LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler called the controversy surrounding Good Good Golf’s Callaway ad “brutal” and “heartbreaking,” while arguing that people should have a chance to learn from serious mistakes.
Kessler addressed the August advertisement Tuesday at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit.
The video promoting a co-branded Callaway driver showed Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark shoving fellow content creator Alexis Miestowski to the ground after she reached for the club. The spot drew widespread criticism over its depiction of violence against women and was quickly removed. Good Good claimed the spot was intended as a parody of the horror movie “Obsession.”
“The fact that someone thought that was a good idea, and it came to life, just shows you that while society has made enormous progress, we have a very, very long way to go,” Kessler said.
Callaway ended its relationship with Good Good and pledged $1 million to organizations working to prevent violence against women. Good Good also withdrew as title sponsor of a PGA Tour event, while retailers pulled its merchandise and Golf Channel canceled the 2026 season of its reality competition series “Big Break x Good Good.”
The LPGA did not have a partnership with Good Good.
Kessler acknowledged the criticism but argued that people should have opportunities to admit mistakes and learn from them.
“Good people make mistakes, and we have to leave room in society for someone to say, ‘I made a massive mistake. Please forgive me. Here’s what I learned, and it won’t happen again,'” Kessler said.
Kessler drew a parallel to criticism he received earlier this year after canceling the final round of the LPGA’s season opener because of cold weather, a decision for which he later apologized.
“Brutal that it happened — awful — my heart goes out to anybody who was affected, and I think a lot of lessons were learned,” Kessler said of the Good Good controversy.
