By Tony Leodora
Whether you ask the man on the street, or the woman in the commissioner’s office, the major challenge facing the LPGA Tour these days is marketing. Even though the talent pool is deeper than ever, and the players are better-looking than ever (important to the male audience), and they are more accessible than ever (important to all fans) – the Tour is losing sponsors.
And, as a result, it is losing tournaments.
So, the LPGA Tour has to make hey while the sun shines. In other words, when the best women golfers grab the national spotlight – as they have this week for the U.S. Women’s Open at stately Saucon Valley CC – they must make the most of it.
Unfortunately, they are bobbling that chance again.
With a national TV audience and a revered host course that will easily be the best they play all year, the LPGA goes into its third major of the year missing two of its most recognizable and popular stars. Neither the long-hitting Michelle Wie, nor the shapely and attractive Natalie Gulbis are part of the field. They didn’t qualify to play.
Wie gave it a good run last week at the Jamie Farr Classic in Ohio, finishing third. Gulbis also was in the hunt for a while, before slumping to finish 21st. A win would have meant an automatic berth in this week’s championship. That honor went to 21-year-old South Korean Eunjung Yi.
Yi tied with Morgan Pressel but won in a playoff. Recognizable? Hardly. Neither are the players who tied for third with Wie – Seon Hwa Lee and Song-Hee Kim.
Without sounding like some kind of anti-Korean or anti-Asian paranoid, let’s just say that lack of recognition is killing the LPGA.
For instance, the USGA brings in a number of big names for scheduled interviews before the start of the U.S. Open. The Tuesday lineup of big names included Cristie Kerr, In-Kyung Kim, Jivai Shin, Inbee Park, Yani Tseng and Angela Stanford. Creating excitement with that lineup is a tough task.
On Wednesday, the interview crop was a bit zestier – with Lorena Ochoa, Ann Nordqvist and Paula Creamer on the schedule.
But wouldn’t it have been wise – or at least cagy – if the USGA had tossed aside all political correctness for once and given exemptions to Wie and Gulbis. After all, they awarded an exemption to former Women’s Open champion Laura Davies. It was a nice touch to honor England’s Big Bopper, but how many fans will she put in the galleries?
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Notes – Providing an indication of the growing strength of women’s golf, a total of 28 amateurs will be among the 156 competitors at Saucon Valley this week … Twenty-two nations, including the USA, are represented in the field. The countries are: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, USA and Wales.
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