GAINESVILLE, Va. – LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan met with the media Saturday to discuss Friday’s shuttle transportation issues that left more fans in line for the Solheim Cup than at the first tee – historically one of the best experiences the sport has to offer.

“Our goal for this week is we’re working really hard to get more fans into the sport, get more fans into the LPGA,” Marcoux Samaan said. “We’ve worked very hard to achieve that and to market this event, which is a top-tier event. It was extremely disappointing that we had fans who didn’t have the perfect experience that we expected.”

LPGA leadership noticed the problem when they saw the largely empty stands surrounding the first tee at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Friday morning. They quickly realized the problem was the lack of shuttles from the parking lot. Marcoux Samaan did not provide information on how many vehicles the tour had on Friday to shuttle fans from the pickup point, explaining that it was complicated, but added that the tour had three to four times as many shuttles in use the rest of the morning.

“Ultimately, I am the leader of the organization and I have to take responsibility for it,” Marcoux Samaan said.

The LPGA’s lack of public messaging beyond the statement it issued at 9:30 a.m. Friday was because tour officials went into triage mode, focusing on meeting with fans on-site to improve the experience. The commissioner was directly involved in driving fans to the golf course and turned around to return a woman’s phone she had left in her car.

The tour took 12 hours to release an apology statement, which was sent out to fans late Friday and gave them two free tickets for the rest of the weekend. When asked about fans who traveled to the event and had already purchased the $110 one-day tickets to the competition, Marcoux Samaan indicated that it would be too complicated to attempt a refund. The commissioner said she had seen fans posting on social media that they would not be coming back.

“We are not happy about what happened,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I don’t think it will hurt us in the long run. We have to make sure our fans know how important they are to us and how badly we missed the mark.”

Marcoux Samaan plans an investigation into how this happened, but is more focused on praising the quality of the fan experience for those who were there. The opening afternoon sessions were filled with energizing fanfare. The first tee was packed on Saturday morning as fans excitedly lined the fairway of the first hole, a necessary respite after an opening day marred by transportation problems.

“It was obviously much better this morning,” Marcoux Samaan said. “We’re not patting ourselves on the back here. I think that’s how it should have been yesterday.”