From the Desk of Joe Gilston
One of the things I’m most excited about at Elias right now is our new partnership with the LPGA .
If you follow the sports media industry closely, it probably won’t surprise you that Elias has partnered with another women’s sports league. What many people may not realize, though, is just how deep the LPGA’s history runs. This year marks the LPGA’s 76th season — a remarkable legacy and one filled with stories waiting to be uncovered.
My grandfather, Seymour Siwoff, built Elias on the belief that statistics could illuminate players and connect greatness across generations. That philosophy still guides us today. At Elias, we specialize in putting modern sports moments into historical context, and having access to 75 years of LPGA history creates an incredible opportunity to celebrate the league’s evolution, its players, and the moments that shaped the game.
What’s especially exciting for us as a data company is getting our hands on an entirely new dataset. The LPGA has gone through a massive historical data cleanup effort, and we were initially provided data going back to 1980. We’re now undertaking another major project that will eventually allow us to go all the way back to 1950.
That’s where the fun begins for our team.
Whenever we onboard a new league or dataset, there’s a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes — matching IDs against existing databases, verifying historical accuracy, understanding the nuances within the data, and building the pipelines that allow us to ingest information in real time as tournaments unfold. Every sport has its own language and historical context to learn, and that process is something our team genuinely loves diving into.
All of that statistical “dirty work” becomes worth it when we’re able to provide context that deepens the fan experience — whether that’s helping explain Jeeno Thitikul’s dominance last season, contextualizing Nelly Korda’s incredible start this year, or uncovering stories that otherwise may have been lost to history.
It’s also an exciting time for the LPGA itself. Under new commissioner Craig Kessler, there is a renewed focus on optimizing the schedule, bringing fans closer to the players, and enhancing the broadcast experience. Craig has brought an energy to the tour that is infectious, and one of the things he has emphasized is the importance of storytelling — helping fans connect with players on a deeper level.
A few weeks ago, my family and I attended the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend many men’s golf majors throughout my career, but experiencing a non-major LPGA tour event up close was genuinely eye-opening.
We spent part of the day following Jeeno Thitikul as she separated herself from the field on her way to a back to back Mizuho Americas Open victory. Watching that level of precision and composure in person was incredible. But the moment that stayed with me most had nothing to do with the leaderboard.
Celine Boutier had just birdied the 8th hole and was trying to make a move up the standings when a young fan stopped her for an autograph. Anyone familiar with golf knows that asking a player for an autograph mid-round — especially on the weekend — is generally understood to be off-limits. Players are locked in. They’re competing.
But Celine stopped.
She took a moment with the young fan, signed the autograph, smiled, and then walked over to the 9th tee and immediately locked back in.
It was a small moment, but an important one.
So much of sports fandom is shaped by the experiences we have as kids — the memories that stay with us long after the final score. It’s one of the reasons I love bringing my boys to sporting events whenever I can.
If the LPGA is going to continue its growth and become an even bigger part of the sports conversation, moments like that matter. The accessibility of the players, the connection with fans, the ability to experience greatness up close — those are the things that create lifelong fans.
At Elias, we’re excited to help tell those stories.