Craig Kessler Facts And Bio: Meet The New LPGA Commissioner

In May 2025, the LPGA confirmed Craig Kessler as its new commissioner – here’s what we know about him

The LPGA flag and Craig Kessler
What is LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler's background?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Craig Kessler is the 10th LPGA commissioner, succeeding interim commissioner Liz Moore, who stepped into the role temporarily when Mollie Marcoux Samaan left the position in January 2025. But what is his background and career in business so far?

Here are 10 things to know about him.

Craig Kessler Facts

1. Craig Kessler earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

2. He has a strong business background. After graduating, he joined management consulting firm McKinsey & Company as a Business Analyst, leaving the role in 2010.

3. He was also CEO of Dallas-based Buff City Soap, which expanded from 100 to 260 locations after he took up the role.

4. Another former role he held was on the Dallas Mavericks Advisory Board.

5. He also has a golf-related business background, having previously been the CEO of the PGA of America.

6. Kessler was the COO and Head of Emerging Concepts at Topgolf between 2016 and 2021.

7. Kessler is on the boards of the National Golf Foundation and the UT Southwestern hospital system.

8. Like USGA CEO Mike Whan, he is a published author, having written a bestseller, The Dad Advice Project, which offers advice to new fathers.

9. He became the 10th LPGA CEO on May 22nd 2025, taking over from interim CEO Liz Moore.

10. He resides in Dallas with his wife, Nicole, and their three sons.

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Craig Kessler Bio

From

San Diego, California

Row 0 - Cell 2

Education

Georgetown University, Harvard

Row 1 - Cell 2

Notable Former Roles

COO of PGA of America COO and Head of Emerging Concepts at Topgolf

Row 2 - Cell 2

Current Role

CEO of LPGA

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Resides

Dallas

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TOPICS
Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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