Donna Orender, president of US professional women’s basketball league the WNBA, has played down rumours of a move to the vacant commissioner’s post at the LPGA.
“I’m 100 percent, 1,000 percent focused on the W.N.B.A. right now…” Orender said, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune newspaper. “I have had no discussions with the L.P.G.A. and I am 100 percent focused on what I’m doing right now.”
Former LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigned from her post on July 13 under pressure from tour members. Orender worked for the PGA Tour for 17 years before becoming WNBA president.
Orender also said that she had met with parties in Tulsa, Oklahoma, about establishing a new WNBA franchise in the city.
“They have an investor group that’s been very interested in the W.N.B.A. over the past year,” she said. “They’ve done a lot of due diligence there. They felt they were ready to bring it public. They have strong support from the city. They have some strong corporate support. Now they’re bringing it to the fan base to see if they can put the whole package together.”
