Craig Kessler sent out a letter to LPGA players on Tuesday afternoon and met with select media to address fallout from the season opener.
The top questions on everyone’s mind after the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions: Why did the tour wait until 2:15 p.m. ET to send out LPGA players when celebrities had been playing for hours at Lake Nona? And why cut the tournament to 54 holes rather than extend play to Monday?
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Kessler said he kept players off the course until late in the afternoon because he was concerned about LPGA players getting injured after an overnight freeze. As for Monday, the tour hasn’t a Monday finish since 2020, and they weren’t ready for it.
“We were not prepared fully for Monday,” Kessler told Golfweek. “In hindsight, if we can do it over again, there are a number of creative solutions that absolutely could have worked. We should have explored those and been more prepared. We weren’t.”
Temperatures in Orlando were forecasted to climb into the 50s on Monday afternoon. With only 39 players in the field, the final round could’ve easily started on Sunday and finished on Monday. The long-term forecast — which called for strong wind and freezing temperatures over the weekend — delivered as promised. There were no surprises.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand reacts on the 18th green during a continuation of the third round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions 2026 at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on February 1, 2026 in Orlando, Florida.
As for the hardened ground potentially causing injury, at no point during Sunday’s communication with the media or in text messages to players did the tour indicate that fear of injury was the reason for pushing back tee times. In fact, when an LPGA media official was asked if conditions were dangerous, the answer was no.
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When Ricki Lasky, the tour’s chief tour business and operations office, went into the NBC booth on Sunday afternoon to address the situation, she talked about how the hardened ground was changing the trajectory of players’ shots as they were practicing Sunday morning. She never mentioned the fear of injury, only that the balls were “releasing when they weren’t supposed to.”
Even so, Kessler insists that his decision was based on the health and safety of the players, even if that wasn’t communicated.
“Can you imagine if in week one of the season somebody really hurt themselves, broke a wrist, did something, and I was the leader who chose to let them go out and play?” Kessler said to Golfweek. “I don’t know how I would have lived with that. Like, that’s why I made the call that I made.”
And yet, celebrities were sent out at 10 a.m. to play in freezing temperatures. Annika Sorenstam finished nine holes hours before any LPGA players teed off at 2:15 p.m. ET.
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If it was so dangerous, what about Sorenstam’s wrists? Or Blair O’Neal’s? Or any of the other celebrities who bundled up and played on?
“Completely fair question,” Kessler responded, “This is why I mentioned in hindsight, if we could do quite a few things over again, we would.”
Kessler said his team spoke with about a third of the field and concerns were expressed about conditions. Nona resident Lydia Ko felt the course was unplayable at 10 a.m., when LPGA players were originally scheduled to tee off, but told Golfweek she was “gutted” that Monday wasn’t an option.
When asked how he balances player concerns with the needs of other stakeholders or policies in place, Kessler said he’ll get better at it with time.
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“I’m seven months into this job,” he said. “Seven years into this job, when I have pattern recognition, and I understand, like, what’s a little bit of noise versus what’s a very, very grave concern and who the information’s coming from? Those are things that take time for a leader to get his or her arms around. And you have my commitment with time, I’m going to get better at this job.”
In the letter, Kessler apologizes to players for poor communication and makes promises to improve in that area as well as establishing “clearer principles for play decisions in challenging situations.”
Anyone who has spent time with Kessler knows that two of his strengths are relationships and communication, which is what made this situation even more complexing. After leaving Orlando prior to the weekend, Kessler did not make a statement about how events unfolded at the TOC until Tuesday afternoon, when he sent out the letter and connected with media.
At the top of the letter, Kessler noted that when he started as LPGA commissioner, he put a high value on earning trust, and last weekend at the TOC put that trust to the test.
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Mistakes were made. And while some of his explanations weren’t satisfying, he owned that things could’ve been done differently. He knows there’s work to be done.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA commissioner: TOC didn’t go to Monday because tour wasn’t prepared
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