(photos courtesy of Getty Images)
Anna Rawson has outlined her five-point plan for saving the LPGA, and, frankly, I think she's onto something. The tour is struggling to keep sponsors and it's without a marquee player to market to the masses. The former is due primarily to poor management decisions, the latter is just bad luck.
So can women's professional golf survive without a bona fide star? Will they need to rely on other, less traditional means of attracting fans? Rawson's strategy weighs elements of both while Golfweek's Alistair Tait wonders if the LPGA's future hinges on Michelle Wie.
That sounds like an awful lot of responsibility to heap on the shoulders of a 19-year-old college student, but women's golf needs Wie more now than it did when she first burst on the scene five years ago as a 14-year-old prodigy.I can't disagree with any of that, although their isn't much the LPGA higher-ups can do, save some Quiz Show-type funny business, to make Wie suddenly successful. Which, inevitably perhaps, leads to this: marketing sex appeal. Rawson hinted at it -- "For each tournament, I would have a fashion designer create a piece of clothing or accessory for the trophy ceremony." -- but her suggestion just scratches the surface.
Via Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck:
The W7 was born last year when Wilhelmina Models, the global beauty factory that counts Rebecca Romijn, Fergie and countless runway glamazons as clients, decided to break into women's golf. The inspiration came when Dieter Esch, then the Wilhelmina chairman and now a company consultant, attended an LPGA tournament in Florida. "Like many people, I had certain stereotypes of LPGA players," Esch says. "I was surprised to discover how many of the players were young and athletic and attractive and very personable. To be honest, the tour has done a pretty pathetic job marketing its product, and I knew we could do much, much better."The plan: to market young, attractive members of the LPGA because, well, sex sells. Unsurprisingly, some players aren't crazy about the perception this creates.
Said one of the players: "Why do we have to take our clothes off to get noticed? At least with Natalie [Gulbis] and her bikini calendars you could dismiss it as just an aberration. But now there's seven more of these girls and just because of the sheer number it sends the message that this is all the tour is about, which is untrue and unfair."And that's the rub. Even Gulbis, after the calendars, looked to change her image.
All else equal, unless some of the young, marketable-to-the-masses players start winning consistently, the LPGA will continue to languish. Which is why whoever ends up replacing Carolyn Bivens should seriously consider hiring Rawson as a consultant. She may not be much of a golfer (or an extemporaneous speaker, for that matter), but she knows how to create a buzz. And more than ever, that's exactly what the LPGA needs.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-29-2009 @ 1:30PM
Roger said...
Having had important duties at LPGA tournaments in the early 70's I remember when LPGA members where highly critical of Jan Stephenson. I dont see that as changing. And if the LPGA has to hang its star on Michelle Wie, it will be in trouble.
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7-30-2009 @ 8:58AM
Hi! Michael said...
It's like coffee baristas.........put them in bikinis and men will watch.
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7-31-2009 @ 2:04AM
jimjackiea said...
The problem with the LPGA is all the Far East golfers that 1. I cannot even pronounce their names and 2. some of them cannot even speak English.
Michelle Wie is not really the answer, she is not the next Tiger Woods. She is a good college golfer and that's all.
I used to enjoy watching ladies golf because as a golf coach, I can relate to my boys the basic fundamentals that they have over pure power like the men do. But when I see that the first page of the leader board is all Far East people, I turn it over to the Tennis Channel and watch re-runs of Jimmie Conners and Bjorn Borg at Wembledon.
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7-31-2009 @ 3:02PM
blueimpraider said...
True ... the LPGA needs an American golfer to step up to the plate. Paula Creamer is starting to show up on the tube in non-tour spots -- others now need to follow. But they have to be winners on the tour too. At this point, the girls from the Far East are stealing the show and the money.
Not sure what the answer is, but I don't think there is enough "source glamour" to equate sex appeal with the tour.
Michelle is a 6-foot cutie, but can't (yet) close out a win on the Tour.... her mouth is TEENY TINY, but her RACK is coming along nicely (as a broadcaster said recently). And Natalie's tank is about to run empty too. She's only mildly attractive, and has legs like pencils. See? I am not at all sure that this is the "tour buzz" that the public wants to hear, hahaaaaa.
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9-08-2009 @ 9:43AM
Karen Rybak said...
My husband and I enjoy ladies golf. We often go to sports bars to watch events, but can not convince others to put on the LPGA. Men domonate these bars and would watch the LPGA if they knew how many of these players are attractive young women. Ladies tennis became popular when women like Christy Everett came on the scene and the WTA took advantage of it. It can be done without being sleezy. My husband thought a Solheim calander would be a start, starting with Wie for January to Inkster for December in golfing poses.
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10-13-2009 @ 5:45PM
jet4941 said...
The fact of the matter is they are BORING to watch because they hit the ball like girls , PERIOD and no matter what they wear , they will will still be boring and hit it like girls
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