour’s top performers.”
Felicity Johnson, a two-time winner on the LET and one who spent five years in America, said that she had had her doubts when she went into the meeting. “I’d never been convinced when people talked about doing things for the good of the game,” she explained. “As it was, I was totally convinced that this was the best way ahead by the time I left. I may be 32, but I walked out feeling rejuvenated. ”
“For the last few years,” continued Johnson, “I’ve been asking myself why I was bothering to work flat out when I was never going to get into more than 12 to 15 events. Now it sounds as if we’ll get more full-field as opposed to co-sanctioned weeks and there will be more playing opportunities overall.” Johnson also homed in on the fact that such extra opportunities would give everyone a better chance of accruing the necessary points to make future Solheim Cup sides.
Georgia Hall, the 2018 Women’s British Open champion, was similarly positive. “It all sounds good to me,” said Hall. “The extra playing opportunities will be welcome and the Order of Merit bonus sounds like a great end-of-season award. I think it should encourage the Europeans playing in the US to spend more time at home.”
Lewine Mair