Before Craig Kessler took over as the commissioner of the LPGA, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship recorded its biggest prize money ever of $12 million. Lydia Ko simply liked the Instagram post that made the announcement, and many thought it was a nod in agreement. However, after almost eight months of new leadership, it is rather clear that Ko had a lot more on her mind, and her peers might not fully agree.

“I think sometimes we get carried away about what we play for, but there might be nothing to play for if our organization is not fundamentally strong,” Ko said when asked about the tour’s ‘pain points’ that emerged after a three-hour meeting with Kessler.

She continued, “I would love the winning purse to be like CME every week. But sometimes I think we’ve got to match, like, what do we bring to the community? It’s a lot more complex than just the purse. Like if nobody’s coming out to watch us play at a certain event, it’d be weird if we had a $1.5 million [winner’s prize] … so what can we bring to the community, what can we bring to our partners? All of these things have to align. It doesn’t make sense if one outweighs the other drastically.”

With Ko’s recent comments, the pay gap battle she’s been fighting for lands harder. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler earned over $29.2 million in official prize money, while Nelly Korda’s dominant season netted roughly $4.4 million. Even the LPGA’s biggest winner’s check, the CME’s $4 million prize, barely matches a mid-tier PGA Tour payday.

But now, Ko is not simply calling out the gap. She is arguing that closing it requires more than merely funds. And it makes sense when you realise that engagement on the LPGA Tour is struggling with consistency, while only relying on star power.

The 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship final round drew 428k viewers, down nearly 50% from the NBC LPGA broadcast. Yet, at its peak, the tour promises potential. The AIG Women’s Open 2025 set a record with over 47k fans over five days in Wales.

But here is the thing, the AIG is a major, and regular tour stops tell a different story. The gap between those extremes becomes crucial. Sponsors value predictability, broadcasters value viewership stability, and prize money grows only when both are reliable.

The reliability part, though, has not surfaced yet as Ko had imagined.

Remember how the 2024 Solheim Cup’s opening moments were ruined by logistical failures, as the transportation system broke down, leaving spectators stranded? The running shuttle buses were just not enough for everyone to reach the venue on time, causing the first tee of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club to witness empty grandstands. There is also the 2025 Chevron Championship, where spectators could not wrap their heads around navigation and access to the venue.

Both times, fans were left annoyed and dissatisfied. Yet, unfortunately, the LPGA’s season opening in 2026 again revealed the same cracks in planning that haven’t been fixed. With that, Ko also urged her fellow players to do their part in making sure the product and experience are top-tier for the fans.

About a year ago, LPGA legend Dottie Pepper made a strikingly similar point on Golf Channel’s Golf Central. After acknowledging Nelly Korda as the face of the tour, she stated that people want to see her hit a golf ball.

“Everybody needs to put the me behind them and put the Tour forward. I think I hear a lot of people say we deserve more coverage or we deserve more print media. We deserve more big sponsorship.”

Well, Korda had said that she is looking forward to bigger investments in golf, but Ko thinks that it might be time to look at things the other way around, as the Tournament of Champions also proved.

The commish tears up after poor management

The LPGA Tour’s season opener in 2026 derailed quickly after the wrath of Mother Nature. What was supposed to be a 72-hole contest was cut short at 54 holes after extreme weather made it impossible to play. Nelly Korda walked away with the win at the HGV Tournament of Champions title. However, while it ruined her comeback, it also denied the others a final-round chance.

In the aftermath, players like Lydia Ko challenged the planning, saying, “I’m gutted that we don’t get to play tomorrow. The forecast tomorrow isn’t great, but it’s better than today!”

And as the criticism began to increase, Commissioner Craig Kessler put forth his statement.

“The reason for that is that you asked about the four pillars; trust is number one, two, three, and four. I felt like I had not done a great job earning and respecting the importance of that trust. It was brutal. Two weeks straight, sick to my stomach, not really sleeping through the night because I take this very seriously, and I made a mistake.”

Well, the good thing is that the commissioner is not trying to dismiss responsibility, and that should give Ko a reason to be hopeful.