Michael Whan has an office at the LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., but it's an unnecessary perk.
Whan is hardly ever there, and that's a great thing for the LPGA.
It's been nearly one year since Whan took over as the tour's commissioner, but he's been busy living the lives of his players. Whan attended all 24 official LPGA events on a whirlwind tour that spanned 20 states and 15 countries.
Only five LPGA players - Christina Kim, Katherine Hull, Stacy Lewis, Vicky Hurst and M.J. Hur - played all 24 events. Eight players missed just onetournament.
Whan didn't just fly in and out for a day or an appearance. That's not Whan's way.
The 45-year-old Whan played in pro-ams with CEOs and business partners from Malaysia to Mobile, Ala., to Mexico.
He met with sponsors and tournament directors face-to-face. Whan wasn't just some new guy sending e-mails from 5,000 miles away.
He put a face to his promises and contract extension talks. He shook hands and looked people in the eye.
"I didn't originally have that plan," Whan said in a phone interview ... ironically, from Florida.
"I got to the second tournament and realized how incredibly different it was than the first tournament. They may have the same promoter but they were fundamentally different.
"The title sponsors had different objectives. I realized that what I would've guessed would have been so wrong. Now, I don't have to have a conference call having not
Dangerous was Carolyn Bivens, the former commissioner who was ousted by players. She egregiously required all non-English speaking players learn English in two years or be in danger of losing their card. She also asked that players tweet during rounds.
Those were just a couple of debacles in her tumultuous tenure.
Whan didn't threaten players with their jobs, and they're walking through those tutoring doors without such a heavy burden.
Players receive packets before each tournament, detailing all the information on each tournament's title sponsor, CEOs, tournament directors and names of everyone they need to know. And they know why it's important to speak English.
And Whan knows that showing up is half the battle. In 2008, the LPGA had 34 official events with 24 in the U.S. In 2010, there were just 24 events and 10 were international.
The Kia Classic moved from La Costa and will debut at Industry Hills in 2011, a move, in part, made to be closer to the Los Angeles market.
"It definitely seems like a year with a straight-up learning curve," Whan said. "I don't think there's a rookie season. I've been to 15 countries and 20 states in the last 12 months. It's not a job you do from an office. You can't be a good business partner to somebody if you're in Florida all the time."
Whan has already done more good than Bivens dreamed. Biven hurt the Tour and put it in danger of closing business. Whan is helping in an economically challenged environment that has stung even the PGA Tour.
The LPGA needs a face that players and sponsors and fans can trust.
It wasn't Whan's intention to be away from his wife, Meg, and three sons: Austin, Wesley and Connor for so long this past year. That was difficult, but Whan wanted to know all the ins-and-outs of all the tournaments on his schedule. So he racked up frequent-flyer miles.
Whan has a diverse background in marketing at TaylorMade and Proctor & Gamble. He also worked for a hockey equipment company. As a young boy, he cut greens and caddied so he could play golf.
His experience in other business ventures helped in his new role. He used to be the sponsor. Now, he's hitting up sponsors.
Eight of the nine tournaments whose contracts were expiring in 2010 have renewed, but the LPGA lost the CVS/pharmacy Challenge. Whan would love to add more tournaments to the schedule, and there are 24 slated for 2011, but he knows it won't happen overnight. Still, it doesn't jibe with his self-professed Type-A personality.
"One thing I'm working on is patience," Whan said. "I was blessed with certain skills, but that's not one of them. I want to put a lot of tournaments on the schedule, and I want to do it quickly. I told people this would be a two-year turnaround, but in my head I was thinking six months. I'm learning I have to have patience I didn't know about coming in.
"We're a $100 million business that's got 30 customers. It ain't that hard. If you want to have more customers, you've got to take care of the 30 you have. You don't spend more time talking to people who aren't in business with you than people who are. I tell my staff the top priority is the people we're in business with. If we take care of them, we'll have more customers. I'll probably start to spend more time on future business, but I'm glad I didn't jump to that."
The LPGA has been in a state of flux for years, just the like the state of the world's No. 1 player. Since Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa held that distinction, the game's No.1 player has been a rotating honor. Japan's Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr and Jiyai Shin were all at the top this season, and Shin finished No. 1.
"I like it, but it seems a lot of media people disagree," Whan said. "Maybe they're right. Golf doesn't need one consistent face. No one questions the NFL. I don't know if they have one consistent face. I have three boys, and one would say Drew Brees and another Peyton Manning and another Tom Brady. I'd say they're right. There's a lot of people to root for.
"Ai Miyazato walking down the street in Japan is like Michael Jordan walking down the street here. It's good for the game. The world has different faces."
And Whan is doing good for the LPGA by showing his face.