South Koreans and the Sinking LPGA Ship

For the second consecutive year the United States Women's Open Championship was won by a South Korean player. Eun-Hee Ji birdied the 72^nd hole to edge Taiwan's Candie Kung by a single stroke. In-Kyung Kim finished tied for third place along with Cristie Kerr, the top American finisher in the event.

While the week's on-course action was overshadowed by the news of Carolyn Bivens' impending termination as LPGA Tour commissioner, the end result of this year's Open reemphasizes the main problem the Tour is facing right now - far too many foreign names and far too few popular American ones on the leader board. 

In order to gauge the pulse of the people interested in women's professional golf, it's just as helpful to read comment boards below articles pertaining to the LPGA Tour as it is to read the articles themselves, and the majority of golf fans who follow the LPGA Tour seem to have reached a consensus - their interest is being eroded by the domination of players they don't care to follow.

On Golf.com one poster wrote this in the hours after the Open's conclusion: "The LPGA is on life support - nobody will turn on the TV to watch 20 players named Kim unless one of them is named Anthony."

Just as she did after her victory in 2008 at the Wegmans LPGA, Ji needed a translator to navigate through the post-round interview process. Bivens attempt to address this problem was slammed as insensitive at best by media and sponsors, and called outright racism by others.

But Bivens could see that the writing was on the wall and that the influx of foreign players, mainly South Koreans, coupled with the average golf fans lack of desire to study up on unfamiliar faces would negatively impact the Tour.

The LPGA Tour is expected to name an interim commissioner this week, and whoever accepts the position needs to somehow capitalize on this South Korean vs. American conflict.

One of the best ideas I came across last week was a thought by the New Jersey Star-Ledger's golf writer Brendan Prunty who suggested changing the format of the Solheim Cup. He wrote:

"Here's your chance to let them go head-to-head. Nix the current format of the Solheim Cup and make it America against the World. As of now, some of the best golfers in the world are Asian and yet they are shut out of the Solheim because it's America versus Europe. Make the opposing team totally international and allow the likes of Jiyal Shin and Inbee Park to join Lorena Ochoa and Suzann Petterson. What made the Ryder Cup for the men in the 1980s and '90s were the heated international battles. Include the Asian players in the game and it'll do the same for the women."

It could work. The LPGA Tour could cast Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis or even Michelle Wie as Rocky, taking on the machine-like Ivan Drago, who could be played by any number of talented South Korean players.

We're obviously looking at a Cold War type era in women's professional golf and the American fan isn't exactly warming up to the idea of so many Asian players dominating the Tour. Instead of shying away from discussing the subject, how about marketing the Tour as an international battleground with the U.S. as the good guys and the Asian players as the heels? It may not be 100 percent politically correct and would likely offend a few people, but chances are it would get people interested in women's golf again.

It would also encourage our American players to work harder if they were constantly being portrayed as playing for our country instead of just themselves. This may sound a bit insensitive, but turning the struggling Tour around is going to require drastic action. Beating the Team USA drum might not be ideal, but it just might work.

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