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HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSFebruary 22, 2012Mike WhanTANAH MERAH, SINGAPORE MIKE SCANLAN: We would like to welcome LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan to the interview room here at the HSBC Women's Champions. Mike, I know you spoke yesterday at the tournament opening press conference about landing in Singapore and kind of feeling at home, as many of our staff and players do. But if you would, just to start, kind of reiterate how it feels for you to be back here in Singapore and how you feel about the LPGA being here in Asia. MIKE WHAN: Yeah, I guess it's strange to say, as I did yesterday, that this feels like coming home. But there's a home quality to this place. Everybody talks about it at the airport waiting for their bags. The hotel is fantastic. Volunteers are smiling like no other tournament. It's a great venue. It's always turned out a great champion. If you look at the list of champions at this place it's unbelievable. It's connected to a great mall. The food is fantastic. I think after coming here for so many years, the people of HSBC, and their customers have become friends. I was just riding around in the Pro‑Am saying hi to different groups, and you don't do that at every tournament, where you actually feel like people in the Pro‑Am, the people at the parties, the people at the hotel, you know and you've met. So yeah, there's a real relaxation that comes with getting off and playing in Singapore, and it actually does feel like a home game. MIKE SCANLAN: Can you just talk about the first couple of weeks of our season? Obviously we had a first‑time winner in Australia in Jessica Korda, who made some waves and last week Yani got her 13th victory in the last 12 months. Just your general thoughts on how our year has kicked off. MIKE WHAN: It's funny, a year ago sitting here, I remember during the press conference, a lot of questions were about: Do you think anyone is going to clearly become the No. 1 player. Isn't it funny to think, 12 months later, how asked and answered that question has been. I think this year is really going to be about the pack. I've seen how hard the players are working in the off‑season. It's just going to be exciting, and has it's been for a couple years now. There's really something for everybody. Whether it's Ai Miyazato from Japan or Jiyai or Na Yeon Choi or Amy Yang from Korea; or whether it's Cristie, Michelle, Paula, and the rest, Lexi now from the U.S., Karrie from Australia, Yani from Thailand, we really are a global event every time we tee it up. There's a lot of countries rooting for countries, and a there's a lot of countries leading players. I've said this a lot of times, and this will sound commissioner‑orial, if that's a word I can make up; but the stockpiling of 20‑somethings is like it's never been before. If you think about the group that's really in the Top‑10 or 15, all of them for the most part have the best years of golf in front them. So Michelle Wie at 21 or 22; Yani at 23, 24; Paula Creamer at 24, 25; Morgan Pressel, 24; you've got Na Yeon and Jiyai who clearly are going to have the best golf of their life coming up. I'm lucky as Commissioner to sit through what is going to be a phenomenal time in women's golf, and really, in four years, take it to the next level of putting it on the Olympic stage. I think it's about time for the women's game, and the result of it being such a good time is showing up in our business. Viewership was up across the board, it was up 40 per cent in the U.S. and 28 per cent worldwide. We have added more sponsors in one year than we have added in 40 years. It's good momentum, and I'm smart enough to realise that it's nothing to do with me and it has everything to do with what's going on in the ropes. MIKE SCANLAN: On that note, the LPGA business is stronger than it's been in a while. You talked in the off‑season about the addition of five new tournaments, net four, increased Golf Channel coverage in the U.S. Can you just talk about the feeling from your office of how things are going right now and where you think the LPGA is heading. MIKE WHAN: Well, you know, it is an exciting time. We went through‑‑ I've always said, there is no small business and we are not a super‑huge business. There was no small business that was not affected by the economic turmoil of 2008, 2009 and 2010; and as I've always said to my staff and players, businesses that go through tough times come out better. They may not like having gone through them, but it gets you to refocus. As an organisation, we hundred per cent refocussed on what's important as an organisation, and for us, that's the customer. Maybe our fans don't want to hear that and maybe the media doesn't want to hear that, but for us it's making sure we play a golf tournament; and it's not just a golf tournament we play, but we play for our partners. Whether that's ISPA Handa where we started in Australia or Honda Thailand last week or HSBC this week. We realized that we had to do more than play a golf tournament. And what's going onto today with customers and what's going on tonight with customers is part of our responsibility to make sure this is a good business for HSBC, not just a good tournament for HSBC. I think as a result of us getting back to what it's really all about, we have added more tournaments. We have focussed almost zero of our time on tournaments we didn't have or sponsors we didn't have. We focussed on the tournaments we did have, and that resulted in more tournaments. I think the result of happier customers generated more customers. Q. (Inaudible.) MIKE WHAN: Well, it's a funny job this Commissioner thing. Sometimes I think the title kind of gets in the way because you get way too much credit and way too much blame. It's kind of like being a quarterback on a football team sometimes. I would love to lie to you and say that it's been my leadership that's turned it around. But I think you know me well enough to know that's not true. I think really the most important thing is we believe in a term called role reversal. Role reversal means spend more time talking about the person who is writing the cheque than who is going to win the cheque. Golf takes care of itself. What happens here Thursday to Sunday is going to happen Thursday to Sunday, but what doesn't take care of itself is understanding the customers. Over the last two years, when our players sign up for an event, when they came here on Tuesday and signed up, they got a two‑page form called the customer profile sheet. And that form, I carry it with me all the time. That form says on the very top who is writing the cheque this week; and then it says why, and then it says what are their key objectives and shows pictures of the key executives and customers that are going to be here this week. It suggests what you should Tweet and Facebook. It tells you where to send your thank‑you cards; not should you, but where to send your thank‑you cards. I think the biggest difference for us today maybe versus two years ago is again that refocus, that role reversal mind‑set. That's what I mean, when business gets tough, you have to go back and say what's the most important thing. The most important thing for us is to showcase the best female golfers on the planet week‑in and week‑out, and the most important way to do that is be a good partner to the business community. I think we are a business partner today than we were, and I think we are better inside the ropes; and those two things have resulted in me getting more credit than is really a reality, and you guys know that. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: Obviously we view China as important and we put it on our schedule last year, and quite frankly had a four‑year contractual commitment to go there. So it was a surprise to me as much as it was a surprise to tell you last year that we were not going. There's a few interesting things going on in China right now as related to golf courses and when they were built, and we sort of got in the middle of that with our event last year. So we didn't want to be in the middle of that. That's something going on with the Chinese government and golf course design. So we said, you know what, since we are in kind of a weird cross fire, probably best to step away from that. And we know, and we knew, that there are certainly other interests for us to return to China. I'm confident that we'll be playing in China on a regular basis. I don't know if that will be in 2012, but I also don't know that it won't be in 2012. It's just as likely that we could add something in the fall of 2012 still. There's only one tournament we might add this year and that would be fall in China. It's 50/50 at best but I think we will be there long term. I don't say that because we've got to get to China. I say that because there's great business there. There's a lot of expansion, and I think we, the LPGA, and maybe this sounds boastful, but I think we and the LPGA could have a real impact on growing the women's game in China. I'm not sure we have had as much impact as we would like to think we have had in Thailand or Malaysia or Singapore. But we do know that when you walk into these ropes on a Saturday and you see young girls, eight or nine or ten years old watching Michelle Wie or Yani Tseng tee it up, at some point in their lives, they saw a pro golfer who made them believe. We would like to be part of what the China LPGA is building, what the China Golf Association is building, and I think we will be. I think it's just a matter of time. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: We did get asked about it. We got asked about it fairly late in our schedule. The biggest reason I would tell you is really simple, we are a little leery of playing too many limited field events early in the year. If you think about the LPGA, what really I'm supposed to do, right, is run a sports organisation where hundreds of women can compete to be the best in the world on a regular basis; and the good push out the bad, and that happens throughout the year. We play two tournaments early in the year, Thailand and Singapore where there are only 60 LPGA players in it, and they all make official money in those events. If you're 94 on our Money List, you're at home this week watching others move forward. We play a lot of those events at the end of the year because I kind of view that as desert; if you eat well during the year, you get yourself in the Top‑50 or 60, you get to participate in desert at the end of the year. But two, maybe max three, limited field events early in the year is kind of our cap and there really wasn't much room for many LPGA players in that. And I thought making that an official events with official money would have upset the competitive apple cart. So it didn't really fit in our schedule. But we sent a letter to all of our players, including the ones that are here, saying what's going on if you want to participate; no different than we did with the Gold Coast event in Australia before we got to Melbourne. Those were not LPGA events but we wanted our players to know that if they wanted to reach out to those operators to play, but it just won't be an LPGA official event. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: I'll give you a unique answer to that question. When I hear that question‑‑ this is me putting it through my filter, so you can write this however you want to write it. The question for me is: What would it take for a women's game to have a true country‑by‑country competition that would really showcase the best golfing countries, female golfing countries on the planet, and do it on a major stage where you could really have the best players in the world and the best countries in the world. We are close to that, and I'll tell you around 2014 we'll start playing something around that line where countries will play as countries and play on a global stage and a pretty massive media spectacle. More to follow probably in the next few months but the LPGA is committed to creating a biannual event; that would be opposite Solheim Cup years where we actually would pit countries versus countries, and we have got a pretty exciting format to describe. If I described it now, I would get in a lot of trouble, but coming soon. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: Already has. I would tell you, and really‑‑ Lexi or Jessica or anybody else. I think what serves customer interest, I would say almost every customer that we added played in an LPGA Pro‑Am in the last 24 months. So there are stereotypes about the LPGA and some of them are dead on. Yeah, stereotypes, come out and prove them, prove them right, prove them wrong. One stereotype you'll prove wrong in a heartbeat is our international membership is somehow negative. I've heard it in a board room, but never heard it on a golf course. Because when you come out there and play a round with Ai Miyazato, Na Yeon Choi, Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb, you realise a couple of things: They are all young, professional athletes who are incredibly social, and you and your customers will have a time that you have not had at a pro golf event before. Doesn't mean we are better, but it does mean we are different. Whether it was RR Donnelley last year or CME Group last year, Toledo or Kingsmill, all of them experienced the LPGA and that's what sold it. It has nothing to do with my selling skills, his selling skills, anything else, players and their performances. Is that a Lexi/Jessica thing? Not really. But they have definitely created some interest broader than just golf. Lexi got a lot of exposure that was much bigger than a golf publication, certainly didn't hurt. But I think what is helping, I heard the old, geez, what if they don't speak English. I say, you go down our list, you walk out on the course and you tell me how deep you have to get on our list before you find somebody you can't have an English conversation with, because I haven't had one yet, you know, and I've been doing the job for 2 1/2 years. I think that some of the stereotypes types, when they experience it, they just go away, and that's really what's added to our business. I do think some of the young guns will make a difference. I think that what Jessica did‑‑ it's funny, I said to the media in Australia, what Jessica did is an example that I hope a lot of other rookies look at. Jessica came in last year, and never said to me‑‑ and they all have aspirations of multiple wins, they all do. When you ask them in their rookie year, what's your goal, they all say, to win early; and you just want to hug them and say, just have fun this first year, because it doesn't happen for too many rookies. There are not many Nancy Lopezes that go out and knock down that many victories. But there's Jessica, finished her first rear, told me last year she was disappointed; and I was thinking just the opposite, great kid, had a good year, learned a lot. And then comes back in her sophomore year and I see the same thing with Amanda Blumenherst or Azahara Munoz; they are comfortable on the range and they are comfortable on the first tee and that's going turn into wins, I have zero doubt. So if Lexi does not win in her first year, I always say for all of the people that have written a Michelle Wie story, like it's over, I've got bad news for you; get out an eraser, because the good stuff is coming. Q. (Inaudible.) MIKE WHAN: There's zero doubt that we love Singapore, we love the town and hospitality and we love this golf course so I don't think there's‑‑ I wouldn't tell you that and make that up. We do love the facility. Probably one of the reasons we love the facility is the treatment we get from HSBC. I don't know how you tell the two apart, because we get the hospitality from a title sponsor that really probably does the little things as well as any sponsor we have. So personally, and maybe I'm‑‑ not maybe; I'm clearly an optimist, I don't think we are done in Singapore and I don't think we are done with HSBC. But I also realise that at the end of the day, it has to make business sense both for HSBC. And if this is something that's valuable to Singapore, we want them to get involved in a major way, too, and our groups have to come together, LPGA, IMG, Singapore and HSBC. If it doesn't work out here, trust me, I'll be following HSBC all around the world saying, where else can we play, because I really love them as a title sponsor, we like their customers and I'll be back in Singapore saying, hey, is there another way to do this. Goal one for me is not change what we have because this is a model that's really impressive. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: I think it's been the case in America for a lot of years, but not in golf. I think golf fans and golf media have gotten lazy. We have had big stars; there's always been one star at the top. But I think if you look at Olympic ratings in the States, Olympic ratings went through the roof for Nadia Comaneci, nothing to do with America, for a sport we all follow. We'll fall in love with great stars, especially great stars that embrace the homeland. You know, you take a star like Yani, who moved just like Annika before, moved to America, made it her home, travelled with an English translator for a lot of years. I remember last year at a press conference here one of the media asked Yani, what do you work on in the most in your off‑season, because she had just won and she said, my English, and everyone in the audience laughed. I knew what she meant, she wanted to be more comfortable in the press conferences. I think what's going on inside the ropes is special. I think that if there was one superstar American and there wasn't this kind of incredible competition going on globally, it would not be as interesting. I think that while we've been doing all this, slowly, Cristie Kerr is three or four in the world, Paula Creamer is five or six in the world, and the race is going to be on. And I think most Americans can't separate anymore between Suzann Pettersen American and Suzann Pettersen Norwegian. She might not like to hear that, but after a while the lines get blurred. In 2010 one critique I gave to our group and our media partners was I think we were covering too much golf and not enough golf personality in terms of who are these players. In the last year and a half, we have gotten much better. I remember watching the Kraft Nabisco on TV and they were showing pictures of Stacy Lewis's surgery and the pins in her back and talking about scoliosis. Two years ago, we would have talked about Stacy and her driving distance and greens in regulation. Two years ago, we talked about her story and as a result, we have a star people fell for. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: I can't even confirm the first part you said. So I mean, you sound like you know more than I do, which wouldn't be that strange. But we are definitely talking about an event in China. We have not confirmed who, what, where or when to be perfectly honest. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: I think there's a lot of ways to approach the Olympics and a lot of ways to approach golf. I think the format in the beginning will give us the best champion bar none. Stroke play over four days gives you a great champion and I think the Olympics are going to generate a great champion. I also don't know that that format is set for the next 80 Olympics. Like any sport we'll live and learn and determine what's good and bad. I don't have any concern about the format. I have zero concern about whether or not there will be incredible country interest and loyalty going into the Olympics. It's just going to put us on a‑‑ especially on the women's side, in fairness, the men get that kind of global coverage five or six times a year. This will give the women a media stage we have never seen, and it's going to be great for our game no matter how we play it. Q. Inaudible. MIKE WHAN: This will sounds strange but I have not found China that difficult to deal with. I know that what happened in China was not a Chinese difficulty of‑‑ we got our deal done in China in weeks, you know. That's as quick as we get a deal done in any country, including America. We had a lot of support from the Chinese Golf Association and a lot of support from the China LPGA, two organisations that I think we are going to be partnered with for a long time because I think they are investing in the future of the game, and I want to be partners with people that are investing in the future of the game. We all have a responsibility to leave the game better than we found it. Just like I said to the China Golf Association when I met them, none of us will be doing this job forever, so we have to grab the baton and run for a while and hand it to somebody else. I think they get that, and that's why I like working with them. It was a fluke thing, it won't be the last event the LPGA has to cancel unfortunately; and the fact that it was in China and one of the first times we were in China makes it look coincidental. I would tell you if I thought working with China was incredibly challenging; maybe I'll learn more, but at this stage, that doesn't concern me. MIKE SCANLAN: Mike, thanks for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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