Because it's my job, I have to keep an eye on all things related to golf and one of things that has caught my eye recently has been all that's going on with the LPGA and now the Women's Open.
I'm interested in hearing what kind of interest level there is in women's golf in general and specifically, what kind of opinions there are about what's happening to the LPGA Tour.
I've just posted my thoughts in story form.
How about yours?

I have a moderate interest in women's golf. That is, I'll watch the majors on occasion when nothing else is on. I have attended a LPGA event in Daytona, and had a really good time. Ticets weren't too expensive either.

I guess I would say a moderate interest also Mike. If it's on, I may watch some of it, but rarely would I make it a point. I think there's a lot of great talent out there, and watching the ladies play always helps reinforce the fact that it's all about technique, and no need to crush the ball to play well.

Agreed. The other thing to me is there isn't any major rivalries out there like Tiger-Phil, Tiger-Boo (ok, I can hope right ), Tiger-Kim, Sergio and himself, (see a theme here???). It seems like there's no battles at the end not of people we know about. But I watch the majors last days but can't say I go out of my way to see them. If I saw Wei was in position for her first win, sure I'd watch. Or if she and Ochoa were tight I might.

And they have no real John Daly person...

It's hard to generate interest when the coverage is so poor. Major tournaments are sometimes not even televised, or if they are, it is only "parts" and you never see them on the major network. They do a terrible job of marketing.

Good points, all.
To your point, Aimee, that's what made Bivens' leadership so shocking. The LPGA is recognized as being just outside the core of the "big leagues" but yet Bivens came in, and, instead of being concerned about raising their image by doing a better job marketing, she tried to bully everyone in paying more for the privilege of having the LGPA in their town. Bad decisions, bad economy added up to a lost job for Bivens.

Hard to demand a premium from your sponsors when they don't see how they are going to get a return on their investment (ie, more viewers).

The LPGA could do a much better job marketing its talent. To drum up interest, they could always create rivalries. Better still, they just need a better marketing company. I am sure there are some individuals on the tour who are interesting enough to sell to the public.

Yeah marketing is a big thing. Plus if you look at the leaderboards, honestly, unless OChoa, Kerr or Gulbis is there,there's a good chance I wont recognize anyone's name. Whether that's because the talent level is pretty status quo right now and on any given day anyone can can step up, but I just looked at the top 10 for the current event, and I know only 3 names. 2 I could pick out of a crowd but the third, nope. Just have seen her name before. So the top "names" aren't bringing their A-game enough or the LPGA needs to do a much better job of marketing the players.

But, and please don't take this the wrong way, it's a little harder to market players who don't speak much English and have it stick with fans to the point those players become a "draw" for events. It's fine to me for the tour to accept all qualified players, but I think is creating a bit of a marketing challenge. But I'm not in favor of enforcing a "must speak english" rule or anything like that.

Scott,

You're absolutely correct.
You open yourself up to considerable criticism when you talk about foreign players, but there's no doubt that's one of the things the LPGA is struggling with at this time.
Dottie Pepper talked about it on the Golf Channel earlier today and I agree with her wholeheartedly.

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How do you measure yourself against other golfers? Height.