Timothy W. Finchem (born April 19, 1947) is an American lawyer and retired golf administrator, who served as

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

from 1994 to 2016. He served in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for two years during the administration of President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, from 1978 to 1979. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early life and education

Finchem was born in

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and ...

. He graduated from Princess Anne High School in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

. He attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

on a debate scholarship, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. While at Richmond, Finchem was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

Rho Chi chapter. Finchem later graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1973. While at UVA, Finchem was a member of the Kappa Alpha, Lambda chapter.

Early career

After practicing law in Virginia Beach for three years, Finchem served in the

during the administration of

as Deputy Advisor to the President in the Office of Economic Affairs in 1978 and 1979. In the early 1980s, Finchem co-founded the National Marketing and Strategies Group in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

PGA Tour Commissioner

Finchem took the position of Commissioner on June 1, 1994, succeeding Deane Beman, who retired after nearly 20 years in the post. Finchem had previously served as Vice President of Business Affairs, Deputy Commissioner, and Chief Operating Officer of the Tour. In 2006, the total PGA Tour purse was $256.8 million, up from $56.4 million in 1994. That remarkable growth has a lot to do with

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

, but Finchem's supporters also give him some of the credit. Finchem was succeeded by Jay Monahan in January 2017. On March 12, 2025, in conjunction with

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

, Monahan presented Finchem with the Tour's

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

, making him the 14th recipient of that honor. That same night, the Tour unveiled the Commissioner Tim Finchem Library, located inside the

TPC Sawgrass The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. The course opened in the autumn of 1980 and was the first of several Tourn ...

clubhouse.

References

External links

Official site of the PGA Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finchem, Tim PGA Tour commissioners World Golf Hall of Fame inductees American chief operating officers Virginia lawyers University of Richmond alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Carter administration personnel Princess Anne High School alumni People from Ottawa, Illinois People from Virginia Beach, Virginia 1947 births Living people