Whan pushing for LPGA event at Augusta National

• By Will Gray
• Mar 8, 2013 7:04 AM ET

With Augusta National admitting female members for the first time in the club's history last year, LPGA commissioner Michael Whan hopes to one day see the game's best female players drive down Magnolia Lane for an event.

"I don't know anybody who loves the game who wouldn't view Augusta National as maybe the best golf platform in the world," Whan explained as part of an interview with Bloomberg. "Would I like to see the best female golfers in the world on that stage? Of course."

Whan, who according to the report is not sure if he'd "like the idea" of an all-female event were he a board member at Augusta National, acknowledged the fear that a second event along the club's fabled fairways would in some way detract from the season's first major for the men.

"They question I think to some extent whether they could do two (events) and still have the one the way the one is," noted Whan, who has led the LPGA since 2010.

With his tour set to return to the U.S. with next week's RR Donnelley LPGA Founder's Cup in Phoenix, according to the report Whan was not overly optimistic about the likelihood of Augusta National changing its stance anytime soon.

"I just figure I'll keep asking because if they ever change their mind, I'll be somewhere near the top of the list of people who have asked the longest," he quipped.

While the odds of hosting a second event at Augusta National may at this point appear slim, Whan emphasized the potential such a tournament might hold to impact the game overall.

"The world would watch," he added. "Just like the female members, it would send a pretty cool message about the freedom of women to play sort of anywhere."