Lack of American Stars on LPGA
Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is one of the premier women’s golf bodies in America. And sadly, its stars are mostly non-Americans.
Reading through the top players list will reveal this fact to anyone who is interested in the subject. Going through the list, the sad fact emerges that the LPGA has a serious deficiency of American talent.
Take the first 20 positions of the LPGA. There are just five American names on the list. Stacy Lewis at number 3, Cristie Kerr at number 9, Paula Creamer at number 13, Brittany Lincicome at number 15 and Angela Stanford at number 18.
Five out of twenty would look great if LPGA belonged to some other nation. However, this being an American institution, the number paints a very discouraging picture of the American women’s golf.
The majority of the names are from Asia, not Asian-Americans but Asian who were born in Asian countries and retain their original citizenship.
America has a long tradition of accepting sportspersons from other countries into her fold. But these players do not wish to come to America permanently.
While many fans are stumped for reasons behind this phenomenon, experts are not. They name many reasons, but it all come down to two major factors, a role model and persistency
For many Asians players today, the inspiration for golf came with the victories of Se Ri Pak, the South Korean sensation. Se Ri Pak won the historic 1998 US Women’s Open.
Incidentally, the venue was the Blackwolf Run, the same course where another South Korean Na Yeon Choi won the event after 14 years.
America has failed to produce a similar role model and this has significantly hurt the American women golf scenario. Asian players have their previous generation role models and the current line of players will serve as role models for the next generation.
The second factor is Asians’ dedication to golf. The players work very hard and long at learning the game and practicing it. This fact is acknowledged by many American coaches and analysts.
Everyone is aware of the issues at hand. Not many solutions are on the offer and experts say that it is about time LPGA takes the issue seriously.
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