Running 2025 golf thread

[playthrough]

I don't think it's misogyny. Pro golf is super niche, as you know, and women's golf drills that niche down even more. Maybe if Nelly is threatening on that leaderboard yesterday, it would have drawn more eyeballs. By the time I tuned in, Noh was three shots up and it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. NBC/GC also just pinatas the LPGA around, never giving it consistent oxygen. The new commish's first order of business has to be figuring out the broadcast situation. Every player I've talked to says the same thing.

Also, there's probably a little racism involved, more so than misogyny. It's still a Tour dominated by a lot of Asian names and -- especially now in America -- that's a recipe for a quick tune out. If they can even find the broadcast...

Don't know how the LPGA solves the TV issue. PGA Tour golf on networks at 3 p.m. ET every weekend with few exceptions is etched in stone. LPGA broadcasts on GC also feel lesser produced, which they are. Add more international events than the PGA Tour and it's quite a dilemma.

There's no question the women play a more relatable game to us, but that doesn't translate to eyeballs either.

Also probably too bad there isn't a Bryson/YouTube equivalent LPGA star right now.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

They have one, she's just not on the LPGA.

 

[SixToe]

I've watched the LPGA off and on for 40+ years. Went to the old Birmingham Classic a couple of times. Watched the Kemper and Dinah occasionally. Kept up during my time with the newspapers.

Hardly anything has changed for them. Everything still is a struggle -- sponsorships, TV viewing times and ratings, money, appreciation, support in cities. I suspect trying to get "volunteers" to pay for working 3-5 days at an LPGA event is insanely hard. Probably moreso for the developmental tours, similar to a KFT event.

And then you see the opening or second round TV coverage even of a significant tournament or major, and there's only a smattering of fans. Weekends? Larger numbers, but still Meh for the most part.

Put them in the men's TV time slot? Wouldn't matter. Give them a Tiger-esque person to lead the way? Annika didn't make it happen. Nelly isn't really doing it now. Two or three youngsters battling and rattling cages? Fan perspective on that: "Who? Oh, yeah, they've been getting after it. But they'll probably have a baby in a couple of years and quit the tour."

It's been however many years since the campaign, but it's sad when your PR message of the top players in the world is "Hey, we're good! Really! Come see us, we're really good!" You're essentially begging for eyes and fans, and it didn't tick the meter.

@maumann posted about the Bradenton event. How do their events in golf-hotbed Florida not get more interest? And their schedule? They have tournaments in Orlando and Bradenton to start the year. Then they're off to Thailand, Singapore (at Sentosa, of course), China and back to California.

Hey, we're starting our awesome season! We're back! Woooo, the LPGA is back ... for two weeks, and then we disappear from your radar for three weeks in Asia. And then we're in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and it's baseball season and the NBA and NHL stretch runs and ... we're barely an afterthought.

That's insane. Two weeks in Florida and then they're gone for a month halfway around the world. Great planning.

 

[swingline]

I imagine those Asian markets are much more lucrative than American markets. Follow the money.

 

[Cosmo]

I think my experience is clouded by a couple of really well attended events. The Solheim Cup was absolutely bonkers last year, and Kingsmill (RIP) was generally very well attended and received in Virginia. And to swing's point, yeah, there's a reason why there are two Asia stretches. Half the tour is from that side of the globe. The purses have gone up considerably, so they're not fighting that battle as much anymore. But the TV slot issue remains the same. And if there was perceived value to those events, I'm sure someone would swoop in to be the official TV home of the LPGA. Fox would rather have LIV. ESPN has been there, done that. So it remains second fiddle on NBC/GC. Women's basketball and soccer have completely blown up but women's golf remains sort of static. That speaks to the greater appeal of golf as a spectator sport. Even the best men's events (outside of majors) don't draw much in the way of ratings. Fairly similar to tennis, really. The casual fan tunes in for the slams and little else.

 

[maumann]

All excellent points, especially about the strong Asian contingent. However, I really felt having so many international players added to the interest. I saw a lot of kids of color collecting autographs, and for being in the middle of snowbird territory, a younger than normal crowd. I heard German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean spoken among the gallery, certainly more interesting than the typical "y'all ain't from around here" vibe I'm stuck with most of the rest of the year.

Plus, where else can you follow Jeongeun Lee6 at the par-4 fifth hole, where she two-putts for a 3?

Short of the next Nancy Lopez or Michelle Wie, I don't know how the LPGA can make a bigger ripple as a niche league in a niche sport.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

None of Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa or Michelle Wie could give the LPGA the bump up to a bigger deal.

The move to make the tour more international took care of a lot of issues. There probably wasn't enough sponsorship money and interest to make it all American, and I suspect there wasn't enough money to make a tour as lucrative based solely in Asia and the Far East. The worldwide tour, in essence, allows the large Asian tour continent to play closer to home on occasion.

For years, when the LPGA had communication openings, it would stress that they were looking for those fluent in English and "another language." Why they were trying to be so secretive about it was a mystery. At the time, the vast majority of top non-American golfers were from South Korea. Se Ri Pak started quite a movement, but Ayako Okamoto got some more Japanese females to take up the game, and there is interest from Thailand and other Asian countries. For now, until sponsorship money becomes more plentiful, what they're doing is likely what's best for them for now.

 

[poindexter]

Did Michelle Wie actually move the needle with the American Joe Sixpack sports fan?

 

[Cosmo]

No, she really didn't.

The LPGA needs to worry about getting the attention of the average golf fan before going after people outside of the tent. That's their growth area.

 

[playthrough]

No, she really didn't.

The LPGA needs to worry about getting the attention of the average golf fan before going after people outside of the tent. That's their growth area.

I'm not deep in the YouTube golf, but do the Barstool guys/Bryan Bros/any of those mega-popular channels ever have an LPGA player? If I was in their marketing department that would be high on the list. I'd also get in the ear of TGL to push an LPGA team for next year.

 

[maumann]

OK. That's two full pages of actual insight, analysis and positive feedback that's directly connected to the thread topic. Take your likes.

We're slipping here, gentlemen and ladies. If we can't find a decent threadjack, the Communists have won.

 

[Chef2]

Aberg wins Genesis.
As I said early in this thread……he wins a major this year.