News: TOUR Notes
November 2 2011
2:38 pm
Puerto Rico Open wants Tseng
Sidney Wolf, who is the general chairman of the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com, said he plans to offer Yani Tseng an exemption to play in the tournament next year.
Tseng, who is the No. 1 ranked female golfer in the world, said last week that she was interested in playing a PGA TOUR event to see what she could learn. Click here to read more.
“Having the No. 1 player here would open our event to a broader audience," Wolf told Golfweek. "It could open up the possibility of a LPGA event here, and ultimately help us raise funds for our charities. It would also creates awareness of Puerto Rico globally, which would economically be very positive for the island.”
Wolf said he has not contacted Tseng about the invitation.
Filed under: Yani Tseng
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Tseng’s adviser, Ernie Huang, said she would likely not compete against the men “in the near future.”
“We appreciate that Puerto Rico has responded so soon, but she has more goals to accomplish, such as completing the Grand Slam and qualifying for the Hall of Fame,” Huang told Golfweek. “To play on (the) PGA Tour now will be too much distraction for her.”
http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/nov/02/puerto-rico-open-will-offer-exemption-tseng/
Why does this sort of cheap publicity stunt happen with the otherwise clean sport of golf? Firstly, it’s a mens tournament; there are separate Tours for Ladies. Secondly, Yani would be stealing a place from somebody who might have struggled and practised for 5 years, just to get a treasured PGA Tour start and a slim chance for glory and a career.
If Annika and Michelle who had lesser accomplishments were afforded the privilege (to compete at the PGA Tour) compared to Yani’s exceptional achievement, then she deserves every avenue PGA Tour. Euro. Nationwide etc to prove her worth!
This is probably the stupidest thing anyone can do!! If she could play in a men’s event she should have to qualify like everyone else. I don’t think women should be playing in men’s event at all, they have their own tour, and should stick with that. All the tournament directors think about is MONEY!!!!!!
Every standard tournament has sponsor exemptions. They can give them to WHOMEVER they want – their buddies, their club pro, washed up pros, up-and-comers, local “celebs,” etc…. And they routinely do all the of the above for any number of reasons. It’s a red herring to suggest that the 151st ranked player in the world who just missed getting the invite would automatically get the spot, AND that it would somehow matter or have any significance to anyone else BUT that singular player (or that anyone would even know who that person was). Heck, at that point there isn’t much difference in ability between the 151st and the 251st ranked player. And that person would add NOTHING to the event.
So the logical comparison to be made is within the pool of those people getting the exemptions. And if you want to whine about doing away with ALL exemptions, that’s a different argument.
Personally, I would much rather see a dominant LPGA player tee it up with the boys than some no-name journeyman who’s never done a thing. There are 50+ of those guys teeing it up every week between the two tours.
“All the tournament directors think about is MONEY!!!!!!”
Just what do you expect them to think about? Money is why they put on the tournaments. If the tournament does not make money then it will cease to exist.
Use that thing on your shoulders to think with.
@Tad… agree, wouldn’t mind see some top women play on the tour.
Still Yani would find it difficult over the longer holes. Yani is a great player in her tour, ranked 1st in driving distance and 108th in accuracy… but…
On the mens tour she would be last in driving distance and 51st in accuracy. Would be struggling on many par 4′s… have to use woods and long irons for approach shots…
She would meet a weaker field at PR as top players are at the WGC Cadillac but still would be 30 yards behind the field average in driving distance at last PR tournament…
Also watch out for Min Jee Lee (15), womens Oz junior amateur champ in 3 or 4 years time. Played in WA Open against the men last month and used same tee. Didn’t make the cut but out drove a third of the field… maybe a future top player.
Annika was not a long hitter but had no problem playing from the men’s tees. She barely missed the cut and she could not buy a putt that week. Let Yani play the PGA tour when she’s ready and she’ll open some eyes. BTW, I photograph PGA events and it’s the short game that matters, not length.
Rod–Annika’s accomplishments are every bit as equal as Yani, if not better. And Scooter is right. She missed the cut by one stroke and beat many men that week including major champions.
several spots at pr already go to unaccomplished players from that region of the world, the field size is only 132 players,not 144 or 156, and the WGC already has less than half American players in afield of only about 70 players,so there are not 50 something worthless players looking for a place to play unless you are talking about the 50 or so from Q-school and the nationwide tour! When top 10 mens player is invited to play in a womens event then,and only then should this even warrant a conversation.
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Where is Mr. Whan in all of this? Isn’t he suppose to be their leader? Here you have their top player saying that she will learn more from playing with men, which IMO is just total non-sense. Now upon hearing her say that wouldn’t most advertisers just take their dollars and the support to the PGA. The LPGA didn’t need to go through all of this again. When this was done before, a top LPGA Member playing against the men didn’t even make the cut. Regardless of how you cut this it’s silly and if this lady follows through with it she will just come off looking weak, and out of place. Mr. Whan needs to come up with some guide lines for the betterment of the LPGA Tour.
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Hey George, At least I have something on my shoulders to think with!!! Which is more than I can say for some people….
If the tournament directors want to make MONEY, they should invite some of the top draws on the men’s tour to play in the womens tour….. Let them play from the womens tees and we will see how women compare to men. It is ridiculous to say the least. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander… I don’t see how (inviting a woman to play on the men’s tour) is good for the LPGA in any way like the tournament director says!! It has nothing to do with the betterment of golf in any way, only MONEY……
This is a good thing. I would like to see the best women and men form the USA to take on the world in team play.
Whipper I think all of us would like to see some sort of PGA and LPGA setup, but I don’t think that’s what is going on here. Every now and then a Top LPGA Member pops up and wants to play on the mens tour because it’s harder. This only puts a bad spin on all the other LPGA Members, and of course their organization. Why shouldn’t she be satisfied to play against her competition are they not good enough? That’s the way she is making it sound whether she means to or not. If this lady plays with the men don’t expect too much. The LPGA just doesn’t have the right leadership in place at this time. They have always put up with these loose cannons. The first time this was tried it was tongue and cheek to say the least.
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]
[...] Wolf said last week that he was ready to invite Tseng to play in the tournament. [...]