Flurry of tournaments to get Asian fans all hyped up
With the 2012 LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) season coming to a close, Asian players and fans can hold their head high as the continent is going to stage four tournaments in a row.
According to the 2012 LPGA schedule, the four countries slated to stage the coming tournaments include Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Malaysia is going to stage the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia from October 11-14, which will be followed by LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship from October 19-21 in South Korean, Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship from October 25-28 in Taiwan and Mizuno Classic from November 2-4 in Japan.
Observers have said that staging four tournaments in a row speaks of the growing credibility of Asian countries in women’s golf, and this trend is likely to remain in the foreseeable future.
Observers pointed out that since most of the top-ranked players belong to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China, the passion and hype for the coming events will be immense, helping the LPGA officials gain the much-needed publicity and money.
With some critics saying too much focus on Asian golfers and countries will dent the confidence of Americans and Europeans who are already struggling to get back on track, golf fans have come up mixed opinion.
Some think that showing what Asian contenders like current world number one Yani Tseng and Na Yeon Choi have achieved lately will make the Americans want to put their best feet forward in the future and get back to their winning form.
This is something Norwegian Suzann Pettersen seems to agree to, as she has said in her recent interview that she looks forward to the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia not only because of its beautiful course and crowd, but also because of a strong roster packed with resilient Asians.
“It just showcases how global our tour has become. I think it's fantastic to see girls from China, Japan, South Korea coming up. It's just so well represented. I feel like the Americans and us Europeans have to step it up a little bit and give them more of a chase down the road,” Pettersen said.
Although there has been some improvement in the American line-up lately, with Stacy Lewis having romped to the second position in the world rankings, fans say that in order to reach a wider audience in the United States and Europe, local players must rise to the top.
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