I thought about doing this last week but determined to wait and give myself some time to mull the 2013 LPGA season over. (Just the LPGA, now not the other women's tours.) I'm satisfied I did, because the Constructivist and Tony Jesselli have executed numerous posts looking at specific components of the year. I'll be linking to them so you can study over their remarkable analyses.
In many ways the LPGA is in superb form. Tony has posted the 2014 LPGA agenda, which has 32 events -- up from 28 this 12 months -- and that total protected four new North American occasions (that consists of the new crew play event, the International Crown). That's crucial because, as Michael Whan stated in a GC interview, the US continues to be the home base of the LPGA. While the LPGA wants to be a international excursion, it would not say a lot if it can't appeal to sponsors in its very own united states of america!
But as we move into 2014 it seems to me that the depth of the Tour isn't always what we might have expected or even hoped for. As I cited earlier, there have been 28 activities in 2013. But there were several a couple of winners:
- Inbee Park, 6
- Suzann Pettersen, 4
- Stacy Lewis, 3
- Shanshan Feng, 2
- Lexi Thompson, 2
- Beatriz Recari, 2
In addition, 2 non-LPGA members won (2/28 = 7.1%) -- Lydia Ko (CN Canadian Women's Open) and Teresa Lu (Mizuno Classic) -- and we had 3 firsttimers (three/28 = 10.7%) -- Jennifer Johnson (Mobile Bay LPGA Classic), Ilhee Lee (Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic), and Amy Yang (LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship). Those are decent numbers, I suppose... However that leaves only four tournaments to be received by the rank-and-report, only a 7th of the full (four/28 = 14.3%).
Jiyai Shin, Cristie Kerr, Karrie Webb, and Hee Young Park took the ones.
None of the winners were newbies... And worse than that, the outlook for the newbies is not all that encouraging. That's worrisome to me. Both Tony and TC have observed this as properly. Let me provide you with multiple fees. The first is from Tony's put up about the rookie class of 2013:
First let me say that this has no longer been a excellent 12 months for LPGA newbies. In fact, it can be the poorest in pretty a while.
There were 35 rookies who started the 2013 season with lots of hope of establishing themselves. The sad fact is, that only 8 of them retained their playing cards as a result of their 2013 performance on the LPGA tour. That's right, just 22.8%. That is down from 36.3% last year, when 12 of 33 rookies retained their playing cards. Three other players retained their playing cards because of their play on the Symetra Tour this year, and 2 did in 2012. The second is from the Constructivist's post about the potential rookie class of 2014:
So far, we know that Lydia Ko and Guilia Molinaro will be members of the LPGA's next rookie class, the Class of 2014. Every other player who got a 2014 card via the Symetra Tour this year is a member of an earlier rookie class. If that pattern holds true this week in Stage III of LPGA Q-School, then the Class of 2014 could be the tour's smallest rookie class ever.As I said, this is worrisome. I'll grant an objection, that this year could be an aberration and it means nothing in the grand scheme of women's golf. But as the LPGA rebounds from a schedule decimated by economic difficulties -- and there is a corresponding increase in opportunities to win (or at least finish high enough often enough to keep their cards) -- the newer players don't seem to be keeping pace.
On the PGA Tour it appears to be the older gamers who are struggling to keep their playing cards whilst the more youthful ones take their places, but on the LPGA Tour it's just the other. While the instantaneous destiny of the LPGA is brilliant -- we have got a whole lot of popular players from everywhere in the global to force TV ratings -- I'm now not certain what it's going to look like some years down the road. Why are we having this problem?
My guess is that the problem isn't talent. Rather, it's the new global nature of the LPGA itself. The "veteran" players are better prepared to deal with all the travel and novelty of being in a new culture every week or two.They have a better handle on how to schedule and how to rest to maximize their performance. Consequently, they're the ones thriving in this new environment -- not the youngsters who may struggle just to keep their digestion functioning properly, let alone adapt to the constant travel, the jetlag, and the need to learn new courses quickly. (As an aside, I suspect this is a major reason we're seeing more surprise retirements. After a certain point, the rewards just aren't worth the price.)
Take TC's reference to Lydia Ko and Guilia Molinaro. I bet anybody knows that Lydia is from New Zealand and has traveled the world for 2 years or so now, but Guilia can be new to you. Here's the opening paragraph from a July 2013 article approximately her on the LPGA site:
Born in Italy and raised in Kenya, Symetra Tour rookie Giulia Molinaro has lived the existence maximum human beings most effective see within the trendy National Geographic documentary.And Giulia came to the US at the age of 16, eventually going to college at Arizona State. Clearly both of these gals know a little about thriving in different cultures. Is it any surprise that they seem able to handle the demands of pro golf on a global tour?
I'm not certain what we'll see out of the LPGA in 2014. While I doubt their win totals will healthy this 12 months's, I might not be amazed if a handful of players win a disproportionate quantity of tournaments again -- and I may not be amazed if they're the equal 6 players who ruled 2013 in view that all of them nonetheless seem to be in accurate form. Lydia Ko can be a rookie in call most effective, and I assume her to play well also.
But I foresee growing troubles for the more youthful gamers on Tour. The capacity to conform isn't always found out in a single day. Hopefully they may are seeking for out a number of the veteran players and get suitable recommendation that can shorten the mastering curve... However that curve continues to be going to be steep. It's a survivor's recreation right now, and survivor capabilities normally include experience.
Welcome to the new international of worldwide golf, girls.
0 comments