Carolyn Bivens

(Reuters) - Teenage prodigy Alexis Thompson will compete full-time on the LPGA Tour next year after her petition for membership was approved by the LPGA on Friday.The 16-year-old American, who is now ranked 44th in the world, became the youngest winner ever on the U.S. circuit earlier this month and is widely viewed as one of the game's most exciting prospects.There is an 18-year-old age requirement for Tour membership but the LPGA agreed to bend the rules for her."Lexi Thompson is a unique...Read Full Story

Australia's Katherine Hull rallied to win the Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second career LPGA Tour title, pulling ahead with a birdie on the par-5 17th and finishing with a two-putt par for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke victory over Brittany Lincicome.Hull, the former Pepperdine player who also won the 2008 Canadian Women's Open, finished at 19-under 269 on the links-style Senator layout at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex. After opening with a 68, she had...Read Full Story

The LPGA Tour has scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon following a weekend of uncertainty about who will lead the organization.Commissioner Carolyn Bivens appears on the way out after some players wrote a letter to the LPGA Tour's board of directors calling for her resignation. Tour veteran and board member Juli Inkster said Sunday the board would look for an interim replacement while searching for a new commissioner.The New York Times has reported that Bivens will leave. Golf...Read Full Story

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 Monday 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...Read Full Story

American Cristie Kerr doesn't believe the possible strife between LPGA players and embattled commissioner Carolyn Bivens will be a distraction at this week's US Women's Open."Let's talk about the Open this week," Kerr said. "Out of respect for the USGA I am asking that questions at this time be reserved for Women's Open or questions about myself, my golf and perhaps my wine making."The LPGA Tour has been one of the most hard hit sports league's during the global recession, losing seven...Read Full Story

The LPGA Tour has become the latest pro sports organization to feel the crunch of the global economic downturn.Even while insisting next year will be “solidly profitable,” the LPGA Tour announced Wednesday that it will offer three fewer tournaments in 2009 than this year, all because of sponsorship loss. Prize money also will dip by about $5 million.SemGroup, which sponsored one tournament this year, entered bankruptcy this summer and some other sponsors chose to spend elsewhere.“It’s no...Read Full Story

The LPGA Tour’s “mea culpa” didn’t need much translation.Facing anger from lawmakers and bewilderment from sponsors, the LPGA Tour backed off plans to suspend players who cannot speak English well enough to be understood at pro-ams, in interviews or in making acceptance speeches at tournaments in the United States.The policy has generated a storm of bad publicity since it was announced last month.LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens said she would have a revised plan by the end of the year...Read Full Story

Carolyn Bivens resigned under pressure as commissioner of the LPGA Tour on Monday with board of directors member Marsha Evans appointed acting commissioner.Several top players called for Bivens to be ousted in a letter to the board of directors earlier this month, citing the loss of several key sponsors and events with more defections expected for 2010.Bivens, who held the post since 2005, stepped down a day after the US Women's Open, the last US-based major of the LPGA season."I love the...Read Full Story

The LPGA Tour announced a 10-year agreement with Golf Channel on Wednesday, making the network the tour’s exclusive cable home beginning in 2010.The agreement, which LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens called “groundbreaking,” establishes the tour as the only stand-alone U.S. women’s professional sports organization to receive a rights fee agreement for domestic broadcast coverage. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.Bivens said the fee was important, but the driving forces...Read Full Story

MIAMI (Reuters) - The LPGA Tour announced sweeping changes on Monday with commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigning and being replaced on a temporary basis by Marsha J. Evans, a member of the LPGA's board of directors.Ten-times major champion Annika Sorenstam was appointed as an advisor to the board of directors while the association embarks on a search for a full-time commissioner."We'll soon have in place a commissioner to lead us into 2010 and beyond, but until then, it's important that we...Read Full Story