NAPLES, Fla. — The champion of this week’s CME Tour Championship will take home a $4 million check, but that player might be this week’s second winner behind new commissioner Craig Kessler — and the league he now oversees.
Kessler has been on the job for just four months but has already shown he understands where the LPGA needs to grow — and that he’s willing and able to make the necessary moves to push the Tour in that direction. The LPGA already announced a new tournament in partnership with Golf Saudi. The announced the relocation of the Chevron Championship to upgrade the event experience. And on Tuesday, the Tour announced a groundbreaking new partnership with FM, Golf Channel, and Trackman to improve and elevate the television broadcast in 2026. The investment from FM will make it so that every round of every tournament is broadcast live in the United States. The broadcasts will come with 50% more cameras, drone footage and improved shot-tracking data.
When Kessler was announced as commissioner, he outlined “four pillars of success” to help the LPGA grow. The second was “visibility.” Tuesday’s deal made that pillar stronger than ever, and the players understand how important it is to the present and future of their Tour.
“Television partnership is everything really,” three-time major winner Minjee Lee said on Tuesday. “Essentially, we’re entertainers, so if we don’t have TV times, live TV times, or the slots are when a lot of people are watching TV, it’s hard to really build the Tour the way we want to build it. … I think having more exposure as players that’s everything to us, too. It’s really cool to see how Craig has — with his short time being on Tour how he’s trying to elevate our Tour, and see how we go.”
Craig Kessler Q&A: The LPGA’s new commissioner on goals, ‘pillars’ and what success looks like
By:
Dylan Dethier
Lee watches her brother, Min Woo, play on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. She has seen firsthand how different the two television products are and is hopeful that this partnership will begin to put the women’s golf product on a similar footing with the men’s game.
“I do think they have good TV times, so that’s why I can just turn it on and it’s live,” Lee said of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour broadcasts. “I think that’s kind of an important part of building a better tour. Just having more exposure as players. That’s sort of what we are always working towards.”
Hall of Famer Lydia Ko has seen the LPGA Tour struggle to elevate its product for years. There are a number of reasons why the LPGA hasn’t broken through to a larger sports audience, but visibility and television coverage play major roles in elevating the players and the sport. Kessler’s move is one Ko has been hoping to see for a long time, and one she knows is fitting for the talent on the Tour. Making the Tour visible every week and making it easier to follow with ShotLink data can be a game-changer for women’s golf.
“I think it’s what the players and the Tour deserve,” Ko said. “I do believe this will just grab more attention of some people that just have a hard time tracking things before. I think I’ve been in that position where I don’t play a tournament, and I kind of want to watch or see what happened or see some of the data, and it’s been an aspect that I felt like we could really improve on.
“So to see the growth in that and see how much more coverage we’re going to get domestic and overseas, it’s a very exciting thing. I think there has been a lot of exciting announcements these past couple months. I think Craig has officially been the commissioner since July-ish. In four months, I think we’ve seen a lot of great improvement in things that I feel like we should have been in that position more a long time.”
Added 2025 Evian champion Grace Kim: “I think we need all the exposure that we should be getting. I think sometimes, especially overseas, the times might not match, so being able to have that extra time on the broadcast could definitely boost our views. … To be able to have that connection to get it globally for a longer period of time I think is huge.”
Kessler has a lot on his plate as he looks to strengthen his four pillars — trust, visibility, building a fan base and securing a financial future — and help the LPGA break through on a bigger level. It will take time to bring his vision to reality.
But his first moves are big swings that show Kessler understands the assignment, and the broadcast change sent a clear message that Kessler has both a plan and the vision to lead the LPGA to its desired destination.
“I think the last couple months have been a little bit of the fast-forward pace, and it’s been great to be part of that and to kind of see the growth from that perspective,” Ko said of Kessler’s early run as commissioner. “I think we’re growing as an organization and becoming — and having a much stronger, I guess, foundation to the organization outside of just playing for more money and what kind of directly impacts us day-to-day. I think having those kind of things set is really important for us going forward.
“I’m excited for what’s next. And I truly believe that Craig is going to take our tour to that next step, and I’m excited to be part of that.”
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