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According to Golf World and ESPN, Bivens is out. It will be announced after the US Open.
 
I'm not as familiar with this situation as a lot of you, but I hope this is a good move and it doesn't turn into one of those "be careful what you wish for" things for the players. From my vantage point though, she needed to go.
 
I read she agreed to a buy out. Also there is growing consideration that Nancy Lopez might step into the vacated job. :comp:
 
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She did accept the buyout from what we are being told.
 
Bummer. I really don't think it's all her fault.
 
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I dont think anybody thinks it is all her fault. But when a team is losing, someone has to be held accountable and that would be the person at the top most of the time. Despite quite a few good decisions, her public decisions such as the English rule and the Twitter thing were a major public downfall.
 
I thought the problem was the buyout was more than the LPGA could afford. Has that changed?

I think we should review this topic one year from now to see how it all turned out.
 
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I thought it was more than they could afford as well. However I have heard from 3 separate sources now that it has happened.
 
I read that she had 18 months @ $500,000.00 per year left on her contract. If this is a true amount and the LPGA were going to have troubles buying her out, ($750,000.00???) then they are in financial distress.
 
We were told that she had 20 months and her annual was over 1 million. But there are some real conflicting reports out there.
 
Any chance if the LPGA doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to buy her out that some players get together and chip in a portion of the buyout? I would think if enough stars think she is bad for their futures they may see it as a good investment.
 
It would never happen.
 
Perhaps there are some bonus, and other severance package monies in addition to her salary that needs to be paid. Who knows. :confused2:

LPGA Tour Article - Golf Channel

We were told that she had 20 months and her annual was over 1 million. But there are some real conflicting reports out there.
 
I am not fully aware of all the LPGA details but it seems to me that the Board doesn’t have a choice but to find a way to buy Bivens out. You can’t let this type of situation continue if it is true that most of the “talent” has decided she is bad for the organization. It would be similar to a company keeping a CEO that all the “rainmakers” have lost confidence in. It’s very detrimental to the future of the company / organization.
 
Here is the Ron Sirak article on Bivens "leaving."

Bivens Era to End

By Ron Sirak
Photos by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
July 9, 2009
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Carolyn Bivens' tumultuous four-year run as LPGA commissioner will end early next week, multiple sources tell GolfDigest.com, the tipping point coming when the Board of Directors received a letter from some of the tour's top players calling for her resignation. Official word is expected after this week's U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley Country Club.
"The letter was a death sentence," one source within the LPGA told GolfDigest.com. "No confidence by the players is a dagger in her heart," said a second source, this one involved in tournament ownership.
Bivens has 18 months left on the three-year contract extension she signed at the beginning of 2008. Her salary, according to LPGA tax filings, is $500,000 a year. According to a source in tournament management, a general agreement with Bivens on financial terms was reached late Wednesday.
The only remaining questions surround when Bivens leaves office and how her departure is framed. "She's gone. It's just a question of whether it's a firing or a resignation," said one veteran player, a Bivens supporter. "And she doesn't deserve any of it."
The LPGA, its Tournament Owners Association, the Board of Directors and the players all deferred comment on the matter until after the Women's Open. Bivens did not respond to an email request for an interview nor to a message left on her cell phone. LPGA chief communications officer David Higdon said Bivens would not be granting media interviews. Board chair Dawn Hudson said she would not comment on the matter at this time.
The move to replace Bivens came as the 59-year-old association struggles with a dwindling 2010 schedule and many tournament owners blamed both the style and the substance of the Bivens' regime, which imposed increased costs on the events as a brutal recession ate away at sponsorship money.
In the letter, signed by Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis among others, the players called for the installation of temporary leadership while a search is conducted for a new commissioner. It was not clear who would serve as interim commissioner while a permanent replacement is found.
The letter, which came out of a meeting of about 15 players on the Friday of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, said the players were writing with "great reluctance" but that they were "extremely dissatisfied with the leadership of commissioner Carolyn Bivens" and called for her "immediate resignation." According to the letter, the players said they represented the "vast majority" of the LPGA members.
Bivens, who was to be on hand for Thursday's start of the Women's Open, notified USGA officials on Wednesday that she was not going to show up, according to someone familiar with the situation. Responding to persistent rumors about a buyout, resignation or firing, the LPGA released the following statement at midday Thursday:
"As we've said throughout the week, we want all of those interested in women's professional golf to focus on the play here at the U.S. Women's Open, which has started today and will conclude this weekend when the 2009 champion is crowned. Out of respect to the USGA and the amazing work that they've done and continue to do in producing and hosting this great event, we will not respond to media reports on internal matters related to the LPGA business. The LPGA players, staff and Board care deeply about our Tour, and we're all working hard to achieve the same long-term objective to grow our Tour. We look forward to a great week of golf."
Jack Benjamin, who ran the LPGA Corning Classic, which folded this year after a 31-year run as one of the LPGA's events with the best community support, said that by 2011 its overhead would increase by $675,000, a difficult figure even in a good economy. Corning had lost $500,000 in sponsorship support this year because of the recession.
While Bivens' business style was an issue for the sponsors -- the most common reference was to her "my way or the highway" approach to negotiations -- business substance was no small part, and many of those problems remain.
"This is a difficult economy and a lot of creativity on both sides is going to be needed to find a tournament business model that works," said a source involved in tournament management. Clearly, a change of commissioners does not mean all the tour's problems go away. The challenge of the 2010 schedule is the greatest in the 59-year history of the LPGA.
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Also Christina Kim has tweeted to stop the conversations, see below. In previous articles I have read she is to some degree a Bivens supporter and is one of the player reps. She was NOT invited to the meeting that took place which resulted in the letter.

TheChristinaKim: Everyone PWEASE stop mentioning the whole Bivens thing. Facts aren't out there, and we're here to honor n celebrate the 64th US Women's Open

TheChristinaKim: Everyone of us golfers want to focus on the matter at hand-celebrating the prestige/honor/tradition of the 64th US Women's Open, as well as

TheChristinaKim: To thank and honor the USGA for their (now) 64 years of dedication to women's golf. Let's not minimalize their efforts, pwease? Thank you!!!

My issue is, if they didn't want to talk about it and wanted to focus on the Open (like many have said, not just CK) then why not wait to deliver the letter after the Open?
 
My issue is, if they didn't want to talk about it and wanted to focus on the Open (like many have said, not just CK) then why not wait to deliver the letter after the Open?

I'm tellin' ya'. These women (the names mentioned so far) are players and not business savvy. They didn't think this thing all the way through before making it public.

What was Juli Inkster's comment when they banned caddies on the practice greens? Perhaps that applies here as well?
 
I'm tellin' ya'. These women (the names mentioned so far) are players and not business savvy. They didn't think this thing all the way through before making it public.

Harry, I think you are exactly correct. This could become a :bomb:
 
I don't know, I don't see how discussing this watershed event is disrespectful to the USGA. There's plenty of attention to go around. The Open will be as much a topic of interest to those who follow women's golf with conversation about Bivens as it would be without conversation about Bivens. Besides, the Women's Open may not be co-sponsored by the LPGA, but it dang well is dependent upon the LPGA, and accordingly, discussion of the LPGA's long term health and leadership are relevant. Thus, that refrain sounds to me like what it actually is: a diversion. Naturally the LPGA and its players want to minimize their public statements and do the housekeeping as much out of the public eye as possible, but of course that's not going to happen. It would be better to simply nut up and say, "yes, we have concluded that we will seek a new commissioner, and will announce the terms under which Bivens will be exiting and her replacement is being retained once those details are known. In the meantime, the LPGA will be governed by a temporary leadership panel. We now invite your attention to some truly momentus golf being played at Bethlehem, PA, for which we commend the USGA and the excellent event they are running...."
 
USGA Tour Coverage - Golf Channel

Open Fire: Players Take Aim
By RANDALL MELL
Senior Writer, GolfChannel.com


2009 U.S. Women's OpenBETHLEHEM, Pa. – Helen Alfredsson marched out of the scoring trailer early Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Women’s Open with more to worry about than her game.

The dynamic Swede has navigated her share of crazy days but few quite like this one.

With two early birdies at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course, Alfredsson jumped onto the leaderboard, only to nosedive off it with two triple bogeys and six bogeys.

After signing for a 10-over-par 81, Alfredsson left the scoring trailer with more daunting work to do than merely fixing her swing.

She’s faced with the giant job of helping fix the LPGA with news breaking Thursday that the tour’s commissioner is being forced out.

Alfredsson barely had time to digest her round as she marched to the clubhouse enduring a reporter’s short inquisition.

She was asked what she knew about Sports Business Daily’s report that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens was agreeable to a buyout and that the tour’s board of directors had authorized a golf industry expert to contact potential candidates to replace her. Later in the day, Golf World would report that a general agreement on terms of a separation was reached late Wednesday night and that Bivens was definitely out as commissioner.

As one of seven player directors on the LPGA’s board, Alfredsson must deal with the aftermath of the player revolt that led to Bivens’ ouster. Bivens has two years left on the contract renewal she signed last year.

“I’ve been on the phone every single day this week,” said Alfredsson, who would confirm none of the news reports. “We’re just trying to get through this week and then we’ve got some decisions to make.”

Like who will be the tour’s next commissioner.

Never has a U.S. Women’s Open felt more like a diversion from bigger news in women’s golf.

The week’s stress and strain goes beyond golf shots for the five LPGA player directors in this week’s field and for the 15 players reported to have been behind a letter calling for Bivens’ ouster.

“As a player director, as a person, I don’t think the timing was very good,” said player director Christina Kim, who managed to block out the controversy while shooting 72, good for a tie for 12th. “Granted, people felt like it had to be done. I would never say they did it wrong, but it could have come at a better time. It sort of minimalizes, in the minds of the press, the importance, relevance, heritage, history and tradition of the U.S. Women’s Open.”

Kim’s reaction to news Bivens was working on a separation agreement?

“Everything Carolyn has done is what she believes is the best thing for the LPGA tour,” Kim said. “If she feels this is the right thing to do, then it’s the right thing to do. If she feels in order to preserve the character of the LPGA it’s the right thing, I support her. I support every decision she makes.

“Carolyn stood up for us as commissioner and said we are worth the sanctioning fees and the television fees she was asking. She had a great vision of where the LPGA should be. It was radical, but she believed we were worth it, that we should be at the top echelon of sports. She had full faith. She was very aggressive in wanting to elevate the tour to such a high level.

“If the economy didn’t turn the way it did, who knows? We might be bathing in pools of gold because of her. Who will know?”

News broke last weekend that at least 15 LPGA players met at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic and prepared a letter to their board of directors asking for Bivens’ resignation.

The meeting’s lineup was impressive with Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Suzann Pettersen among those reported to be leading the rebellion. The players expressed concern over the loss of title sponsors and a shrinking schedule and their belief that the economy wasn’t solely to blame, that Bivens’ business plan, her inflexible financial demands on sponsors, was a factor.

“It’s been a difficult tenure for Carolyn, and I feel badly for her,” Meg Mallon, a two-time U.S. Women’s Open winner, said after her round on Thursday. “She came in and did what we asked her to do in making us a more fiscally strong organization. That being said, there are just so many more facets of the job that obviously have proven difficult for her to deal with.

“It’s been a tough road for her. I feel badly for anyone who has to go through learning things in one of the most difficult ways. It should be the greatest job in the world, and I feel badly it turned out not to be the best experience for her. My concerns now are about where we are going, how we recover from this and how we move on. I’m not one of those players who says I’m retiring soon and not worrying about it. I want to leave the tour better than when I came in. We’ll see what happens.”

Dawn Hudson, the chairman of the LPGA’s board, will direct the transition. She was in meetings Thursday afternoon and couldn’t immediately be reached.

Three-time U.S. Women’s Open winner Hollis Stacy believes players made a terrible mistake forcing out Bivens.

Stacy was so upset she hopped a plane in Denver and traveled across the country Tuesday. She came for the sole purpose of trying to persuade players that the ouster of Bivens could ruin the tour.

“This is a big, big mistake,” Stacy said. “Unfortunately, these players are naive, and they’re wrong. They need to be called out.”

Stacy believes the new business model Bivens created is smart and valuable and would build the tour a stronger financial future, even with Bivens struggling to renew sponsors and find new ones.

“In the nine hours it took me to fly here, I’ve gone through the whole spectrum of emotions, from being really upset to being bewildered and then sad, and finally to thinking, `Are these kids stupid?’” Stacy said. “It breaks my heart.”

Bivens, who succeeded Ty Votaw as commissioner in the fall of 2005, called her bold new business plan “Vision 2010.” She set out to make the tour more financially stable and to build pension and health plans. Initially, as part of that plan, she increased the tournament sanctioning fees the LPGA was asking from $15,000 to $100,000 and increased tournaments fees for television production costs. That didn’t go over well with the tournaments asked to foot the bill.

Bivens’ bold strokes also included negotiating television agreements with Golf Channel and J Golf, a South Korean network.

Under Bivens, the LPGA took ownership of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the ADT Championship, though those moves didn’t come without controversy with the tour losing McDonald’s and ADT as sponsors.

Still, Stacy, a business consultant and friend to Bivens, says the tour has already gone from barely covering its operational costs to a profitable business, even in these difficult financial times. She blames the sponsorship issues solely on the economy.

“I lived on the tour for 26 years, and we were always struggling,” Stacy said. “Carolyn wasn’t hired to be liked. She was hired to build the brand and make money and she’s doing that. She’s building the brand globally.

“If these players today want to go back to being the red-headed step child, and getting kicked around by the PGA Tour, just getting the scraps, and not having a pension, then, yeah, buy out Carolyn. But it’s a big, big mistake. I don’t think these players understand we’ve had former players die near poverty.

“I’m behind Carolyn. She’s tough. She’s had to be tough. Women have been taken advantage of for years.

“People who work for me, I don’t want them playing nice. I want them representing the best interests of the players.”

Stacy blames the player revolt on tournaments that didn’t like Bivens’ negotiating tactics and the steeper asking prices required to fund the tour’s bolder ambitions.

“A lot of this goes to tournaments whispering in the ears of players with great hearts who are worried about losing events,” Stacy said. “The players are being used. If these players want to go back to being second-class citizens, they can go ahead and let these tournaments run them. These tournaments aren’t interested in the players’ pension and health plans.”

Gail Graham, the president of the Tournament Owners Association, disagreed.

“All I can say is the Tournament Owners Association has taken a hands-off approach,” Graham said. “This is the business of the LPGA, and the players have spoken. It’s not up to us.”

In the end, those players spoke loudly.
 
This whole Bivens replacement scenario is going to be interesting to watch. Can you imagine the microscope her replacement is going to be under? Then in 4 or 5 years, if the LPGA is in worse shape than it is now, who are these players going to blame then? :bicker:
 
This is absurd. I love CK, but shut up already. People are paying attention to your tour, for the first time ALL YEAR!!!! Reporters are there, fans are talking, there is some buzz. Who cares what the reasons are that they come. It is a chance to showcase the talents of the tours. Get the fans to stay regardless of why they tuned in. And you know what happens....

Half the field has been reported to be complaining about the media and questions over this thing. Are you kidding me? Overnight ratings for the tourny are the highest they have been all year. Do you think its because of the field with no Wie and no Gulbis? Absurdity.

Turn on the game and talk golf. Convert the casual fan. Grow your audience. Instead all we are hearing is complaining from over two dozen golfers.
 
Those are great points JB and I agree it is good for the game in the short-term. Long-term, however, I think keeping this rift between the two factions is probably bad for the organization.
 
I get a kick out of the old players chiming in. One of them, one of the originators of the LPGA Tour in fact, commented in a newspaper essentially that spoiled kids these days take for granted what they had to do back in the old days, when they were getting down on their knees and pounding in the stakes at tournaments themselves (uphill in the snow both ways?). The judgment of some of the elder stateswomen seems a bit clouded by bitterness. Which is rather odd, since the improved conditions for women golfers is what they fought to achieve in the first place. Anyway, Bivens was a bumbling Commissioner in every public respect, albeit one with lofty (too lofty? unrealisitic? lunatic?) goals. I have no problem with the timing -- it wasn't great only because they should have done it sooner, but they would have been crazy to wait for more lost tournament sponsors (since they cannot predict the future). In the backlash to criticize that decision, people also will either forget or undervalue just how crummy a face Bivens put on the LPGA Tour, and her responsibility for some terrible decisions -- and I'm not just talking about her silly Twitter comments, which really wasn't a big deal, or her bad fortune in being at the rudder when the iceberg of the economy was looming dead ahead.
 
I rode by her house Wednesday while playing on the course she lives in, I'll keep everybody posted if I see a "For Sale" sign go up in the yard... :)
 
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