Five years after LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan created the Founders Cup to "honor pioneers of the women's game," the event is "paying dividends even the commissioner couldn't have seen coming," according to Randall Mell of GOLFCHANNEL.com. This year's event begins play today in Phoenix, and the tourney "looks now like a catalyst that just might secure the future" of the tour. Whan asked his pros to "play the inaugural event for free," donating the purse to LPGA-USGA Girls' Golf and charity. After the inaugural Founders Cup in '11, title sponsors were "so enamored with the women’s altruistic efforts, they began funding a real purse." The event now "shines as a beacon that illuminates the unique pathway Whan is using to revitalize the women’s tour." But the concept of the tournament "deserves revisiting in the wake of news that the PGA Tour has struck a strategic alliance with the LPGA." The risk Whan "took creating the Founders Cup is proving to be a catalyst to this formal new alliance with the men." PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem "alluded to that a week ago at Trump Doral when he pointed out that the growth of girls’ golf is a factor in the alliance." Korean TV net JTBC is the title sponsor of the Founders Cup, and Finchem last week said that he wanted to “'applaud the LPGA' for its 'very smart' decision to pursue global markets." He also said that the PGA Tour "wanted to collaborate with the LPGA in further 'tapping into the global marketplace.'” Mell noted Whan "doesn’t take credit for the 'Act Like a Founders' slogan, but he gets credit for making the servanthood theme central to the new LPGA culture" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 3/14).
