The Berlitz LPGA Tour

Looks like the LPGA is trying to line up Berlitz and Rosetta Stone as its new sponsors. What else can they be thinking with the announcement that the women’s tour is requiring its members to learn and speak English by the end of 2009 or risk losing their playing privileges? All players who have been on the LPGA Tour for two years will have to pass an oral evaluation of their English. LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens informed the players of the policy this week. Clearly, the LPGA is concerned about the preponderance of South Korean players on its tour and how they relate – or don’t relate – to U.S. golf fans. I recall seeing a leader board at one LPGA tournament this summer that read like the Seoul phone book: Kim, Lee, Park, Lee, Kim. Mr. Fairway agrees that the LPGA needs to address the influx of Asians on its tour but making them learn English is a bit much, especially when it’s not clear whether they have any personality in the first place. And what about the Swedes? Do they have to learn English, too? What about those LPGA events in South Africa, Singapore and Mexico? Will players be required to speak the native languages of those countries in order to compete? Will players who don’t speak French be allowed to enter the Women’s Canadian Open? Man, I hope the PGA Tour doesn’t follow suit on this one. There is some question whether Boo Weekley can even speak English, much less Spanish (Mayakoba Golf Class in Cancun), French (Canadian Open) or Arabic (Dubai Desert Classic). Who is going to teach Brad Faxon and Tim Herron to talk Texan so they can play in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio?

Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Donna Caponi.