Chief exec of CME furious (!) with LPGA Tour commish: "That's BS, isn't it?"

The chief executive of the CME Group was reportedly furious with the LPGA Tour commissioner Mollie Marcoux Simaan after coverage of the third round of the season finale was aired on delay. 

The LPGA Tour's leading 60 players are competing for a whopping top prize of $4m this weekend. 

It is the largest prize purse in women's golf history, with the likes of World No.1 Nelly Korda headlining the field at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida. 

The Tour also announced on Wednesday that more than $131m in prize money will be distributed in 2025, marking an increase of $62m in four years. 

But despite those remarkable improvements, the third round of the season finale was aired on delay.

Golf Channel carried highlights of the action between 4-7pm after play concluded at 5pm. 

Coverage of the PGA Tour's RSM Classic was aired during that period. 

Terry Duffy, the chairman and chief executive of CME, told The Palm Beach Post that it was 'BS'. 

"I think that's inappropriate for a tournament of this magnitude to be on tape delay," he said. 

"I have told Mollie I don't like that. I will leave it in her hands to see where that ultimately ends up.

"If you are going to continue to build women's sports, you have to give them the same billing as men and stop the nonsense of saying we have to show the men's tournament because they're the men."

LPGA Tour commissioner outlines pace of play changes

Pace of play has been a hot topic in recent weeks, with Charley Hull, Korda and Lexi Thompson all speaking out. 

Hull wants players to be banned from the Tour if they are repeat offenders. 

It is understood Carlota Ciganda was fined $4,000 last week for her slow play. 

But the Spaniard was willing to accept the fine, given her spot in the field this week was up in the air and the punishment was 'worth it'. 

Simaan said in her state of the Tour press conference on Wednesday that a pace-of-play committee will be formed in the offseason to see if they can figure out a way of speeding things up. 

"I think everybody is invested in this and have to be committed to making some change there," she said. 

"So, yeah, we totally recognize it. We hear it. We're digging in and all we can do is try to find the best solutions moving forward. 

"We like the passion of our players. They want this tour to be great. They want it to be better."

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