USGA chief Mike Whan reveals most challenging part of his job

On the latest episode of GOLF Originals with Michael Bamberger, USGA CEO Mike Whan is in the spotlight.

Whan took the helm at the governing body after spending more than a decade as the LPGA Commissioner, and his roots in golf run deep.

Whan has a reputation as a dynamic individual, and Bamberger was impressed with his ability to listen to others.

“He takes people in, he sees things, he processes things in original ways,” Bamberger says. “And I think he understands, as a starting point, what can we do to make the golf experience better for the literally tens of millions of people in Canada and the United States who love this game as he does? And that gets conveyed in everything that he does. And I think golf is lucky to have him in that role.”

As a part of their day together, Bamberger and Whan played golf at a no-frills public track in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., called Palm Valley Golf Club. They were paired with a woman named Louise, a local regular.

The conversation covered a plethora of topics, from the start of Whan’s career to how rule changes are made and his visions of the game’s future.

Features

At one point during the round, Bamberger asked Whan about the challenges he faces in his job, and Whan’s answer was revealing.

“It’s slower by design,” Whan said of the differences between his role at the USGA and LPGA. “I mean, you can, you can tell from me, I’m highly caffeinated and move quicker.

“When you’re at the LPGA, you’ve got to solve this week’s problem and get to next week, right? Zip up the bags and get to the next week. So you’re making decisions right now to get through that week and make sure you know what you gotta do, and adjusting for sponsors.

“But when you get to the governance system, it’s really more like being a congressman. You gotta make sure you’re talking to the whole [congregation] as you’re moving forward. So it requires the patience that I wasn’t born with. And I’m glad I’m surrounded by people that can help me with that.

“Whether it’s starting a new championship, whether it’s rules and governance, whether it’s plans to expand handicapping, it just, it takes longer, there’s more people involved, there’s 58 allied golf associations, there’s the R&A and sort of the rest of the world,” Whan continued. “So it just requires a lot more communication and coordinations first, and then the action later, and I probably came from a place where, you know, you made some action and then you reacted to that action. It was more quick and on the move.”

For more from Whan and Bamberger, including a fun story from Whan’s early days as an executive, check out the full episode of GOLF Originals above.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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