Who watches the LPGA Tour?

[The Recreational Golfer]

Originally Posted by Bull worker

I like the LPGA: Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis, Grace Park, Paula Creamer...

Aye, the LPGA is fantastic!

Christie, Paula, what were you thinking??? I'm calling Stacy and Clinton right now.

[mdl]

I'd much rather watch the LPGA Tour than the Champions. I'd say my hierarchy would be PGA Tour > Euro Tour > LPGA Tour > Nationwide Tour > Champions Tour.

My order exactly. Also, I agree that as a male amateur you can learn a lot watching the women. I'm long for an amateur, but that just means I hit similar distances to the longest women. Watching a PGA player hit a high big draw with a PW 150 yards that starts 20 yards right, draws around a tree, and hits back right of a right to left green and comes all the way back a few feet from a front-mid left pin is fun but doesn't teach me much I can use. Watching the long women select shots for a distance and spin similar to mine is definitely educational, even if I obviously don't have the control and shot selection available with said swing speed that they do.

[inthehole]

Was watching over the weekend ... can't believe Ai almost beat Yani - would have been epic.     Love her ultra slow paced backswing ...

[Bull worker]

It wasn't about who is in the picture per se, the picture was just an example.
But thanks for letting me know Michelle Wie wasn't pictured.

[Kingkat1954]

I would rather watch the LPGA than the regular tour show. I donot learn a lot from watching men hit the ball over three hundred yards all the time. The ladies are a little closer to my distances and how they manage their game around the golf course. I have marshalled on all three tours. The Buick Open in Grand Blanc,MI; the SaraLee Tournament in Nashville,TN; and the Senior Tour stop in Nashville, TN. Of the three, the ladies are by far the freindliest and charming. The guys seem to be just business and mostly bothered by the fans.

I also know from personal experience, as I watched the Pro-Am Day at the Sara Lee, very few, if any men, ever out drove any LPGA player from the tee. It was fun to watch these guys try to impress the ladies.

The LPGA has a lot of talent. Although it is mostly from around the world, it is truly a world tour. Maybe it needs another Nancy Lopez, or Annika. I like the way things are.

[Jwat381]

I do watch the LPGA tour. A lot of the girls are quite cute, and I like golf, so it's the best of both worlds. And like stated above, it's more relevant to my game than watching dudes hit 150 yd pitching wedges. I hit 100 yd pitching wedges most of the time, give or take 5 yds.

[zipazoid]

The LPGA Tour is certainly more 'relatable' to our/my game. I think I get more out of my game by watching how the ladies hit the ball.

But in terms of being a spectator, I am in awe of the PGA Tour pros. They hit it in a way I can only dream of.

So I watch the ladies for ways I can improve my game. I watch the men to be impressed.

[Jwat381]

For sure, and I haven't read anyone that really said otherwise haha I am very impressed by the PGA tour, but also sometimes frustrated. Just out of sheer jealousy, of course. The stuff they do and the way the ball flies is just unreal sometimes.

Originally Posted by zipazoid

The LPGA Tour is certainly more 'relatable' to our/my game. I think I get more out of my game by watching how the ladies hit the ball.

But in terms of being a spectator, I am in awe of the PGA Tour pros. They hit it in a way I can only dream of.

So I watch the ladies for ways I can improve my game. I watch the men to be impressed.

[CreamerFan]

For those who don't follow the tour, the LPGA added 4 more tournament from last year when it was at an all time low of 23 events.  I believe less than half of those were domestic events.  However,  I kind of consider the tournaments in Mexico and Canada as domestic (N. America) since you don't have to watch them on replay.  Which is important because tv viewership is critical to growing the game.  You can have a great product, but if nobody sees it than what's the point.  When you have so few tournaments it's very difficult to win unless your super human like Yani.  The pga tour has around 38 events and Tiger, Rory or Donald are not going to play in all of them so your not competing against the top10 every week.  There are no Reno-Tahoe Opens on the LPGA..  The best players play in almost every tournament.  Now add a player like Yani who's winning half the time she tees it up, the opportunites for Americans like Paula and Cristie to win don't come often.  Also, someone mentioned why the LPGA is not shown on the main networks, not true.  The US Open is always covered by NBC and ABC covers the British Open just like they do with the men.  Espn used to show tournaments but their coverage was horrible and I'am glad their gone.  Although, I think they show the first two rounds of the US Open. Recent nielsin ratings show viewership for the LPGA is at an all time high.   The tour signed a longterm deal with Golf Channel and they've done a good job, but still need improvment.  Fewer replays and three hour viewing blocks rather than two.