Derek Sprague chosen as CEO of PGA of America

Derek Sprague, President of the PGA of America, applauds as Inbee Park of South Korea raises the KPMG Women's PGA golf championship trophy at Westchester Country Club Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Harrison, N.Y. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek, File)

Derek Sprague has been selected as the next CEO at the PGA of America, the first time a club professional has been chosen to lead the organization in nearly 20 years.

Sprague, who spent 25 years at his hometown Malone Golf Club in New York, also becomes the first CEO to have served as PGA president. He takes over for Seth Waugh, the former Deutsche Bank Americas CEO who took over in 2018 until announcing his retirement earlier this year.

“To have a leader at the helm who knows every detail of the association and what it means to be a PGA of America Member will enable our association to succeed far into the future,” said Don Rea Jr., president of the PGA of America.

Sprague, a PGA of America member since 1993, most recently was general manager of the TPC Sawgrass. He was hired in 2018 after working at Liberty National in New Jersey, which hosted the Presidents Cup during his tenure.

In his final year of a two-year term as PGA president, Jimmy Walker won the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol after a rain-soaked weekend that nearly carried over to Monday. Presenting the Wanamaker Trophy was his final act as president.

But his roots were in upstate New York, as the general manager and director of golf at Malone, where he ran every aspect of the club.

Sprague takes over at a time when golf is going through a big turnover in leadership. Martin Slumbers has retired as CEO of the R&A. Mollie Marcoux Samaan recently stepped down as commissioner of the LPGA. Guy Kinnings recently completed his first year as CEO of the European tour. And PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced this week a search for a new position of CEO at the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises.

The PGA of America announced earlier this week it would pay its Ryder Cup players for the first time, a combination of US$300,000 earmarked for charity and a $200,000 stipend.

"Throughout my career I have made it a priority to bring people together around a common cause,” Sprague said in a statement announcing his hire. “At a time of profound change in golf, there is also great opportunity for our association and our members.

"It is my task, alongside the officers and board, to elevate the profession of our more than 30,000 PGA of America golf professionals while ensuring the health of the association and its relationships within our industry.”

Jim Awtrey, the former Oklahoma golf coach and head professional at various Oklahoma golf clubs, was the first CEO of the PGA of America in 1993. He left in 2005 and was succeeded by broadcast executive Joe Steranka. He was followed by Pete Bevacqua, a USGA business officer who left to join NBC and now is athletic director at Notre Dame; and then Waugh.

Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA of America, had been acting as interim CEO since Waugh's retirement in June.