NAPLES, Fla. – What a distinction a yr makes. One yr in the past, CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy was “exceptionally upset” in how occasions outdoors the ropes unfolded on the CME Group Tour Championship.
The way forward for one of the profitable occasions on the LPGA schedule was unsure after not one player showed up to Duffy’s Tuesday night dinner. Duffy’s beef was extra with tour management than with the gamers.
“They higher get their act collectively,” Duffy informed Golfweek final yr, “as a result of they’re going to lose individuals like me over stuff like this.”
One yr later, Duffy and LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan have been posing collectively for footage after a blockbuster announcement that included a purse increase from $7 million to $11 million in 2024 and a first-place prize of $4 million, up from $2 million this yr. CME additionally introduced a two-year contract extension. Starting subsequent yr, the tour championship will boast the most important first-place prize in all of ladies’s sport.
CME Group CEO Terry Duffy speaks to the media after asserting a two-year sponsor extension of the CME Group Tour Championship with an elevated $11 million purse and report $4 million first-place prize throughout a information convention at The Ritz-Carlton Naples in Naples, Florida. (Photograph: Michael Reaves/Getty Pictures)
Duffy mentioned he and Marcoux Samaan received collectively a number of instances all year long, and that these conversations helped give him confidence to maneuver ahead with the LPGA.
“I feel it was extra of a breakdown greater than the rest,” mentioned Duffy of final yr’s drama. “As I mentioned, when communications go dangerous, numerous different issues can snowball with it. I feel we began to see somewhat little bit of that.”
The format for this yr’s Tuesday night time festivities was completely different than final yr however LPGA officers reported that each participant within the area confirmed up.
“As Terry mentioned, communication is the important thing,” mentioned Marcoux Samaan, “and being accountable for issues that don’t go completely. We had communication proper after the incident and we continued throughout the season. As he mentioned all alongside, I simply wished to push you guys to be higher. We moved on instantly and moved on to the long run and we moved on to persevering with to work collectively to raise the tour and elevate our impression.”
This marks the tenth anniversary of the CME Race to the Globe factors checklist, which is used to not solely decide the season-ending area, but additionally who will get a card for subsequent season.
CME first grew to become title sponsor of the LPGA season-ending occasion in 2011 with a handbag of $1.5 million.
For years, Duffy’s efforts as title sponsor have pushed different occasions on the LPGA – notably the majors – to lift the bar. However one more reason Duffy needs the CME Group Tour Championship to be so profitable is to make sure that gamers circle this occasion on their calendars as a must-make week. And to get right here, they could should tee it up in additional occasions alongside the way in which, thus lifting the whole tour.
It’s price noting, after all, that neither Lexi Thompson nor Lydia Ko are right here this week. Each are previous champions of this occasion, with Ko sweeping all of the post-season honors final yr after profitable the title and $2 million prize. Thompson performed in solely 14 occasions on the LPGA schedule this season. Ko competed in 20.
Extra: Notable players missing from this week’s CME Group Tour Championship field
Whereas purses on the LPGA fluctuate wildly, with 9 full-field occasions in 2023 having a handbag of $2 million or much less in comparison with main championship purses which might be $9 million and $11 million, CME factors act as a leveler. Gamers earn 500 CME factors for a victory whether or not the purse is $1.5 million or $3.5 million. On the majors, gamers obtain 650 factors for a victory.
“I’m attempting to be a catalyst for ladies’s golf,” mentioned Duffy. “Not in opposition to the opposite sponsors. So if, the truth is, they wish to up their purses, nice. However I don’t suppose it’s completely – and I do know Mollie is just not going to wish to hear me say this – completely mandatory.
“That’s as much as them to resolve. The very last thing you wish to do is chase anyone away.”
