Faced with an internal uprising among its membership, the LPGA Tour reversed course on its gender policy.
After 275 players on the LPGA and developmental Epson tours recently petitioned the tour to ban transgender golfers, the LPGA joined the USGA in mandating that players must be female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty.
The LPGA and USGA issued news releases within minutes of each other on Wednesday to outline the policies, which take effect in 2025.
The move was prompted in no small part by the emergence of Hailey Davidson, a 32-year-old transgender golfer who recently won partial status on the Epson Tour for next season. Davidson, who missed qualifying for the USGA’s 2024 U.S. Women’s Open by one stroke, expressed her displeasure on Instagram without disclosing whether she might challenge the policy.
“The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions,” outgoing commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan announced in a statement.
In a similar statement, Mike Whan, the USGA’s CEO, cited the desire to “maintain competitive integrity.”
The latest action is an about-face for the LPGA, which rescinded the “female at birth” clause in its bylaws after a discrimination lawsuit was filed in 2010 by Lana Lawless, a former police officer who underwent a sex-change operation. Lawless competed in long-drive competitions but did not qualify for the LPGA or its feeder tour. READ MORE
Mollie Marcoux Samaan, whose 3½-year tenure as LPGA commissioner was marked by record prize-money growth but achieved in relative national sports obscurity, has resigned before the start of the women’s tour’s 75th season. Liz Moore, the tour’s chief legal technology and technology officer, will be the interim commissioner until a replacement is announced. READ MORE
The LPGA stands to lose $2 million this year, Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. The news comes after the LPGA – which increased its staff by a third in 2024 and boosted its marketing initiatives – reported a record $209 million in revenue in 2023, its most recent tax filing, according to Sportico. READ MORE and MORE
Three LPGA players ranked among the 15 highest-paid female athletes in the world in 2024, according to a study published by Sportico. American Nelly Korda stood eighth with an estimated $14.4 million in prize money and endorsements, followed by Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul ($9.1 million) in 12th place and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko ($6.7 million) in 15th. American tennis player Coco Gauff topped the list for a second straight year, earning $30.4 million. READ MORE
The top 25 players and ties earned 2025 LPGA Tour exemptions at last week’s Q-Series Final Qualifying tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Crossings Course in Mobile, Alabama. READ MORE
Bryan Lynn, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Kevin Kisner will work as lead analyst on NBC Sports’ telecasts of PGA Tour events in 2025, joining Dan Hicks in the broadcast booth.
Kisner emerged from a revolving door of candidates – Brandel Chamblee, Luke Donald, Brad Faxon, Jim “Bones” Mackay and Paul McGinley among them – who auditioned throughout the year to replace Paul Azinger, whose contract was not renewed by the network in late 2023.
Kisner, 40, a four-time winner on the tour, intends to exercise a one-time exemption via his ranking on the PGA Tour’s career money list – he stands 50th with $29,285,023 – to play a limited schedule in 2025. He missed 17 cuts in 23 starts in 2024, with no top-25 results. READ MORE
Tony Finau didn’t withdraw from last week’s Hero World Challenge because he is preparing to jump to LIV Golf, as has been speculated, the six-time tour winner said. It’s because he recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and remove cartilage in his left knee, Finau told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. Finau, 35, intends to begin the PGA Tour season January 2 at the Sentry in Hawaii. READ MORE
Tiger Woods told the media at last week’s Hero World Challenge that he was not fully recovered from another round of recent back surgeries, conceding “I’m not tournament sharp yet” and “I’m still not there.” Woods, who will turn 49 on December 30, continues to struggle from the effects of a single-vehicle rollover crash in early 2021. READ MORE
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan earned more than $23 million in regular and deferred compensation in 2023, including $12.1 million in performance incentives, Sportico reported, citing a copy of the tour’s recently filed tax return as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. READ MORE
The top five finishers and ties in next week’s final stage of Q-School will earn PGA Tour exemptions for 2025, with other spots on offer for the developmental Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas. The 168-player, 72-hole tournament will be held December 12-15 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and nearby Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. READ MORE
The famously rowdy galleries at the WM Phoenix Open will have another reason to cheer after Spain’s Josele Ballester, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and a senior at nearby Arizona State, was awarded the first sponsor exemption for the February 6-9 event at TPC Scottsdale. READ MORE
The PGA Tour announced three nominees for its Jack Nicklaus Award, which honors the 2024 player of the year, in what could be the most anticlimactic vote since the latest Russian election. Seven-time winner Scottie Scheffler, whose season included the Masters and FedEx Cup titles plus an Olympic gold medal, was nominated with two-time major champion Xander Schauffele and two-time winner Rory McIlroy. There is just about as much drama in the balloting for rookie of the year, with two-time winner Nick Dunlap nominated with one-time winners Jake Knapp and Matthieu Pavon, plus Max Greyserman. Voting among players closed on December 4, with winners to be announced later this month. READ MORE
Adrian Otaegui, a native Spaniard and five-time winner on the DP World Tour, has changed his nationality to the United Arab Emirates with the intention of winning an Olympic medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Otaegui, 32, has lived in the UAE for 13 years and calls it “my home.”
“I love its culture and how it has become one of the most innovative nations in the past 50 years,” he said before debuting as an Emirati with a tie for 24th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. “My goal is to represent the UAE globally, win an Olympic medal, and raise its flag on the podium.”
Six years ago, Rory Sabbatini, a native South African and six-time PGA Tour winner, became a citizen of Slovakia, the home nation of his wife and stepson, before the 2020 Tokyo Games, in which he won the silver medal. READ MORE
American Ryggs Johnston won the ISPS Handa Australian Open, in only his second start on the DP World Tour, and led three qualifiers for next year’s Open Championship. Johnston, 24, who played college golf at Arizona State and is from Libby, Montana, earned DP World Tour status last month via Q-School. Australians Curtis Luck and Marc Leishman also earned exemptions via the Open Qualifying Series for the 153rd Open, to be played July 17-20 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. READ MORE
The documentary “Una Famiglia,” a 90-minute look into Europe’s victorious 2023 Ryder Cup team, premiered last week. READ MORE
Sweden’s Jesper Svensson, who won the Porsche Singapore Classic and added three runner-up finishes, was named the DP World Tour’s Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year. Svensson, 28, finished 10th in the Race to Dubai standings and earned dual membership on the PGA Tour for 2025. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Scott O’Neil is expected to be named LIV Golf CEO, replacing Greg Norman, whose future as commissioner of the Saudi-funded tour remains uncertain, Sports Business Journal and The Athletic reported. O’Neil, who has experience working with the NBA and NHL, resigned as CEO of Merlin Entertainment, a London-based operator of more than 150 theme parks worldwide. Norman, the three-year-old tour’s founding chief executive, confirmed that his contract with LIV runs through August and that he will be replaced as CEO. READ MORE
4Aces GC acquired Thomas Pieters from RangeGoats GC in LIV Golf’s first trade of the off-season. READ MORE
The winner of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf made-for-TV match will be paid in cryptocurrency. The Crypto.com Showdown, which will pit the PGA Tour’s Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler against LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, will be played December 17 at Shadow Creek and Las Vegas, Nevada, and sponsored by Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com. READ MORE
Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen rolled to an eight-stroke victory at the PGA Tour Champions’ final stage of Q-School to lead five players earning exempt status on the 50-and-older tour in 2025. Kjeldsen, who will be eligible for the tour after he turns 50 on May 17, shot a tournament-record 24-under-par 260 at TPC Scottsdale’s Champion course in Arizona. Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson, American Mark Walker, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and Australia’s Brendan Jones also qualified. READ MORE
The 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst (North Carolina) Resort generated $242.5 million in economic impact to the state, the U.S. Golf Association reported, citing a report by Eventcorp. READ MORE
John Catlin locked up the Asian Tour Order of Merit, the third consecutive American to win the season-long earnings title, following Andy Ogletree in 2023 and Sihwan Kim in 2022. Catlin, a 34-year-old Californian, won twice this year, running his number of career titles on the Asian Tour to six dating to his breakout three-victory season in 2018. READ MORE
Chiara Tamburlini, 25, a three-time winner from Switzerland, swept the Ladies European Tour’s top three awards, claiming player of the year, the money title and rookie of the year in voting among players. READ MORE
The top player on Next Golf Tour, a third-year competition played on Trackman simulators, will win an exemption into a DP World Tour event and three starts on Europe’s Challenge tour, the tours announced. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon