Downfall of women’s golf in the United States – Golf Feature
United States' women's golf is going through a difficult time, as not a single professional golfer from the country has made it to the top of the Women’s World Golf Rankings in recent years.
It is only Cristie Kerr who achieved the distinction three times during the 2010 golf season. Her status as the world number one, however, did not last more than a couple of weeks each time she topped the rankings.
The US women golf has suffered a huge decline in the last decade. The glorious period of the game is now rest with the Asian women golfers. The region has emerged as one of the golf’s hot spot over the past few years.
There are only eight US players ranked among the top-50 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Not only the condition of the women golf has worsened, US men’s golf also appears to be outperformed by the Europeans.
However, men are still in contention with players from all over the world. There are 21 US men golfers listed among the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
The US legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus, once argued that the major reason behind the decline of golf in the United States was "women golfers".
He explained it by saying that influx of female golfers has made it difficult for their male counterparts to come and practice their game on the course.
This affects the performance of young players, which led to them perform poorly in International events.
This is what Nicklaus believes. However, his argument appears to contrast to the reality, as men are still far better than female golfers in the United States.
If the female golfers are occupying the courses and male golfers are being affected negatively, then it should have a reverse impact on female golfers. Given the situation, women should perform better than men, as they get more chance to practice. Therefore,
Nicklaus’s idea has some loopholes too.
According to the golf commentators, the main reason behind the downfall of American female golfer is the lack of events on the LPGA Tour roster each year.
The lack of availability of sponsors has also forced the tournament officials to dissolve the organising committees of various events.
On the other hand, US male golfers, relatively, play in more tournaments on the PGA Tour, gaining an edge over female golfers.
Another reason behind the US women golf’s decline is poor management by the LPGA officials. Golf experts believe that LPGA has failed to bring top quality players from US to the international platform.
In contrast, the Asian countries have produced a number of top-notch female golfers, especially by Korea and Japan.
According to John Kang, Korean born coach, the main factor behind the success of the Korean female golfers is their approach to the game and work ethics. Moreover, the Koreans take the game of golf as their only job.
The golf experts believe that the LPGA Tour roster should be reconsidered and a number of more events should be added, in a bid to produce better players from the United States.
In addition to that, the US female played should also work hard, in order to create a competitive environment, when they contend against the best players in the world.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: