[Stacypettlerr]

I agree 100% bama.

[QEoMi752]

Okay, I have tried to be positive with the LPGA and everyone can flame away at my comments here, but I am going to speak my mind. Sorry if it may offend the 3 or 4 LPGA fans here.....

For starters, a non LPGA fan here speaking the truth, Anna Rawson is beautiful, but I have never seen her on TV, only in pictures!! Her ideas sound like self promotion, and I would turn off any co-santioned event they tried to pull off, the JC Penny/Wendy's 3 Tour events never did much for me, and I have never watched them!! Attaching LPGA players to PGA players only stinks of desperation to me!!!

I turn on the LPGA to a bunch of names, who I, for the most part have never heard of, sure if you follow it week to week you know who is who. Christie Kerr yelling at every shot she hits makes me want to turn the channel, Christina Kim's attempts at "Tiger Woods" fist pumps make me want to turn the channel. Unknown's who don't speak English make me want to change the channel. There are only a handful of players on the LPGA that I will watch, and as shallow as it may seem... it is because they speak the same language as me and are somewhat attractive. I am not sure what the LPGA needs to do to survive, but it sure seems like they are getting more desperate by the day!!!

[Stacypettlerr]

I dont think you need to be flamed for that CM. I actually agree with you for most of it, and I am a big fan and have been for a while. Except the dual promotion part. I too hated the JC Penney in my hometown. By dual promotion I would like to see it done like tennis where both groups are playing the same tourny. Like the US Open. They can play the same course and have the ladies go out in the morning and men in the afternoon. Just have them start on Wednesday instead of Thursday to get everybody in. It would do wonders for the LPGA.

THe problem is, it does nothing for the PGA and most likely will never happen.

[QEoMi752]

You know JB. I attended the Michelob for many years at Kingsmill and it was a very weak tournament on the PGA Tour because it was always around the British open. The purse and field were so weak that they ended up doing away with the tournament. Then the following year they made it an LPGA event for half the purse and it quickly became "the fifth major" on the LPGA tour. Attending in person I have to say it was LAME, hardly worth going to even though all the top LPGA players were there. I remember running in to Jill McGill and she asked me what I thought of the event compared to the mens event and she was not happy with my response. They seemed to make a big deal about the fact that they got complimentary cars and free passes to Busch Gardens for the week....

[EzekelEnzino]

CM I don’t think you should be taken to task for your comments at all. In fact I think most male golfers who occasionally watch the LPGA feel exactly like you do. In the end I would like to see the LPGA be successful because I think this is a great sport and it would be terrific if my daughter could grow up watching professional women’s golf. For that to happen though something is going to have to change and the leaders (both the LPGA stars and leadership) are going to have to come up with some innovative ways to make this a viable institution.

[bF8CCmmr]

In the end I would like to see the LPGA be successful because I think this is a great sport and it would be terrific if my daughter could grow up watching professional women’s golf. For that to happen though something is going to have to change and the leaders (both the LPGA stars and leadership) are going to have to come up with some innovative ways to make this a viable institution.

Question...

do you guys think the LPGA is in threat of collapsing, as a whole? Of course it is always possible, but do you really think that that's an imminent danger?

(Part of me wants to say no, that there are enough people with deep pockets and enough invested that they'd step in to keep it, even if only the majors were on TV, or something.)

[NikkitaZ]

Question...

do you guys think the LPGA is in threat of collapsing, as a whole? Of course it is always possible, but do you really think that that's an imminent danger?

(Part of me wants to say no, that there are enough people with deep pockets and enough invested that they'd step in to keep it, even if only the majors were on TV, or something.)

I think they are on life support right now. I don't think they will completely collapse, but they could certainly end up being a very minor tour if they do not do something to bring fans back. As hard as it is, the Asian ladies just do not pull in the typical American golf fan. That is not racial prejudice, just plain fact based on recent history.

The tour needs some stars that look like Anna Rawson and play like Annika with some fire in their gut to win. Sorry if that is politically incorrect, but it is what I believe is gonna have to happen to get the tour back on its feet. Look back on the last 40 years and you will see peaks of popularity that revolve arouond a few star quality players who were competing against each other in the same era. And those players captured the public attention. That just isn't happening right now.

[Arratherimi]

I enjoy watching the LPGA. I think she has some pretty good ideas. Even the co-sanctioned events could work if used selectively. There are several 3rd tier PGA Tour events that are in trouble from a sponsorship standpoint and something like this could help. As for Anna's game, unless they add a swimsuit competition I don't expect to see her collecting any trophies anytime soon.

[Stacypettlerr]

Question...

do you guys think the LPGA is in threat of collapsing, as a whole? Of course it is always possible, but do you really think that that's an imminent danger?

(Part of me wants to say no, that there are enough people with deep pockets and enough invested that they'd step in to keep it, even if only the majors were on TV, or something.)

No, I do not think it will be collapsing anytime soon. Although we may see an even bigger shift to Asia and incorporate that tour into ours if things do not get better.

I enjoy watching the LPGA. I think she has some pretty good ideas. Even the co-sanctioned events could work if used selectively. There are several 3rd tier PGA Tour events that are in trouble from a sponsorship standpoint and something like this could help. As for Anna's game, unless they add a swimsuit competition I don't expect to see her collecting any trophies anytime soon.

The JC Penney Classic was that event and it was eliminated because it was the least watched PGA event on tour.

[EzekelEnzino]

Julie_M, I don’t think it will experience a total collapse either but when you can’t get much television time and when people do tune in and they don’t recognize any “stars” on the leader board that leads to a very diminished LPGA. Right now I would describe the LPGA as having hit a downward spiral that is difficult to pull out of. As I believe JB pointed out earlier, which comes first, more television time or more viewers? It becomes the chicken or the egg dilemma.

I don’t want to put the weight of the world on her shoulders but I do believe if Michelle Wie could start winning some tournaments (not that she hasn’t played well this year but there is something about winning) that it might change things dramatically. The pieces are there to pull in male viewers but the pieces need to be put in the right places if that makes sense.