honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Players ask tour leader to resign


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Carolyn Bivens

spacer spacer

ORLANDO, Fla. — A meeting last week of more than a dozen players has resulted in a letter sent to the LPGA Tour's board urging that commissioner Carolyn Bivens resign, according to a published report.

Golfweek Magazine reported yesterday that key players stated in the letter the LPGA Tour's woes cannot be blamed on a poor economy, and they said the tour should find a new leader to rebuild relationships with longtime sponsors.

The magazine cited a player who had received a copy of the letter.

Among those at the meeting last week in Toledo, Ohio, were Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis, among the most prominent players in women's golf.

Golfweek said players in favor of Bivens' resignation attached their names, but it didn't say how many signed it. Bivens is a member of the board, which has received the letter.

LPGA Tour spokesman David Higdon said Bivens would not be available to comment.

The meeting came two days after the LPGA Tour lost another tournament when the Kapalua LPGA Classic asked for a year off to find a title sponsor. Instead, the LPGA said it would use all legal remedies to hold Kapalua to the remaining four years of its contract.

The tour has left two stops — Rochester, N.Y., and Toledo — uncertain if the contracts will be renewed for next year, and it already has lost the popular Corning Classic. Also up in the air is the Michelob Ultra Championship in Virginia.

The LPGA has lost seven tournaments since 2007, including all three events staged in Hawai'i.

Seoul Broadcasting Systems was offended when Bivens announced during the SBS Open in Hawai'i that it had a new television contract with another Korean network. That ended SBS' sponsorship, and it then signed a 10-year deal with the PGA Tour to sponsor the season-opening tourney at Kapalua, won this year by Geoff Ogilvy.

Bivens, who took over for Ty Votaw in 2005, has two years remaining on her contract.