Brand Lady Tees It Up in Pro-Am; Finchem Weighing Multi-Pronged Response

Beth Ann Baldry reports on the "Commish" and her unannounced pro-am appearance.

Dressed in her customary all-black attire, Bivens looked the part playing alongside Helen Alfredsson and three other amateurs. She carried a bevy of Nike clubs in a Callaway bag marked “Commish.”

Take that Tim! And...

This wasn’t a publicity stunt. The LPGA media staff didn’t even mention that Bivens was on the course. There was no press release, and one tournament photographer showed up on the 17th hole to snap a few pictures. This was a far cry from PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem’s media frenzy at Pebble Beach earlier this year.

There was also an interesting bit at the end of the piece from a sponsor

Bobby Christian, owner of Impact Ventures, has a home in Richmond and recently signed a three-year contract with the Duramed Futures Tour to sponsor two events. Christian, who played in his first LPGA pro-am Wednesday, has three young daughters and saw the Futures Tour as a “great platform for developing leaders.”

He’s impressed with Bivens’ style off the course, calling her a “hard-charging woman” who is “kind of unconventional.” Surely those five hours he spent with the commissioner helped strengthen their relationship.

Rounding out Bivens’ group was Gregory Brown, VP of Choice Privileges for Choice Hotels, and his guest, Pam Thrasher of Swift Hospitality Group.

This marked Brown’s third LPGA pro-am. He also has played in two PGA Tour pro-ams and, like many others, finds the women to be more fun.

“Some of the PGA Tour players are (approachable),” Brown said, “but for a lot of them, it’s business-like or drudgery.”