Carolyn, We Hardly Knew Ya Could Last As Long As Ya Did

GolfDigest.com's Ron Sirak was first to break it, and Beth Ann Baldry at Golfweek.com wasn't too far behind.

The Brand Lady is done. I'm shocked. Shocked that it took so long for this day to come.

Sirak says:

"The letter was a death sentence," one source within the LPGA told GolfDigest.com. "No confidence by the players is a dagger in her heart," said a second source, this one involved in tournament ownership.
Bivens has 18 months left on the three-year contract extension she signed at the beginning of 2008. Her salary, according to LPGA tax filings, is $500,000 a year. According to a source in tournament management, a general agreement with Bivens on financial terms was reached late Wednesday.

The only remaining questions surround when Bivens leaves office and how her departure is framed. "She's gone. It's just a question of whether it's a firing or a resignation," said one veteran player, a Bivens supporter. "And she doesn't deserve any of it."

LPGA Issues Non-Denial Denial

SI's Ryan Reiterman says the LPGA Tour is privately refuting any Brand Lady buyout talk, and gets this statement:

"As we've said throughout the week, we want all of those interested in women's professional golf to focus on the play here at the U.S. Women's Open, which has started today and will conclude this weekend when the 2009 champion is crowned. Out of respect to the USGA and the amazing work that they've done and continue to do in producing and hosting this great event, we will not respond to media reports on internal matters related to the LPGA business. The LPGA players, staff and Board care deeply about our Tour, and we're all working hard to achieve the same long-term objective to grow our Tour. We look forward to a great week of golf."

Report: Bivens Buy Out Negotiations Commence; Replacement Search Already Underway

Just as she received a vote of confidence from two Hall of Famers as Garry Smits reports, Sports Business Daily says that buyout talks have begun and a headhunter is already making calls to potential LPGA Commissioner replacements. Here's an AP summary of the SBD story for those who are not subscribers.

Sirak Tweets: No Bivens At Saucon Valley

Maybe the wisest move she's made in a while.

IM'ing With The Commissioners, Bivens Job Status Edition

News about the LPGA Commissioner's job status is breaking rapidly, and this NSA-obtained instant message exchange with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem should shed some new light on the situation. Click on the image to read more:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Ouch: Lorena, Paula, Morgan and Cristie Sign Bivens Resignation Letter

Ron Sirak reports.

"The problem seems to be that Bivens has stuck to her hard-line negotiating even as the economy has imploded."

Someone sent me a less than nice email about the Bivens-mutiny post below. I started to write back an explanation, but Alan Shipnuck summed it up better in the lastest SI/golf.com roundtable:

Shipnuck: It's clear Bivens's hard-charging personal style has rubbed a lot of players and corporate types the wrong way, but you can't fault her original vision: raise purses, improve the pension and retirement benefits, and expand the tour's TV presence. The problem seems to be that Bivens has stuck to her hard-line negotiating even as the economy has imploded. Sponsors are hard-pressed to maintain their current commitments, and she's asking for them to pour in more money for next year and beyond. Something had to give, and it's being reflected by the tour's contracting schedule.

There has been no sign that Bivens called an audible after the economic collapse and postponed her vision to get them through these tough times and save some of these mom-and-pop events that are dropping like flies. That will ultimately be her undoing.

Report: Top LPGAer's Convene To Roast Brand Lady, Ponder Possible Replacements

Jim Gorant reports that a "dozen or so" top players had dinner last week to decide if a different commissioner could run off fewer sponsors. He also indicates that a letter to the LPGA Board may be in the works.

Player director Juli Inkster, who was at the dinner, also said that as far as she knew no letter had come out of the meeting. Inkster told SI that the dinner "was kind of a personal talk about where we need to go and what we can do. As far as who was there and who said what, I can't get into that."

Don't we at least get to hear how much wine was consumed? That would give us a better idea how nasty the name calling got. Just a thought.

"We have a 50-50 chance of being here next year."

Reading the AP blurb that went out suggesting the $1.4 million Jamie Farr Classic has only a 50-50 chance of returning in 2010, it was hard not to wonder if anyone at the LPGA is thinking that it might be nice just to have some tournaments next year, regardless of purse size and market?

Then I see that Beth Ann Baldry raised this very point in a tough Golfweek.com plea for the Brand Lady to wake up before it's too late. Calling the LPGA "a floundering tour with flourishing talent" Baldry writes:

The days of Bivens doing too much too soon should be over. The LPGA needs to bend over backwards to make things work from here on out. The tour needs strong partners such as Wegmans, a supermarket chain in the Northeast (Everyone’s got to eat, right?) now more than ever.