AUGUSTA, Ga. – The LPGA’s search for its 10th commissioner is nearing the home stretch, sources tell Golfweek, and the short list now includes Korn Ferry Tour president Alex Baldwin and PGA of America Chief Operating Officer Craig Kessler.
Who is Alex Baldwin?
Baldwin was a candidate in 2021 as well, but ultimately took her name out of the race. In January of 2019, Baldwin made history as the first female to lead one of the PGA Tour’s global tours as president. As head of the Pathway Tours, she also oversees PGA Tour University and the Tour’s Qualifying Tournament.
Prior to joining the PGA Tour in 2017 as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships, Baldwin was a Corporate Consulting Executive at CAA Sports in Jacksonville Beach. Before that, she worked with Boston-based Fenway Sports Management and IMG as a player agent, representing LPGA stars Karrie Webb and Suzann Pettersen as well as PGA Tour players Camilo Villegas, Brad Faxon and Carlos Franco. Baldwin graduated from Bates College in Maine.
Who is Craig Kessler?
Kessler was announced as the PGA of America’s new COO in February 2023 and was a candidate for the CEO position last year, but the association ultimately made being a PGA member a priority in the search. Kessler’s previous work in golf includes a stint at Topgolf, where he was COO and Head of Emerging Concepts from 2016-21.
In between Topgolf and the PGA, Kessler served as Chief Executive Officer of the Dallas-based Buff City Soap, which more than doubled in the number of store locations from 100 to 260 nationwide while Kessler was at the helm.
A graduate of Georgetown University with an MBA from Harvard Business School, Kessler started at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company before moving to become an operating partner at two private equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Providence Equity Partners.
LPGA commissioner selection timeline, process
Mollie Marcoux Samaan, the LPGA’s ninth commissioner, stepped down from her post on Jan. 9 after a 3 ½-year stint. Liz Moore, the LPGA’s Chief Legal and Technology Officer and Corporate Secretary, stepped into the role of Interim Commissioner.
The tour hired the executive search firm Elevate Talent to lead the process and put together an eight-person search committee made up entirely of current board members, with player-directors Ashleigh Buhai, Stephanie Meadow and Stacy Lewis making up the current players on the committee. Lewis, a two-time major winner and former No. 1 who might have an interest in the job of commissioner sometime down the road, is currently part of the LET Joint Venture Board.
LPGA Player President Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, who was also on the search committee that hired Marcoux Samaan, is on it once more.
Louise Ball, who was recently elected to a three-year term as president of the LPGA Professionals division, joins three independent board directors serving on the committee: Michele Meyer-Shipp, Madi Kleiner and Board Chairman John Veihmeyer, the former global chairman of KPMG.
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