You cant make any significant money on those tours. You can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per week on the womens tour. why would i do that if i could play on the womens tour and make a ton of money?
If you seriously want to argue about this, no one would pay to see a man beat a woman. Do you think people would pay to see NBA teams play WNBA teams, probably once for the circus attraction, other than that, it would get old, so no, a pro male golfer wouldn't make money, beating a bunch of women.
My scenario of a man playing on the women's tour has nothing to do with ratings or what people would want to see. It has to do with an easier way to make a living. Are you saying that the women's tour would fold if a male played in an event? That's ridiculous.
Yes it would, or it would become the PGA tour, how many times do you think someone would pay to see a male dominate a bunch of women before it got boring.
Annika won $2.8 million last year in earnings and she absolutely obliterated the competition on the LPGA. Tiger Woods won just a few tournaments (actually played in just slightly more than he skipped) and won $5.6 million. Rich Beam won $2.9 million and more than half of that was ONE tournament. If Annika were ranked on the PGA Tour (notice, I didn't say MEN'S tour. There is not Mpga), she would rank 8th and that is coming from a tour where the average winnings for a tournament rank with the Buy.com or Nike Tour. There is another issue here. Every sponsor has 7 sponsor's exemptions. Every year, they invite celebrities, business buddies, corporate partners and the like to play on the PGA. What business do those guys, many of whom don't even play the sport professionally, have being on the same course with pro players? Of course, none, but the sponsors have the right to do it. Annika is a woman who actually has the game to be out there and you're complaining? This is the freakin' American way. Make as much money as you can. Compete against the best and see where you rank. What happens when that 13-year-old girl in Hawaii who can already drive the ball 280 starts hitting it 330 off the tee at 18? There are men on the tour who can't hit 330 with accuracy. This is also about sponsor money. Everybody on the PGA and LPGA respectively would LOVE for women's golf to make more money. It's good for everyone. Everything about this screams capitalism, competition, skill and merit. So, why the complaints from the those who would seem to support this ideology at every OTHER turn?
Exactly. If one man did it, another would do it, then another, then another, then another, until the LPGA turned into another Nike Tour or buy.com tour.
Nick price, who won the Colonial last year, had an average drive last year of 266. Sorenstam had 265.
exactly...if I can make 25,000 on the Nike Tour or 300,000 on the womens tour, which should I choose? You are wrong Jeff. Sponsor's exemptions are not given out to business buddies etc. Maybe they get to play in the pro am but certainly not in the actual tournament. Any amateur that receives a sponsors exemption MUST have a USGA handicap of 2 or less. Of the 8 allowed, at least 2 of the exemptions MUST go to PGA tour players not otherwise exempt. At least 2 more MUST come from the qualifier for that tourney. I'm interested to see how she fares...my problem is that if this is about making as mucbn money as you can, then a man that can't keep his card on the men's tour, should be able to play on the womens tour ...where the money is a lot better than the nationwide tour.
I completely understand the difference in the fairness that you are talking about. But what about this fairness... A struggling male player hoping to get a sponsors exemption in a certain tournament gets told , "sorry bud, we are out of exemptions this week, we gave the last one to a woman. Yes, we know that they have their own tour and that you aren't allowed to play in their tournaments, but those are the breaks" Now this guy has to go out and win this weeks Nationwide tour event just to win the same amount of money he could have won by coming in the bottom 10% of the PGA field. is that fair?
Yes, it is fair. Sorenstam playing in the PGA means that she's dominated her competition for long enough that she's good enough to try and play with the men. You're talking about people who aren't good enough at a sport and taking over a sport. That's like saying the NBDL should just become the WNBA. Another thing, I'd be willing to be that the LPGA would start to lose sponsors if the ****ty players that couldn't hack it in the PGA started to infiltrate. It's one thing to watch women at the top of their particular sport, women's golf, rather than watching failures. Of course, why am I even bothering aruging with someone who calls women's rights "crap"?
Not only is this an issue of fairness but there is noting in the pga rules that prohibits women from playing on the tour. However the LPGA has a provision that states only women are alowed to play. Also i dont see here as a mediocre participant. If she plays up to her ability she will at least finish in the top 25. She is much better than whoever's spot she would be taking.
Sponsor exemptions are usually given to local celebrities who wouldn't make the cut anyways. Professional athletes from other sports (Mark Rypien, etc.) and famous people from the entertainment world have received them in the past. Therefore I don't think that makes a big deal. However, I have to wonder how the fringe players in this tournament (the ones who rank near the end) will feel about losing out on money because a female has come into the mix, possibly pushing them down a notch and costing them thousands of dollars in income. Why can't these guys to to the LPGA? I see both sides of the issue. As a sports fan, I'm glad to see Sorenstam playing in this tournament, and I for one will be watching it. I have only watched the Majors in the past, but I have to check this out. But if I were a member of the PGA, I'd have serious reservations.
How often are sponsor's exemptions given to struggling players? Who were the other exemptions for this particular tourney given to?
Drapg...I agree with your post other than the sponsors exemption part...it cannot be just an athlete or a local celeb...there are stipulations to the exemptions as I noted above. Your point about the lower tier guys on the PGA tour is exaclty what I have been trying to get across. There are guys who are fighting for their careers and praying to get into any tournament just to pay the bills. Its not fair to them.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Like Buck, I'd like to know who exactly normally benefits from these sponsor exemptions. If the guy's gonna be pissed because he's not going to be able to play in that tourney because he didn't get an exemption, he should probably worry about being a better golfer.
