In a report by Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols, the USGA and ProMedica have parted ways just one year into their 10-year partnership, with USGA CEO, Mike Whan, confirming to Golfweek that the two organizations reached a separation agreement about a month ago, after ProMedica’s business took a downward turn.
In 2022, ProMedica became the US Women's Open first ever presenting sponsor, with the health and well-being organization providing a $10 million tournament purse, almost doubling the $5.5 million prize money from the previous year. There was also talk of an increase in the purse to $12 million over the next five years.
Speaking about the split, Whan stated that: "It doesn’t change anything about our commitment to where we play, how we play, how much we play for; all those things remain the same."
Along with Whan, ProMedica also released a statement that read in part: "We are grateful for those partners like the USGA that understand the extreme financial challenges the healthcare industry has been navigating, and have worked with us in a professional manner to reassess prior engagements.
"ProMedica, like many other health systems across the country, is experiencing financial strain coming off of 2022, which was declared the worst financial year for the healthcare industry since the start of the pandemic. While we were hopeful the industry’s financial performance was improving at the beginning of 2022, challenges like extreme staffing shortages and rapidly rising expenses proved to be significant hurdles."
So, what is the future of the US Women's Open, which will be played at Pebble Beach for the first time in its history? Well, according to Whan, multiple companies have expressed interest in taking over.
Talking about the future, the USGA CEO stated that: "I think anybody who had doubts about whether or not (a presenting sponsor) would be good for the women’s game and help lift the U.S. Women’s Open to another level, those doubts were eliminated."
