Using this perspective, though, the LPGA Tour still did a nice job. I was in the position for 20 years where everybody second-guessed me. It's terribly unfair. As much as I know about golf and sponsorships and television, still anything I might say regarding the LPGA Tour and what it should do now would be pure speculation. He also pointed out that the biggest challenge he had when he started as PGA Tour commissioner was to convince his players and staff that their competition was not only other sports but all forms of entertainment.
People only have so much time.
Developing such a strategy, Beman feels, is easier when the person at the helm of the ship truly cares for not only the organization but has a deep feeling for the sport. Beman had won the U.S. and British Amateur championships, and had also won on the PGA Tour. Still is, to be sure, as at 60, he struggles with his game and a variety of shoulder injuries. It has to be more than a stepping stone to another job. It has to be an end in itself.