Tom Phillips is the new CEO of the Ladies European Tour. He’s talking players, partners, prize money — and why the biggest challenge is keeping up with the opportunity.
Tom Phillips had barely started his first day as CEO of the Ladies European Tour when he was already looking at a packed to-do list. “Honestly, I think our biggest challenge is there aren’t enough hours in the day,” he says. “There’s so much opportunity here.”
It is, by any measure, a significant role. The LET runs 30 tournaments in 20 countries, with a further 19 events across 13 countries on the LET Access Series. Phillips takes the helm at a moment when women’s golf is drawing more fans, more coverage and more commercial interest than at any previous point in the game’s history — and he knows it.
“If you look at the momentum at the moment behind women’s golf, and then you look at the product of the LET — close to 50 different nationalities playing 30 tournaments in 20 different countries around the world — the question is: how do we capitalise on that?”
He comes well-equipped to answer it. Phillips spent the last seven years as Director of Middle East for the DP World Tour, where he oversaw expansion to eight events in the region — including three Rolex Series tournaments — with combined prize money exceeding $35 million.
Before that, he served as CEO of the Hong Kong Golf Association, held senior business development roles across Asia, and spent nearly 15 years working alongside six-time Major champion Sir Nick Faldo, including as CEO of the Faldo Series.
Players, partners and fans
His first priority, he says, is listening — and he has identified three groups he wants to hear from. “I see three key areas: the players, our partners and our fans. How can we improve the product for players — prize money, playing opportunities, but also the platform on which they play? How can we collaborate further with partners and help them drive commercial value? And the more we can engage with fans, the more we can grow our game and our tour.”
Prize money is an obvious pressure point for any tour CEO, and Phillips is measured but confident. “To grow our tour, we’ll be growing prize money and growing playing opportunities. I’ve got a bit of experience with that. It takes flexibility and collaboration — but I’m pretty confident we can get there.”
Telling the story
On broadcast and commercial partnerships, he sees storytelling as central to the tour’s next chapter. “That means working with our commercial partners, working with our broadcast partners and really telling that story — taking our commercial partners with us on that journey.”
He is also clear that the growth of the women’s game has produced something valuable beyond the numbers: an audience that is more engaged than ever. “We’ve seen more fans than ever before following those stories, following the performances of those amazing athletes. What can we do better to showcase the talent we have on tour, but also those amazing stories that continue to happen?”
For a man stepping into one of the more demanding jobs in professional golf, he sounds energised rather than daunted. The LET has momentum. The question, as Phillips himself frames it, is whether the organisation can move fast enough to meet it.
“The challenge,” he says, “is capitalising on the opportunity.”
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