This was not a good week for LPGA. First, the players staged a palace coup and ousted Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. Second, a Korean, Eun Hee Ji, won the U.S. Women’s Open. The two events may not be related but they underscored what is wrong with women’s golf. During her tenure as LPGA Commissioner, Bivens saw the tour lose a number of events and sponsors. The future of the LPGA is shaky at best and the new commissioner will have a very tough go of it. Bivens recognized that one problem the tour faces is the predominance of Korean players on the leaderboard week after week. Her solution was to require all players to learn English, an idea designed in theory to help the fans connect with the heavily foreign contingent on the tour. But it was viewed as heavy handed and backfired. As for the U.S. Women’s Open, all credit goes to Ji who holed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win the tournament. American Christie Kerr collapsed in the final round punctuated by a horrible three-putt. Trust me, none of Mr. Fairway’s male friends are going to tune into see a bunch of Korean automatons win LPGA tournaments.
Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Nancy Scranton.
2 comments:
Could you imagine them canceling the LPGA now? That's exactly what they did in a book I recently finished by Steven R. Lundin called, Shooting an Albatross.
The Army took over the golf course and that's when the story unfolds.
It's a great story that maybe one day will turn into a movie!
I have to say, you sound nearly as ethnocentric in your commentary re Korean golfers as did the ousted commissioner in the failed English only attempt. This blog is a low blow to golf and your opinions are chauvinistic and bordering on racist at best. See you later.
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