LPGA playoffs? Uh, no not that kinda playoff.. a real one.

[Young Drachma]

Link

LPGA unveils $1 million playoff
First time for any tour to have season-ending playoff
Posted: Tuesday June 7, 2005 11:43AM; Updated: Tuesday June 7, 2005 7:14PM

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (AP) -- The LPGA Tour is counting on an innovative playoff system and its $1 million first prize to provide the postseason boost it's looking for.

The tour will have its own version of playoffs in 2006, culminating with players competing for the richest payoff in women's golf in the "LPGA Playoffs at The ADT."

Plenty of details still need to be worked out, but commissioner Ty Votaw unveiled on Tuesday the new format, golf's first year-end playoff system comparable to other sports.

"For the first time, a group of players competing for a season-long championship has, at the end of that rainbow, a real bucket of gold, $1 million first-place check," Votaw, in his seventh and final year as commissioner, said two days before the start LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock.

The 2006 season will be split into two parts, with players earning points toward making the 32-player field at the ADT Championship at Trump International, which previously served as a Tour Championship.

Fifteen players from each half of the season and two wild cards will advance to the playoffs. They will be playing for the $1 million prize, nearly double the biggest payoff in women's golf.

The dramatic format change has received mixed reaction from players.

"It's a very interesting concept," Annika Sorenstam said. "It's totally something everybody is talking about. Hopefully, something good will happen."

Votaw said he was intrigued by NASCAR's success with its "Chase for the Nextel Cup" format, a season-long points competition that culminates with playoff races.

"We looked to see how we could do something similar," Votaw said.

"What we were intrigued by ... was the amount of coverage, the amount of debate, the amount of back and forth, whether this was good or bad, and ultimately the results of increased television ratings, increased attendance ..."

Hall of Famer Juli Inkster is outspoken in her opposition to the new playoff structure.

"I'm not for it at all," she said. "Golf to me, it's who ends up on the fourth day is the winner. It's not NASCAR, it's golf.

"You win the ADT, it's like winning a major to me."

Karrie Webb, one round away from securing her place in the Hall of Fame, understands the reasons for the change, but isn't enthusiastic.

"I understand that it is going to create a lot of interest, and that's great," Webb said. "I appreciate why we have to do some of those things. But I just think it's sad that the game of golf can't be appreciated for the way it's played and how tough it is physically and mentally to play four rounds of a golf tournament."

Votaw expects the new format to boost fan interest and bolster the tour's schedule, increasing the importance of each event.

"You'll hear debate as to whether this is a good or bad idea," Votaw said. "We think that, ultimately, this will raise the profile, raise the bar for the LPGA, because it will bring a real exclamation point to our year in a dramatic way.

"We didn't talk to any of the other golf tours because we thought it was such a good idea, they would want to take it."

Points will be awarded depending on the tournament.

-- Winners of the four majors automatically qualify for the playoffs, while points will be awarded to the top 10.

-- Limited-field events and certain full-field tournament winners will automatically qualify, although no other points will be awarded, setting up an all-or-nothing conclusion at those events.

-- Select full-field events will offer points through 10th place, although the winner won't get an automatic bid.

-- The players with the best performance in the Asian swing in the fall will qualify for the playoffs.

The announcement comes at a time when the PGA Tour is debating whether to revamp its schedule for the next television contract, from 2007-10. While the men's tour is still contemplating a half-dozen models, the predominant theme is to put drama into the end of the season, giving it a conclusive finale like other sports have.

Now, golf might already have one with the LPGA Tour's new model.

"Even if you don't agree with it 100 percent, you've got to support it," said Cristie Kerr. "If it's going to help our tour that much, it will be good for everybody."

The LPGA also unveiled its new marketing initiative -- These Girls Rock -- designed to promote the players' great performances and personalities.

[Young Drachma]

Seems stupid.

I think Michelle Wie is headed for the better tour, even if she's just average. The LPGA seems like such a sideshow to me, even if their golfers are better athletes than say, WNBA players.

I mean, this just seems like a gimmick and a dumb one that doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

I guess it won't hurt that much. But is it just a 1-round tournament? Or will be 4-rounds and all the players who are eligible get to make it to the playoff? It didn't seem clear to me.

If it's just a 1-round chase for the title, that'd be an interesting concept. Not worth watching, since most people don't care about women's golf. But it'd be really pretty awesome on the men's tour. Whoever plays the best golf for that 1 day, among the best players that year. Especially if Tiger was in contention and it went to extra holes.

Or make it like 27 holes or something. Or 36 holes, though that'd be nearly impossible to get done in a day with a field that's large.

I dunno..seems goofy, especially if it's just the same old tourney with a different qualification. And $1 million? Don't losers on the men's tour make that?

[HomerJSimpson]

If they played in skimpy ourfits, they would attract more viewers than they will with this.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

If they played in skimpy ourfits, they would attract more viewers than they will with this.

Supposedly down at Kingsmill, that Daniella girl from the Big Break had the largest crowds of any golfer. I'm not sure if it was due to her Big Break popularity, her skimpy outifts, or both.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Supposedly down at Kingsmill, that Daniella girl from the Big Break had the largest crowds of any golfer. I'm not sure if it was due to her Big Break popularity, her skimpy outifts, or both.

boobs

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

boobs

Well, yes ... big boobs, tight shirt, short skirt = winner.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Seems stupid.

I think Michelle Wie is headed for the better tour, even if she's just average. The LPGA seems like such a sideshow to me, even if their golfers are better athletes than say, WNBA players.

I mean, this just seems like a gimmick and a dumb one that doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

I guess it won't hurt that much. But is it just a 1-round tournament? Or will be 4-rounds and all the players who are eligible get to make it to the playoff? It didn't seem clear to me.

If it's just a 1-round chase for the title, that'd be an interesting concept. Not worth watching, since most people don't care about women's golf. But it'd be really pretty awesome on the men's tour. Whoever plays the best golf for that 1 day, among the best players that year. Especially if Tiger was in contention and it went to extra holes.

Or make it like 27 holes or something. Or 36 holes, though that'd be nearly impossible to get done in a day with a field that's large.

I dunno..seems goofy, especially if it's just the same old tourney with a different qualification. And $1 million? Don't losers on the men's tour make that?

The odds are greatly against Wie ever being as good as Anika Sorenstam - the best women's player ever. She could never be even average on the men's PGA tour. Wie will never make it as a regular on that tour. You do realize she has never won a competition against top women?

This is actually less gimicky than the Nascar "playoff" format, and that was a success. Ultimately, though this will fail, because unlike Nascar, people don't want to watch women play golf.

[Ksyrup]

This will increase interest? Are they looking to make it more exciting for those who already watch, or is this supposed to bring in new viewers? I don't get it.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Ultimately, though this will fail, because unlike Nascar, people don't want to watch women play golf.

Sexactly.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This will increase interest? Are they looking to make it more exciting for those who already watch, or is this supposed to bring in new viewers? I don't get it.

Both the mens and women's tour want to increase ratings towards the end of the season. Basically after the last major the golfing interest drops dramatically despite the fact there are like 2 months or so left in the season.

So the men's tour is considering something similar (some kind of season ending playoff type deal) to replicate the year end interest in sports like football/baseball/basketball.

The women's tour just beat them to the punch, perhaps as a testing ground. I'm not thrilled about the format the women chose, but I'm not opposed to a season ending shootout.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Samdari

You do realize she has never won a competition against top women?

You do realize that she's what, 15?

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

You do realize that she's what, 15?

Exactly. Bagging on Michelle Wie because she hasn't won yet is like saying a high school junior sucks because he hasn't won an NBA title yet.

I'm not sure there is much you can do for the LPGA. I think it will always be a limited appeal tour, much like the senior tour. Unlike other women's sports that offer a different style of play that can make it more enjoyable to watch -- tennis is a great example -- women's golf is like watching minor league golf.

I also don't think you can dismiss sexuality in sports and its popularity. NASCAR had limited appeal when it was Darrel Waltrip dragging his sorry can around the track for 400 laps. Add some fresh meat and suddenly women are following NASCAR, and where there are women there are more guys.

The stigma of the LPGA tour that no one wants to talk about is that it is perceived by many consciously or subconsciously as a tour for lesbians. If that's the case, I say embrace it -- make the second and third place winners makeout during the trophy presentation. Then you'd see some ratings.

[Samdari]

I was not bagging on Wie because she has not won. We should not expect her to have won yet. It was not meant as criticism.

It was, however, meant as some evidence that we should not project her to be a significantly better player than the best player her sport has ever seen, which she would need to be in order to regularly play on the mens PGA tour.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

The stigma of the LPGA tour that no one wants to talk about is that it is perceived by many consciously or subconsciously as a tour for lesbians. If that's the case, I say embrace it -- make the second and third place winners makeout during the trophy presentation. Then you'd see some ratings.

Who wants to see a bunch of fat ugly lesbians kissing?

I agree the LPGA tour will never be big in the ratings, but really who cares? I think they should strive to be the most watched sport by women. I think they would do better embracing a 'bring your daughter's' mentality to get some more female fans out to the tournaments. It would make for nice niche advertising. I always thought that approach worked well for women's soccer (granted the end result wasn't that great).

And I don't think the talent is completely awful ... I actually usually watch the women's US Open (admittedly that's the only tournament I'll watch). I think there is a couple of women who could survive (granted not win) on the mens' tour and I don't think it'd be too big a shock to see a woman competing on the men's tour in the next 20 years.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Samdari

The odds are greatly against Wie ever being as good as Anika Sorenstam - the best women's player ever. She could never be even average on the men's PGA tour. Wie will never make it as a regular on that tour. You do realize she has never won a competition against top women?

This is actually less gimicky than the Nascar "playoff" format, and that was a success. Ultimately, though this will fail, because unlike Nascar, people don't want to watch women play golf.

Bullshit. Wie will be a star. Make no mistake. 15-year olds like her don't come along everyday. But the media is intimidated, because she doesn't fit into their neat little box.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I was not bagging on Wie because she has not won. We should not expect her to have won yet. It was not meant as criticism.

It was, however, meant as some evidence that we should not project her to be a significantly better player than the best player her sport has ever seen, which she would need to be in order to regularly play on the mens PGA tour.

If she were a pro, Wie would be doing a profitable job of molding her own image and cashing paychecks. Although she missed the cut at the PGA Tour's Sony Open, she quickly made her presence felt among the women, finishing second at the SBS Open, tying for 12th at the Safeway International and tying for 14th at the Kraft Nabisco, the season's first major in March.

In all, Wie would have won nearly $140,000, and her scoring average of 71.06 would rank fourth on tour. Last year, her earnings would have been approximately $250,000 and put her inside the top 50 on the money list.


So maybe she sucks. But, I say that a sideshow - any woman - let alone a 15-year, doing what she's doing...would be impressive. I think she's got some growing pains to go through. But she's far exceeded anything Tiger did at this age - which is going head to head against the best of her sport and being competitive.

The women are mad, because they don't want the attention on her. What happens when she wins her first tournament? Will they then say, "Oh well she's never won a major!" and when she does that, will they say "Oh well, she doesn't win every week."

I think it seems ridiculous to assert that she's not talented or won't be a star. Maybe she's not shaking her boobies or will make for much of a pinup. But it's not like the LPGA has random teenagers dominating most players.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Samdari

The odds are greatly against Wie ever being as good as Anika Sorenstam - the best women's player ever. She could never be even average on the men's PGA tour. Wie will never make it as a regular on that tour. You do realize she has never won a competition against top women?

I think the odds are very good that Michelle Wie will be a much better player than Anika. She's already much more advanced for her age and possesses some physical skills (size/300+yd drives) that Anika will never posess. The only thing I question is whether she'll have Anika's level headedness.

Now if you're saying the odds are against her dominating the tour like Anika is, then I would agree. There's just too many good golfers coming up as a result of the Tiger Woods syndrome that she likely won't be able to dominate the way Anika does. But in terms of ultimately being a better golfer .. I think the odds are way in Wie's favor.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by moriarty

I think the odds are very good that Michelle Wie will be a much better player than Anika. She's already much more advanced for her age and possesses some physical skills (size/300+yd drives) that Anika will never posess. The only thing I question is whether she'll have Anika's level headedness.

Now if you're saying the odds are against her dominating the tour like Anika is, then I would agree. There's just too many good golfers coming up as a result of the Tiger Woods syndrome that she likely won't be able to dominate the way Anika does. But in terms of ultimately being a better golfer .. I think the odds are way in Wie's favor.

The level-headedness is MUCH more important than long drives. As is short/game putting, which Wie has yet to prove can be competitive with others her age, let alone world class competition.

I just don't see how you can say that someone is very likely to be better than the best ever. That is like saying someone is very likely to be a better basketball player than Michael Jordan because they can jump higher at 14, or someone is very likely to be a better QB than Joe Montana because he can throw a football further at 14. Its ridiculous to assume that she (like anyone, I really have nothing against her) is going to develop to 100% of what some people project as her potential simply because she has the body for it, and excels at one or two of a myriad of skills necesary for such excellence.

[Blackadar]

Michelle Wie = Ty Tryon?

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Samdari

The level-headedness is MUCH more important than long drives. As is short/game putting, which Wie has yet to prove can be competitive with others her age, let alone world class competition.

Define 'competitive'. Maybe you should reread Dark Cloud's post if you don't think she's been competitive with world class competition (at least on the women's tour). And she nearly made the cut at the Sony Open a few years back competing with the professional men. At age 13, she made the cut in 5 of 6 LPGA Tour events ... Tiger didn't make his first professional cut until age 18. That's pretty damn competitive IMO. You don't do that without a decent shortgame.

Now if you're mistaking 'competitive' for winning, then I agree. She hasn't won some of the lower level tournaments like the US Amateur (then again, few 14 year olds have), however, she did win the US Women's public links title. In fact, if I was her manager, I would have her focus on some more of these to get her used to winning (ala Tiger). But she's clearly skilled, competitive, and the shortgame may be her weakest area of play, but it's not exactly bad.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Michelle Wie = Ty Tryon?

To parallel, her playing on the top level of the LPGA tour is akin to a junior high school kid playing in the NBA. It doesn't happen. But she's so good, Tiger has us so jaded, that we're raising the bar so high that we expect these kids to do things that NO ONE has ever done.

Michelle Wie is doing something that no GOLFER. Male or Female has done, before. No she isn't winning yet and I agree that she ought to go win a junior tourney or two, to shutup the critics.