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The LPGA's Culture Shock

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Paula Creamer is one of several talented young Americans on the LPGA Tour, but international players have been dominating the scene for years.

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By MICK ELLIOTT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2008

EDINA, Minn. - It is only good manners, before delivering a collective atomic elbow to America's top female golfers, to acknowledge their playing field has drastically changed. Unlike years leading up to the mid 1990s, no longer is the LPGA a red, white and blue intramural league. More so than even its male counterpart, the women's pro tour has gone global.

This year's active roster features 120 foreign-born players from 26 countries, including 45 from South Korea. In turn, the LPGA embraced that diversity by scheduling 10 of its 33 events outside the United States.

So there's your sensitivity-trained obligatory qualifier for why American women's golf isn't what it used to be.

Now, the reality:

Whatever the reason, women's golf in the United States is getting torched.

Decide for yourself. The U.S. Women's Open begins first-round play today at Interlachen Country Club, and non-Americans have won 24 of the past 30 LPGA major championships. The last American to be LPGA Player of the Year was Beth Daniel in 1994. The last American to win the LPGA money title was Betsy King in 1993. Just two Americans - Paula Creamer at No. 4 and defending Women's Open champ Cristie Kerr at No. 7 - appear in the current Rolex World Rankings top 10.

And that's just warming up.

Fifteen of the past 20 Rookie of the Year winners were foreign players. Of the six Americans who have won major championships in the past seven seasons, three are in their 40s: Sherrie Steinhauer, Juli Inkster and Meg Mallon. Through 16 events this season, only two Americans - Creamer twice and Leta Lindley - are tournament winners.

"I don't know if it is going to get better or worse, or what," said Inkster, a 31-time winner who turned 48 on Tuesday. "In America we play soccer, we play basketball, we play golf. It's a gamut. You look at the Koreans, and those girls are starting out with perfect swings. That's all they do. They don't even go to school. They just play golf.

"A 14-year-old Korean is going to beat the stuffing out of a 14-year-old American. That's just the way it is. Different cultures. They don't value education for women the way we value education. Whether right or wrong, it's just the way it is."

However, rather than one of the many young Korean talents topping the world rankings, it's Mexico's Lorena Ochoa. Before her it was Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, who dominated the world pecking order for 10 years with an occasional challenge from Australian Karrie Webb.

Against such quality talent, it is easy to understand why an American player has not broken the stranglehold, in the same way it is easy to know why no PGA Tour player has mounted a challenge to Tiger Woods. What is puzzling about the long-held foreign hold on No. 1 is that at no time during the past 15 years has one player established herself as the face of the American game.

"I don't know if there are more than three or four players who are really focused on their golf being the central part of what they are all about," said NBC golf commentator Dottie Pepper, from 1998 to 2004 one of the LPGA's most recognized faces. "There is a lot more money on the sides than there used to be, and I think that has become a focus. We made our money on the golf course. That had to be the focus."

Even in golf years, it seems like only yesterday the soul of the LPGA could be recited by even a casual fan: Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Patty Sheehan, Amy Alcott, Daniel and King. All won 29 times or more.

Now, among American players age 30 and younger, Kerr, 30, has the most career wins with 10. Creamer, still only 21, is next with six victories and stands as the brightest of America's immediate hopes. Dorothy Delasin, 26, has four victories, followed by twenty-somethings Brittany Lincicome, Christina Kim and Stacy Prammanasudh with two each; and Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel among six players with one win.

"Actually, five or six years ago, we were really concerned about the American game," said Mallon, who at 45 is an 18-time winner. "It's healthier now. But I can't imagine a better era than what I call the Super Six. To me, that was the greatest era we've had to date."

On the opposite side of the argument, women's golf may never have been played at a higher level - advancements in equipment technology playing a large part - or with greater visibility and earnings opportunities. But without an American player who can challenge for No. 1 and create an accompanying buzz, can a strong U.S. television deal ever be negotiated? And without the prod that television and notoriety can provide, will American girls continue to take up the game?

"I think that this is a good time to look at the system and see what we need to do to grow the game over here," said Sorenstam, recently asked to serve as a USGA Ambassador to do just that following her retirement at the end of this season.

"This is an issue I have with the Swedish Federation. We don't have the growth or number of players that we used to have. So I think it's very important to go back to basics and really make sure that juniors get a chance to play the game. We need to make sure that we get some future stars. It's great to have a global tour, but I also think it's important to have some U.S. players. This is where I would say, what, 90 percent of the tournaments are played, I think it's crucial."

Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached at (813) 281-2534 or melliott@tampatrib.com

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