Brittany Lincicome and Pia and Lynn

[PEZGolf]

The death of the LPGA tour at least on American soil....

I beg to differ in one respect---Paula Creamer shot her second straight 65 and finished in a tie for second, only one shot behind Yani Tseng. She and Cristie are two tough American players!

[jorruss]

The death of the LPGA tour at least on American soil....

Don't be so quick to dismiss the Americans and declare the LPGA Tour dead. Here's the first page of the leaderboard at the first Major of the year: 1Brittany Lincicome T2Kristy McPherson T2Cristie Kerr 4Lindsey Wright T5Suzann Pettersen T5Meaghan Francella 7Christina Kim T8Pat Hurst T8Karrie Webb T8Katherine Hull

[PEZGolf]

Don't be so quick to dismiss the Americans and declare the LPGA Tour dead. Here's the first page of the leaderboard at the first Major of the year:

Good post. You are right---we still have some excellent American players on the LPGA Tour.

[Lemay427]

I didnt say there weren't any good American players, I just said that the Koreans are killing the ratings for the american audience. They really need to take the LPGA over to S. Korea and be done with it. They can't even find a sponsor for a Major championship.....

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/tour-i...sponsor-29478/

[jorruss]

I didnt say there weren't any good American players, I just said that the Koreans are killing the ratings for the american audience. They really need to take the LPGA over to S. Korea and be done with it. They can't even find a sponsor for a Major championship.....

There's no question that a leader board full of names nobody knows about turns off viewers, but I don't think that is directly related to a tour event not finding a sponsor. That's simply a sign of the tough economic times.

Here in Daytona Beach after the LPGA International Golf Club opened and the LPGA Tour moved into their new HQ, Sprint sponsored the Titleholders Championship, with only last years tournament winners being invited. The leaderboard was stacked with names like Sorrenstam, Davies, Inkster and others. Yet the sponsor pulled out and the event went away. It was all about $$$ unfortunately. I remember the local supermarkets couldn't give away tickets. Sad.

[Lemay427]

There's no question that a leader board full of names nobody knows about turns off viewers, but I don't think that is directly related to a tour event not finding a sponsor. That's simply a sign of the tough economic times.

If you cant find a sponsor for what is one of the top events in the LPGA, I would say that has more to do with viewership rather than the economy. If people watched, someone would sponsor it. There is no doubting that...

[PEZGolf]

If you cant find a sponsor for what is one of the top events in the LPGA, I would say that has more to do with viewership rather than the economy. If people watched, someone would sponsor it. There is no doubting that...

This is a good discussion, and I think the loss of tournaments because of lack of sponsors is caused both by the recession and by the lack of viewership of fans. After 31 years, the Corning Classic that was just held will disappear. The company, Corning Glass, is having real financial problems and had to stop being the sponsor. No other company filled the void, so the tournment is done. The support of the community was there, and the number of spectators was great. Many past Champions came back to old times sake (eg. Rosie Jones). So, the recession killed this great event.

I know that every sport is having a difficult time. The NY Yankees have many empty seats at home games, even after slashing ticket prices. NASCAR'a attendance is down. Each sport is addressing the problem as this recession is proving to be wide spread and devastating. This is a real test for the leadership of each sport and golf Tour. That statement is directed at Carolyn Bivens and her staff at the LPGA Tour. They have made some good moves, but here is my question: what else can they do? By the way, did everyone read the good news that the LPGA Tour Championship will be held at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club? It was pretty sad for a while that the Tour was without a sponsor for their year ending event. This is a major announcement, and something to be applauded.

[PEZGolf]

I started this topic a few years ago, and I notice that Pia and Lynn are still ranked in the Top 50 Golf Instructors in the US by "Golf Digest".  Golf 54 is still going strong.

[rkim291968]

On 5/24/2009 at 9:38 AM, Lemay427 said:

The death of the LPGA tour at least on American soil....

LPGA Corning Classic
Pos Player Today Thru Total
T1 Mika Miyazato 1:00 -17
T1 Soo-Yun Kang 1:00 -17
T3 Jimin Jeong -4 6 -16
T3 Yani Tseng 12:52 -16
T5 Song-Hee Kim -3 5 -15

It's safe to say that US ladies held their own since 2009 with the likes of Lewis, Lexi, Lincicome, Wie, etc..    Now, the LPGA is no longer an American tour.   It is the global one.   The latest trend - watch out for Thailand ladies.   More of them are coming to play in LPGA.