Speaking English will be a prerequisite to play in the LPGA tour in 2009

[twcpfan1]

Apparently, the slow economy has prompted this move. People aren't going to follow a tour where the top players aren't English speakers. The Korean players think they're being targeted because there are so many of them now. You guys might recall comments made by Jan Stephenson that Asians are hurting the Tour's image. She says the PGA does not have this problem because Tiger, Phil and Adam Scott are 'beautiful'. Turns out somebody listened to her.

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-lpga-english&prov=ap&type=lgns

[drgnbkr]

Apparently, the slow economy has prompted this move. People aren't going to follow a tour where the top players aren't English speakers. The Korean players think they're being targeted because there are so many of them now. You guys might recall comments made by Jan Stephenson that Asians are hurting the Tour's image. She says the PGA does not have this problem because Tiger, Phil and Adam Scott are 'beautiful'. Turns out somebody listened to her.

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-lpga-english&prov=ap&type=lgns

Gosh, it's golf, an individual sport...if you're good you win, no matter where you are from...but the Koreans are passing on large chunks of change by not promoting themselves and the tour, and that has to be done in English.

[dada]

Do the Americans have to speak Korean if they go to Korea?

[Favpack]

Apparently, the slow economy has prompted this move. People aren't going to follow a tour where the top players aren't English speakers. The Korean players think they're being targeted because there are so many of them now. You guys might recall comments made by Jan Stephenson that Asians are hurting the Tour's image. She says the PGA does not have this problem because Tiger, Phil and Adam Scott are 'beautiful'. Turns out somebody listened to her.

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-lpga-english&prov=ap&type=lgns

Thanks for this link CD - that is truly a scary ruling.

Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development,” deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. “There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it.”


Huh, Libba - threatening to kick someone off the tour because they can't speak English isn't quite the same as "helping them" is it?

Here's a novel concept. The U.S. girls need to get off their butts and work on their short game more than their wardrobes.

Gimmee a break - that is so racist it defies imagination. If the large contingency of winners were French and spoke little English - do you think we'd see this?

[twcpfan1]

Fav, I absolutely agree with everything you said but unfortunately, it is the harsh reality of professional sports. A lot of its survival depends on its male sports fans.

Let's imagine for a second that Sharapova, Dementieva, Ivanovic, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Jankovic etc had been plain looking non English Speaking Koreans like the ones who are currently dominating the LPGA tour, the interest in tennis would die quickly. And professional sports, when all is said and done, is a business.

While the ruling is morally wrong in so many ways, I can also understand where the LPGA head honchos are coming from. I'll bet they just pray that Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis win absolutely every tournament.

[drgnbkr]

Fav, I absolutely agree with everything you said but unfortunately, it is the harsh reality of professional sports. A lot of its survival depends on its male sports fans.

Let's imagine for a second that Sharapova, Dementieva, Ivanovic, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Jankovic etc had been plain looking non English Speaking Koreans like the ones who are currently dominating the LPGA tour, the interest in tennis would die quickly. And professional sports, when all is said and done, is a business.

While the ruling is morally wrong in so many ways, I can also understand where the LPGA head honchos are coming from. I'll bet they just pray that Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis win absolutely every tournament.

Morally wrong? How is morally wrong to ask players who want to be part of the American Tour to learn to speak English. I would understand if they were using it as a way to oust them from the tour, but the tennis players you mentioned all speak good english and it really helps in the marketing. Their appearance certainly helps also!:p

[twcpfan1]

Morally wrong? How is morally wrong to ask players who want to be part of the American Tour to learn to speak English. I would understand if they were using it as a way to oust them from the tour, but the tennis players you mentioned all speak good english and it really helps in the marketing. Their appearance certainly helps also!:p

Exactly my point. I did say that if these top Tennis Players had been plain looking Koreans, then tennis would really have an image problem. Did I not convey that?

Even when I agree with you, you're not happy. :D

[tayb]

Morally wrong? How is morally wrong to ask players who want to be part of the American Tour to learn to speak English. I would understand if they were using it as a way to oust them from the tour, but the tennis players you mentioned all speak good english and it really helps in the marketing. Their appearance certainly helps also!:p

Wonder if we would be pissed if Tiger Woods was told he couldn't defend his title in the Dubai Desert Classic because he doesn't speak the local language.

[Favpack]

I dunno - encourage them to speak English - yes, absolutely. Kick someone off the tour if they don't learn English by so and so date? I don't like that. How about baseball? Does Ichiro speak English? How about Dais K? How about our own Wandy Rodriguez?

[drgnbkr]

Exactly my point. I did say that if these top Tennis Players had been plain looking Koreans, then tennis would really have an image problem. Did I not convey that?

I think we are talking about 2 different things...Language and looks.....If there was any effort to penalize or otherwise discriminate against the Koreans because of their looks, it would be an outrage...I just believe the Tennis stars from other countries have siezed upon the wisdom of becoming good english speakers because of the lucrative endorsement opportunities. Sergio Garcia, Olazabel, Singh, all are capable english speakers and you see the marketing use everywhere...

[drgnbkr]

I dunno - encourage them to speak English - yes, absolutely. Kick someone off the tour if they don't learn English by so and so date? I don't like that. How about baseball? Does Ichiro speak English? How about Dais K? How about our own Wandy Rodriguez?

Heck some of the Americans don't speak good english...;)

[twcpfan1]

I dunno - encourage them to speak English - yes, absolutely. Kick someone off the tour if they don't learn English by so and so date? I don't like that. How about baseball? Does Ichiro speak English? How about Dais K? How about our own Wandy Rodriguez?

I think the main problem is the absolutely overwhelming numbers of the top players who aren't Western or at least westernized Asians. With the same type of numbers in Baseball, pretty sure they are going to have similar issues.

[drgnbkr]

Wonder if we would be pissed if Tiger Woods was told he couldn't defend his title in the Dubai Desert Classic because he doesn't speak the local language.

It's different...Dubai doesn't have a tour..only a tournament...The Korean girls are making a fortune off of the LPGA Tour, an American Company, and I don't think it is unreasonable to ask them to speak English to help promote it. It wasn't that long ago that the tour was almost dead.

[Firebird]

Instead of asking Korean players to learn how to speak English, the tour needs to ask its photogenic American players to learn how to play better golf. Those girls are so good because they practice non-stop-- they focus on playing golf.

Tell Wie et. al. to stop playing in PGA tournaments and focus on her game. Simple solution, really.

[twcpfan1]

I think we are talking about 2 different things...Language and looks.....If there was any effort to penalize or otherwise discriminate against the Koreans because of their looks, it would be an outrage...I just believe the Tennis stars from other countries have siezed upon the wisdom of becoming good english speakers because of the lucrative endorsement opportunities. Sergio Garcia, Olazabel, Singh, all are capable english speakers and you see the marketing use everywhere...


BKR, let's not have any illusions about this. Their looks are considered a problem. And this is a convenient way to weed them out. The ones who look good (Michelle Wie) aren't doing very well.

Sergio and Olazabal can be such that they do not speak a word of English and it would still be ok.

When Vijay briefly became #1, pretty sure the PGA money people got a little concerned. I don't know what the percentage of Koreans is in the top 20 of the LPGA, but I know it's a darn sight more than what the PGA have. And like it or not, it is cause for concern.

[Firebird]

BKR, let's not have any illusions about this. Their looks are considered a problem. And this is a convenient way to weed them out. The ones who look good (Michelle Wie) aren't doing very well.

Sergio and Olazabal can be such that they do not speak a word of English and it would still be ok.

When Vijay briefly became #1, pretty sure the PGA money people got a little concerned. I don't know what the percentage of Koreans is in the top 20 of the LPGA, but I know it's a darn sight more than what the PGA have. And like it or not, it is cause for concern.

If their looks are a problem, tell Gulbis and Co. to stop taking bikini photos and concentrate on their golf game.

[twcpfan1]

If their looks are a problem, tell Gulbis and Co. to stop taking bikini photos and concentrate on their golf game.

I guess they feel it's a much easier task to just exclude them than have Natalie beat them.

[pied]

Instead of asking Korean players to learn how to speak English, the tour needs to ask its photogenic American players to learn how to play better golf. Those girls are so good because they practice non-stop-- they focus on playing golf.

Tell Wie et. al. to stop playing in PGA tournaments and focus on her game. Simple solution, really.

So playing against the best competition does not equate to working on your game?

[Firebird]

So playing against the best competition does not equate to working on your game?

If I bat .100 in church league, maybe I need a bit more practice before trying out for the Yankees........

[twcpfan1]

Wrong as it seems, Gulbis's bikini photo shoots and Creamer's outfits are doing more for the popularity of the tour than the Koreans kicking butt on the course.

[Firebird]

BKR, let's not have any illusions about this. Their looks are considered a problem. And this is a convenient way to weed them out. The ones who look good (Michelle Wie) aren't doing very well.

Sergio and Olazabal can be such that they do not speak a word of English and it would still be ok.

When Vijay briefly became #1, pretty sure the PGA money people got a little concerned. I don't know what the percentage of Koreans is in the top 20 of the LPGA, but I know it's a darn sight more than what the PGA have. And like it or not, it is cause for concern.

I gotta agree with this. If it were leggy Swedes or Ukranians answering questions through an interpreter, or stumbling through interviews the LPGA folks would be jumping for joy.

[Firebird]

Wrong as it seems, Gulbis's bikini photo shoots and Creamer's outfits are doing more for the popularity of the tour than the Koreans kicking butt on the course.

No doubt. Anna Kournikova did wonders for tennis, too. Why can't the LPGA let the cameras follow Gulbis and Creamer and let the Koreans continue to collect trophies? The tennis folks didn't look for some underhanded way to get Kournikova on the podium.

[twcpfan1]

No doubt. Anna Kournikova did wonders for tennis, too. Why can't the LPGA let the cameras follow Gulbis and Creamer and let the Koreans continue to collect trophies? The tennis folks didn't look for some underhanded way to get Kournikova on the podium.

That will work for a little while but we need to consider that tennis has Ivanovic, Dementieva and Sharapova collecting the trophies for them. They have both form and substance well covered there.

[Favpack]

I gotta agree with this. If it were leggy Swedes or Ukranians answering questions through an interpreter, or stumbling through interviews the LPGA folks would be jumping for joy.

Me needs to make sure me belly button points toward the flag on follow-through - like theese? (giggle giggle)

Cha-ching

[yankee]

i like watching golf...but i could care less about the lpga...i don't know half those women's names just because a lot of the good ones are asian and the american one's don't win alot...i agree, having these women speak english would be a good marketing idea...

[twcpfan1]

What they really need to do is to hire style and makeover gurus to have all the Asians look like this.

http://ra.2mcl.com/wp/girls/girls_2-Zhang-Ziyi-29.jpg

[Favpack]

What is Zhang's handicap?

[drgnbkr]

What is Zhang's handicap?

Zhidwaz Bussh....:eek::p

[twcpfan1]

I think in the end, it's really not about weeding out the Korean players as much as it is polishing their image to become more marketable. Michelle Wie is of Korean descent and she's probably made more endorsement dollars than anybody else, while being a mediocre player. Jeanette Lee is possibly the most marketable commodity in the billiards circuit. I don't think she's Korean but you get my drift.

I would hope that they've considered the possibility that the Asian players might just say - screw the LPGA. We'll do our own tour in the Far East especially now that Beijing and the PRC are in the mix. I do not think the LPGA would want to end up with a watered down product full of 2nd rate players. The good looks can only take you so far.

[GoOwls]

What is Zhang's handicap?

I can't find one............:D

[GoOwls]

This is a problem of marketing and survival....period.

The LPGA has always had problems being accepted....they have always tried to accentuate their more attrative stars to get viewers....Baugh, Stevenson, etc.

The foreign players are drawing a collective yawn from Americans, the main source of dollars for the tour....no speaky english and no personality means no cash...eventually.

It's simply a matter of survival.