LPGA commissioner takes blame for transportation problems at Solheim Cup

GAINESVILLE, Va. – LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan took responsibility Saturday for the Tour's failure to get fans to the Solheim Cup in time to see the first tee shots on Friday, but offered no full explanation for the debacle that has led to speculation about her future.

Players teed off in front of half-empty stands at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Friday morning, dampening what could have been the atmosphere for the first tee-off in the team competition between the United States and Europe. The stands were full on Saturday, but the damage was done, with media coverage focusing more on the logistical problems than on Nelly Korda and the United States' dominant first day of golf.

“Ultimately, I am the leader of the organization and I have to take responsibility for it,” Marcoux Samaan said.

RTJ is nestled in a private residential community accessible by a single road off US Route 29 in a suburb approximately 40 miles west of Washington, DC. The venue has hosted four Presidents Cups in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as a PGA Tour event in 2017, without significant traffic issues.

Marcoux Samaan said there simply weren't enough buses at Jiffy Lube Live, the concert venue where fans pay $30 to park, but didn't explain why the LPGA doesn't have a fleet of vehicles to transport spectators who were motivated to be on the golf course before sunrise but instead stood in lines for hours with few or no restrooms.

When asked how many buses were available, Marcoux Samaan refused to give a direct answer.

“It's a complicated question, and we were back to making spreadsheets and trying to figure it all out,” she said. “We obviously didn't have enough buses in the morning.”

The LPGA Tour is responsible for on-site operations at the Solheim Cup when it is played in the U.S. The last U.S. event was held in Ohio in 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the number of international fans.

“That was an LPGA problem,” Marcoux Samaan said.

The commissioner said tour staff spent most of Friday in “triage mode” to diagnose the problem and ensure departing fans were efficiently escorted off the golf course. More than 12 hours passed before the LPGA released a statement on social media promising improvements for Saturday and emailed a letter to fans that included an offer for free tickets for that weekend.

“We had some staff on the ground and tried to communicate with the people there,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I think we thought that was more important than spreading something more widely on social media.”

Marcoux Samaan, who has served as LPGA commissioner for three years, also faced questions earlier this year about the tour's marketing of the top-ranked Korda, whose historic streak of six wins in seven starts, including one major, attracted only modest television audiences.

The Commissioner pointed to the increasing participation in the sport as a sign of the growing popularity of her tour.

“The number of female golfers has increased enormously in recent years. More and more young girls are playing golf,” she said. “I think our team is working really hard to develop the game.”