The USGA's fast-talking, personable manager was breaking the mold
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – Mike Whan was on the road, on the dirt roads that border the fictional US Open courses here. Whan was in a nondescript, roofless wagon, a descendant of the heavy duty wagons he drove as a boy in Cincinnati, where he would trap on the country club course on hot summer days in the name of small pay and a free afternoon of golf. Whan's US Open credentials — he's the CEO of the USGA — were tucked into his left back pocket, and if he'd ever had a hat on this warm and sunny Friday, it was long gone.
This Mike Whan could sell a hen for an egg – he has the ability to connect with people like nobody's business. At this time, he had gone to the USGA merchandise tent, because merchandise is a profit center, and if the USGA makes a lot of money at the US Open, any US Open, it will have a lot of money for the Walker Cup, Adaptive Open, US Senior Women's Open and so on. Whan is a business person, but the USGA is a non-profit organization with 450 employees and thousands of volunteers. It's a good combo.
“This is kind of a late-night crowd,” Whan said on his way to the USGA auction house. From the French, capitalists. Quiet comfort, chill vibe, all of that. “At Oakmont last year, the gates opened at 6:45, there were 15,000 people, and they packed lunches,” Whan said. That was then, this is now.
Not that Whan was dismissing his 2026 customer base. Never! He will never disrespect the people who help fund the US Senior Women's Open (etc.) using $165 Peter Millar quarter-zip pullovers emblazoned with the proud Indian head logo of this week's host club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. If you want to sell, you must know your customers. You want to lead, you have to know your employees.
Whan is 61 years old, although you wouldn't have guessed it. (Plump cheeks, leisurely manner, childlike energy during downtime.) He has been in and around golf his entire life. You collect golfers like golf courses collect brand names. At the sales tent, he knew a dozen or so workers by name or nickname and sometimes both. (For example, Merch Mary, aka Mary Lopuszynski, who runs the whole show.) Peter Millar (not a real person) is run by South African businessman Johann Rupert, who is Ernie Els' mentor and advisor. Whan, not surprisingly, knows both Ernie and Rupert.
Whan signed Els to TaylorMade years ago, when Whan was the chief marketing officer there. “Rupert wanted Ernie to be 'the lion of South Africa,'” Whan said. He is a good conversationalist even though he is not a free person. I'm like, 'I don't know.' You already have a Tiger.
“We did a survey, we asked people to give us three words to describe Ernie, and they came back with them big, it's easy again rest. We came up with 'The Big Easy.' Gary McCord ran it on CBS. He was a TaylorMade guy. ” Knowing your customers makes the business world go round. Knowing people makes the world go round, period.
Driving around the edge of the course Whan knew something about all the players he saw and sometimes even those he didn't. The golfer he didn't see smashed the drive over Whan's head, with a whistle that sounded like an airplane flying. After a minute or two, three appeared: Ben Silverman, Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Emiliano Grillo. “That had to be Grillo,” Whan said of the gunman, and it was.
Who picked the dark horse this week, before the first shot, is Max Greyserman. He loves Max's game and he loves Max. Whan didn't let him into the office pool. The USGA does not have a US Open office pool.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the opening days of this and all US Opens, were difficult for Whan and his people. Whan was studying wind forecasts, preparing a press conference for a segment that focused on the interesting topic of ODS (overall range) test procedures, to get snapshots of Stimp's speed. Thursday morning was especially difficult, what with the fog delays that extended by 15 minutes every 15 minutes.
But now it was Friday afternoon, the sun was out, the spectators were out, the weather worries were over and the broadcast had begun. Perhaps the most important piece of business Whan has done in the past year or two was extending the USGA's deal with NBC Sports by six years, until 2032. Now Whan was pointing his cart at the NBC Sports compound, his annual visit. It was about a kilometer of dusty roads to get there from the cargo tent. On the way there, Whan got lost only a few times.
He was greeted there by Dave Giancola, USGA press officer; by Tommy Roy, longtime NBC Sports golf producer; by Tom Randolph, Roy's longtime deputy; another dozen people Whan knew by name and nickname. The power and speed of a broadcast trailer, with its controlled chaos and voltage drop and 30 or more screens competing for your attention, seemed like a natural home for Whan, with his peripatetic powers.
Great competition is many different things and one of those things is a TV show. For Whan, the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst was the gift of all gifts: Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau competing in the sun, the best clash, they are different in every way. If you follow golf, you know how it played. “I rented a big house in the area, I have my family there, I have my golf cart,” said Whan. You can relate to this guy, right?
And now two years had passed and Whan was at Shinnecock Hills, and he had his golf cart again. The forecast was for good weather for the weekend. The forecast was for good golf this weekend.
Whan found his way to the back door of the media center, another stop along the way on his Friday afternoon tour. One of his salesmen happened to come out of the freezer and enter the freezer with a smile on his face.
“Geller, look at you, go get an ice cream sandwich—don't lock yourself in there,” Whan said.
This man's name is not Geller. By Greg Ross. Only Whan calls him “Geller,” after the character Ross Geller, from the TV show “Friends,” a tall, dark-haired actor played by David Schmimmer. It says it all: one nickname; the name of the show it's from; the stolen moment of a boy who finds pleasure in a walk-in fridge; the manager sees and is happy about it. Yes, the CEO of the USGA, it's cool at the US Open!
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at [email protected]
