The LPGA has chosen Craig Kessler as its subsequent commissioner, turning to the PGA of America’s chief working officer to assist the 75-year-old league higher capitalize on the expansion in girls’s sports activities.
Kessler, 39, is the tenth commissioner in LPGA historical past, changing Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who stepped away after three-and-a-half years in January. He formally takes over on July 15.
“I do not suppose that is a type of alternatives the place we begin with 100 days of listening. It is time to explode out of the gates,” Kessler stated Thursday.
He stated his precedence could be for individuals to concentrate and suppose, “One thing unimaginable is occurring to the LPGA and I’ve to a part of it.”
Kessler, a Georgetown graduate with an MBA from Harvard Enterprise College, had been with the PGA of America for simply over two years and was a candidate to change into the CEO till the group needed a PGA skilled within the position and employed Derek Sprague.
“We got down to discover a transformational chief with a deep appreciation for the LPGA’s legacy and a transparent imaginative and prescient of what is attainable for our future,” stated John Veihmeyer, the chairman of KPMG who chairs the LPGA’s board of administrators.
“Craig is an inspiring and fascinating chief, who brings a singular mixture of government management expertise, deep relationships within the golf trade, and a real dedication to elevating girls and ladies via golf.”
Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, president of the LPGA Tour and a part of the search committee, stated the committee was in search of somebody who may construct belief and partnerships, have imaginative and prescient and illustration vitality. She stated Kessler ticked each field.
“There was not one one that met Craig on this course of that wasn’t wowed,” she stated.
He stated he would lean on 4 themes – constructing belief, being seen, constructing followers and constructing a monetary future “that appears even higher for the subsequent 75 years.”
“All the things we do is filtered via these 4 pillars,” he stated.
Kessler, who grew up in California, has been considered as a rising determine within the golf trade lately and was seen having a non-public dialog with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan at Augusta Nationwide on the eve of the Masters.
His most up-to-date direct contact with the LPGA was in the course of the KPMG Ladies’s PGA, a significant collectively run by the PGA of America.
Kessler stated he was keen to take heed to any group that might assist the LPGA develop. When requested in regards to the Public Funding Fund of Saudi Arabia, the monetary backer of LIV Golf that additionally has invested within the Girls European Tour, he replied, “Anybody keen to have a dialog shall be welcome.”
Previous to his two years on the PGA of America, Kessler was CEO of Buff Metropolis Cleaning soap when it expanded from 100 to 260 shops, and he was COO of Topgolf. He additionally spent six years as an working companion in non-public fairness, first with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later with Windfall Fairness.
“This is not nearly main a sports activities group. It is about redefining what’s attainable,” Kessler stated. “This position is deeply private to me, not simply as an expert alternative however as an opportunity to make a distinction on the planet and create new alternatives for others.”
Kessler has been within the Dallas space since 2016. He stated his spouse and three sons – ages 5, 7 and 9 – would stay in Dallas and he could be situated wherever the job takes him.
There was hypothesis over time in regards to the LPGA shifting away from headquarters in Daytona Seaside, Florida. Kessler stated it was far too early to ponder that.
Liz Moore, the chief authorized and expertise officer, will keep in her position as interim commissioner till July 15.
The LPGA celebrates its seventy fifth anniversary this yr, and has operated independently from the PGA Tour. The full prize fund this yr is approaching $130 million as girls are getting extra company assist.
Ladies’s sports activities throughout the panorama has seen a spike in cash and curiosity, although the LPGA has lagged behind in getting consideration regardless of story strains like Nelly Korda successful 5 straight tournaments final yr and Lydia Ko successful the Olympic gold medal to qualify for the LPGA Corridor of Fame, adopted by her victory within the Ladies’s British Open.
Kessler stated he has met with dozens of trade leaders as he ready for his new roles and has met a few of the gamers, together with Korda, in the course of the interview course of.
“I hope they know they’ve a commissioner who cares deeply and who’s going to work his tail off to take this group to the subsequent stage,” he stated.
