‘Double-Edged Sword:’ Lopga’s Big Conundrum has no clear answer

Naples, Fla. – The 2025 season was LPGA history. But that history has brought a question to be answered as new Commissioner Craig Kessler looks to take tourism to new heights.

This season, the LPGA changed its depth and affiliation. Entering this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, there were 29 unique winners. Until the whole world Jeeno Thitikul puts in an incomparable Sunday back in the Buick LPGA Shanghai last month, there were winners to get the north this season. One year after Nelly Korda won seven times, including five in a row, the LPGA got inversem. There were 11 original winners. Star Amateur Lottie Wiad iDur and quickly won the Scottish women’s open. Rookie of the year Miyu Yamashita Won Ad the ANIG Women’s open and joins only Thitikul as another repeat winner when she captures the Maybank tournament.

Korda, who has yet to win in 2025, will be the first to note that the talent on the LPGA gets better and better every year. That’s a good thing, especially in the long run. Armed with a dynamic new TV deal, Kessler and the LPGA have a vision to capture more eyeballs and reach a wider audience. But can the LPGA do that with depth and relationships, or does this tour need one or two stars to dominate and go through the big game discussion, and go with them?

As the LPGA season draws to a close this week in Naples, the answer is tricky.

“As a tour and even from the perspective of the fans, yes, it’s good to have someone like Nelly who was so strong last year,” said Fam Lam Hall 12 Lydia. “He’s caught a lot of attention, especially with – in Nelly’s case, being an American player. That’s caught a lot of different attention, yes, it’s very important.

“I think a journey with better talent and more talent across the leaderboard is just as important as one superstar.”

Where the question arises even if you look at the LPGA access is the world access. Asia’s Asia Change Show how popular it is around the world. But with many tournaments played in America and a large chunk of the phone still living in the states, perhaps superstars are needed to elevate the LPGA in America, while depth and unity expand globally.

“I think the tour is the strongest it’s ever been,” said Fumpion Major Champion Minkee Lee. “I think because of our tour, we play a lot in America, so I feel like having one or two stars in the LPGA would probably help us in a way.”

“We sell ourselves to be a global tour, and I think that’s what we see and that’s what we see, especially being [11] First-time winners this year, a lot last year and the year before, “Ko said.” It’s a double edged sword with that feeling that you want to see the whole game and want to smile at one person rather than 30 people. “

Lexi Thompson, who has been one of the marquee of the ream of Marquee for more than ten years, does not think that the growth strategy of the LPGA should depend on one or two players who raise the majority of trophies. There is strength in numbers.

“It’s a world tour,” Thompson told Golf. “These girls come from all over the world. It’s not about winning multiple times. That’s great and all, but I think people like to see different winners, you know, different ways you get on the golf course.”

Kessler knows that one of his biggest goals is to create and market stars. The talent on the LPGA is undeniable, but the stars don’t just come from within the ropes. It takes the support of the tour to raise their profile and make them bigger than golf. High performance is important, but so is skill and determination. If you want to catch eyeballs you wouldn’t normally get, you have to go where they are. You can’t just expect them to come to you.

“There are no silver bullets in building stars, and that’s where nature takes over,” Kesser said. “Yesterday we had our partner meeting, and at the end they kindly asked: What can we do to help?

“There are so many examples we can point to, whether it’s what Nelly did with going to the Met Gala or with shows or charley [Hull] Attending a state banquet in the UK or some of his latest public affairs. I would take it from working with different actors and the things they have done to express themselves in the culture, not within the lines. Those things make a difference. ”

For Kessler and the LPGA, their job is to find players who have the ability to break through to a larger audience – those who are not normally looked after in golf – and want to be the face of the LPGA. It would be nice if those players were there and consistently at the top of the leaderboards, but that’s not up for debate. Kessler has already delivered a few LPGA wins in his short time at the helm, and is willing to try different things to achieve the end goal, with building stars as his priority.

“You’ve got great players, you’ve got marketable players, and you’ve got guys who are actually willing to lean in and do the work,” Kessler said of the stars. “It’s a bunch of players at the center of that Venn diagram situation that we’re going to invest in the Order of the Order to build global superstars and build that player and fan connection.”

Hull, Kessler was specifically mentioned as a top player willing to do things away from golf, willing to lean on the face of the LPGA.

Helle told just golf. “I think it’s good that they invited me [to the UK state dinner]. I had a good year, and it was fun. I think it’s a good thing for the women’s golf game for people to embrace it and, yes, I’m a homebody myself. ”

Hull won the Kroger Queen City trick this season and had Sunday’s run at the AIG Women’s Open just up. She is one of, if not the star of the LPGA, and sees an explosion of talent in women’s golf as the bedrock of what the LPGA is building.

“Before it was like the top 10 players could win, and now it’s like the top 30, 40 players have a chance to win because the standard has gone up and that’s what we want,” Hull said.

The LPGA could benefit from having a top player or two from a larger audience. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. But what everyone, from Kessler to Hull, and Korda and Ko down, wants should not put everything on the shoulders of one player.

“I think our tour now, I think there’s just a lot of concern and a lot more that can be done that we don’t have to just step in for this person,” said Ko.

“So our job is to find the perfect, balanced stories to tell so our fans can be happy week after week,” Kesser said in laying out his strategy. “If we rely on one person, be it a star or a celebrity, to carry the weight of the journey on their back, I think we’ve missed the boat.

“There’s a lot of magic happening at the LPGA and we have to bring it all to life.”

As they do, the answer will become clear.

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