What's the problem with womens golf?

[shankapotamus]

Why would people crying make me wanna watch something?

[laconic517]

part of it is because its kind of like the minor leagues. Kinda similar to why I dont watch the nationwide tour.

I do watch the LPGA majors at least a bit if i catch them on to see whos winning. That and if Michelle Wie is in contention because I want to see her get her first win.

[threedolphins]

I'd really like to know why womens golf cant seem to draw the crowds like the men do. I love watching the girls play. In many cases they are far more interesting and colorful than the men. Besides, when was the last time you ever saw the entire Ryder cup team crying?

I know the problem, for it is the dreaded SKORT!

just kidding, of course. I tried to watch Solheim, but it was like watching the WNBA. I wanna see someone hit bombs over trees just the same as I wanna see someone tomahawk dunk over 3 guys.

[chriskzoo]

The honest answer will start a huge, nonsensical conversations among people.

This is it, period. Although oddly there are sports like tennis, many Olympic sports, etc. in which the women's sports are just as compelling to watch.

That being said, I think it was Gulbis who was playing in the Solheim, 201 to the front over water, striped a 3-wood (as her caddy said "that's the one!") and the ball came up 20 yards short of the green. I just though "Really!?"

[GaijinGolfer]

Problem #2

You got some kind of problem with Asians??? Great golf is great golf no matter what a person's ethnic background is.

IMO, the problem with why the LPGA isnt more popular is because the level of play on the LPGA isnt as high as it is in the PGA. The men hit the ball a lot farther than do average golfers, but the women dont hit the ball much farther than us mere mortals do. There just isnt the "wow" factor with the LPGA that you get with the PGA. Personally, I love the LPGA. Whats not to like about a bunch of beautiful women who are also great golfers?

[Duffy]

Ya know gang, a lot has been said hear about hitting the ball 350 and power and so on and so on but Lets talk some great PGA hall of fame potentials. Let's say our 2010 Ryder Cup captain. Yep, you guessed it, Corey Pavin. Lets see now, Duffy hits his drives 280 to 300 (amatuer), Michelle, 315, Lorena 315, Paula bombs it.....Corey, 252. Ladies golf should run as popular at least as ladies tennis and it doesn't. IMHO we need to give them much more support.

[Chilli Dipper]

You got some kind of problem with Asians??? Great golf is great golf no matter what a person's ethnic background is.

The problem with the Korean and Taiwanese players is that lack a marketable personality, or at least the proficiency in English to convey one. Sports that aren't the big stick-and-ball leagues need personalities to sell their product and attract corporate sponsorships: athletes like Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, A.J. Foyt, Dale Earnhardt, Andre Agassi, Michael Phelps, Chris Evert, the Williams sisters, Lance Armstrong, Mary Lou Retton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Carl Lewis. In this country, it means not only being the best, but being an American, or at least passably relatable to American audiences. If the young American contingent we saw at the Solheim Cup were winning multiple tournaments and dominating the LPGA, a lot more people would be noticing the ladies' circuit. As it stands right now, though, it's been 15 years since an American player has topped the LPGA money list or earned Player of the Year honors. For a primarily American tour, that's a big problem.

[ks8829]

The next women to win a tournament should rip her shirt off like Brandi Chastan did in the Olympics.... Sorry, it slip out of my unconscience mind.

The LPGA marketing team should be fired and a fresh team should be brought in to spice thing up tasefully, of coures

[PrairieParson]

Same reason the XFL, Canadian football, arena football, and womens professional basketball are not all that popular. People want to see really good play. The women can't hit it as big. Their courses aren't near as tough. They just are not at near the same level as the PGA.
I know a young man who in his freshman year at Texas Tech played at on a squad that practiced against the Tech Womens team so that the women could have comparable competition. Now he was a good high school player but nothing great. Even then, the young men were not supposed to play to the best of their ability, or they were just too good for the women. Enough said.

[sean_miller]

Same reason the XFL, Canadian football, arena football, and womens professional basketball are not all that popular. People want to see really good play. The women can't hit it as big. Their courses aren't near as tough. They just are not at near the same level as the PGA.

Why would you trash the CFL as part of this discussion on women's golf? Most people who understand the 3-down game prefer it to the 4-down version. Are there better athletes in the NFL? Of course there are, there's more money in the NFL. Many of the second and third tier players in the CFL work a second job during the winter.

[imtomtomim]

I'm suprised no one has said anything about them just not being that good. Sure, some have a bit of talent, but come on, they don't hit enough inspiring shots for me to want to watch them all the time. I'm more likely to watch a local scratch player than to turn on the tv looking for the lpga. They just don't hit good enough shots for me to care to watch.

[goblue107501]

That's actually why some people promote you should in fact watch women's golf. Their game much more resembles the game most amateur men play and you'll gain much more watching their swings and strategies than you will watching a male professional.

I don't really care the reasons why you or someone else think I should watch women's golf. I don't analyze swings and strategies. I watch to be entertained. The women don't entertain me.

The other thing is, you can't do what they do. They're creating a lot more power per pound than any of us. Their efficiency is well beyond ours.

Efficiency I will give you. It still doesn't change the fact that if I was standing in the fairway with the majority of LPGA pros we would be hitting the same clubs. And how do you know what I can and can't do? Like I mentioned, I can hit an 8-iron 150 and a hybrid 200. I don't want to see it on TV. I want to see hybrids go 260 and 8-irons get hooked up and over and around a tree to a tucked pin from 175. I can't do that.

But your ideas pretty much sum up the general attitude of "I can do that" without looking at the larger picture. I won't hold it against you as it's a cultural and social conditioning really. But it's hard to deny we live in a male chauvinist culture. However, far less chauvinist than many others across the world to be sure.

What is the larger picture? It has nothing to do with cultural and social conditioning. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are women and I am a man so I am looking down on it. It has everything to do with the fact that I am not entertained by the product they put on TV so I don't want to watch it.

When women's golf is on TV on a Sunday afternoon during the summer I have 3-4 things I would rather watch to be entertained. I have a Cardinals baseball game, probably another baseball game somewhere, PGA golf, NBA playoffs, NASCAR, Drag Racing, and then one or two old movies that I don't mind watching over and over. If none of this other stuff was on, maybe I would watch. They just have a lot of competition for my viewership. There isn't anything magical they can do to get me to be a viewer. When I think it is more interesting and entertaining, I will watch more. It is as simple as that.

[Duffy]

Well, If you guys could open your minds to this it may help get my point across: Men compete against the men and it is very entertaining ,if you are a golfer. Women compete against the women. different playing field, different product. The competative value of each is the same just different in that the genders are different. If tiger blasts a 350 while playing Phil, it could be compared to and equal to Lorena blasting a 300 against Paula. The product is the same, the playing fields are not. Not arguing the point really, just trying to draw the comparisons.

[DavidFehertysBike]

You can throw out a bunch of things ( the attractive ones dont win enough, too many disconnected asian players, etc) But i think its simply because they arent the best. You watch YE Yang stick a hybrid over a tree to a tucked pin from 205 and watch the shots that the ladies play, it can leave you feeling underwelmed. Its like watching a watered down version of Mens tour play. All womans sport that men play as well suffer from this issue.

[clubchamp]

I'm suprised no one has said anything about them just not being that good. Sure, some have a bit of talent, but come on, they don't hit enough inspiring shots for me to want to watch them all the time. I'm more likely to watch a local scratch player than to turn on the tv looking for the lpga. They just don't hit good enough shots for me to care to watch.

So if they aren't that good does that make you awful? I'm pretty sure most of the women on the lpga would have no problem beating a local scratch player.

I agree with that fact that most sports will suffer if there is a mens and womens except for soccer. I also agree that a lot of the asian players have no emotion to make you route for them. If you watched the Solheim Cup they got the crowd invovled and they got pumped up. Maybe the lpga needs to do something like the presidents cup and play the asians. I think it might give the asians a chance to show more emotion.

[shankapotamus]

Ya know gang, a lot has been said hear about hitting the ball 350 and power and so on and so on but Lets talk some great PGA hall of fame potentials. Let's say our 2010 Ryder Cup captain. Yep, you guessed it, Corey Pavin. Lets see now, Duffy hits his drives 280 to 300 (amatuer), Michelle, 315, Lorena 315, Paula bombs it.....Corey, 252. Ladies golf should run as popular at least as ladies tennis and it doesn't. IMHO we need to give them much more support.

That's one player<.< Let's start comparing the long drivers on the PGA vs LPGA.

[quantim0]

It just doesn't get the coverage that men's golf does, plus people want to see athletes do things that they can't dream of doing themselves. The shorter length and strength of female golfers disuades most men from seriously watching.

[pittpanther]

I have to be honest, this just confuses me. Female athletes are held to a completely different standard than everyone else. Gulbis is amazingly attractive

It's the blond hair. Some guys have been conditioned to think that anything blond is good.

Guys need to stop assuming that the LPGA needs to "sex up" its image. It won't work. Do you go out of your way to watch women's beach volleyball? They're wearing next to nothing, are in better physical shape than the LPGA players, and are probably at the same or better level of physical attractiveness as the LPGA - there are probably 20 "Natalie Gulbis types" playing beach volleyball, but that's not enough to draw any kind of major audience. The argument about LPGA golf not being "good enough" is bogus as well. Female tennis players don't hit as hard as the males, yet women's tennis is arguably MORE popular than men's tennis. Did you see Michelle Wie drop her second shot on a par 5, inside of 3-feet to the pin? After her opponent had come within 5 feet? That was clutch - as great a shot as any you might see on any PGA weekend. Other than distance, the difference I see between PGA and LPGA seems to be the women's putting is worse. Is that enough to make people turn off their TV sets? I don't think so. The problem is not the level of the game, it's the lack of identifiable personalities.