LPGA golfers are excited about the establishment of a newly renamed major championship that will pay out more in prize money, gain far more TV time, and partner with two big names in the golf world.
Leaving Rochester for new Women’s PGA Championship is bittersweet for LPGA players
The LPGA has a new major championship that promises bigger purses, more TV exposure, and bigger and better overall. Only problem is, the tour is leaving Rochester, N.Y., which has supported women golfers for almost 40 years.
Scott Halleran
The brave new world also means players will be leaving an area of the country that has supported them for almost four decades, making the leap to bigger and better for the women’s tour a bittersweet transformation.
Thursday’s disclosure from the LPGA, PGA of America, and KPMG hat the new KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which will debut in 2015, will take place at various elite venues around the country meant that the tour was leaving a favored Rochester, N.Y., region that has supported the LPGA for 38 years. The new tournament will boost the purse from $2.25 million for this year’s Wegmans LPGA Championship swan song to $3.5 million in 2015, offer expanded TV coverage, and be the first women’s major that the PGA operates. Under a five-year deal, Golf Channel will broadcast the opening two rounds of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, handing off the weekend telecast to NBC.
Next year’s inaugural edition of the event will take place at Westchester Country Club and though, like the PGA Championship, it will rotate among elite venues, the aim will be to keep it as close to New York City as possible.
“Between purse size, business opportunity, venue opportunity, and what’s going to happen from a television partnership perspective, this is going to elevate women’s golf,” LPGA commissioner Michael Whan said during a Thursday teleconference.
Stacy Lewis, for one, was thrilled about the opportunities the new venture presented, saddened to leave upstate New York, but certain August’s Wegmans LPGA Championship would not be the curtain call for the area.
“Rochester for me, I’ve had a great experience the last few years,” the world’s second-ranked golfer said during the conference call with reporters. “Rochester has been ‑‑ I’ve stayed in housing there; it’s such a really, homey, I guess is the best way to describe it. Everybody has their families they stay with and certain restaurants you go to. It’s just one of those places we’ve been going to for so long; it’s just really comforting and nice to go there.”
Lewis fully expected to play again in front of what has become something of a home crowd for many of the competitors.
“I don’t think this is a good‑bye from Rochester. I don’t see it that way at all,” she said. “We are not done with Rochester. There’s too many players that love that area and there’s too many fans that want us to come back. So I think we will be back, so don’t write us off yet.”
Another potential concern arose about removing “LPGA” from the title of the major tournament, which has been ongoing since 1955.
“I think the name actually fits, if you will, what’s going on,” Whan said. “We are taking 60 years of history, we are certainly not throwing that away; you will see all the history and tradition of the LPGA Championship if you come or watch this on TV. We are respecting that, and you will see that throughout the venue. But the name will become slightly different and so will the championship ... We are going to be bold enough to make changes that allow us to think really big ... We want to be bigger and better, and to do that we are going to take some steps that give us the ability to do just that.”
Karrie Webb, an LPGA Board member, recognized the issue but said in the long run, the change was best for the tour.
”As someone who loves the tradition of the game, it will be tough to see the name change away from ‘LPGA Championship,’ but it’s comforting that the traditions, legacy, and opportunities for our members will still remain,” Webb said in a statement. “For younger players on Tour, they can be confident that this tremendous Championship will continue for decades to come, and be bigger and better than ever before.”
The 2014 and final Wegmans LPGA Championship will run from August 14-August 17 in Pittsford, N.Y., at Monroe Golf Club. The new major will include PGA teaching professionals.
