Women's Pro Golf Has A Problem

I went to the 2006 Women's Open for one day and watched the rest of it on TV. If you've read my other columns you might have caught me saying that Women's golf was going to be THE place to be, men's golf was getting too boring with long drives and wedges on most holes. As you are my witness, I am here to recant!

I wanted the Women's Open to be interesting. I was ready for it to be interesting. But it was very ho-hum, and I can't figure out why. Compared to par the top 2 women finishers were 4 strokes better than Ogilvy at Winged Foot. So they must have played better golf, right? And doesn't that equate to more interesting golf. In my opinion, NO!

First, let me be clear that it wasn't the course. The Newport Country Club is as beautiful an old classic links course as we have in this country. Even with all the rain they've had in the last 2 months, the course was in fantastic shape. The rough was graduated and fair. The views of the ocean were spectacular. The traps were soaked, but that's mother nature and offers the player one more challenge.

Was it the coverage? Did the media not get us psyched-up, was it their fault. I don't think so. I thought the coverage was good. They did focus too much on only a few players. There was good play and good players on the course who didn't get coverage. I thought Johnny Miller was great. I love it when he takes us through the players' swings, both men and women. His ability to see the tiny movements that explain a pulled shot or a chip that doesn't roll straight is as good as anyone's. As an aside, I wish they would use the video analysis tools and let Johnny take us through more swings. It's wonderful insight for us amateurs to see what works and what doesn't. If they'd do that on finesse shots from around the green it would be eye opening I'm sure. In fact someone ought to do a TV series where Johnny takes us through the golf swing and shot making. I'd watch every episode.

But I digress. Back to the boring women. Maybe they're too good, too robotic. When they miss, they don't miss by much. But on the other hand, nobody ever seems to get really hot and make a charge - or is that a TV coverage problem? When they get in trouble, it doesn't seem as bad. Would an analysis show us that the men go to more extremes - double bogies coupled with eagles and birdies adding up to the same basic score against par. One area where they were definitely not as good as the men was putting. No one was making many putts over 10 feet, except maybe Stacy Prammandasudh. I can't tell you how many putts came up consistently short. Was there something wrong with the greens that we couldn't see through the TV, or are the women not as good. This doesn't seen logical to me, but I have no other way to explain it.

Where was the passion with the players? I thought the women would be more emotionally involved than the men, but what I witnessed was the exact opposite. Joy and frustration where only discernible by the slightest changes in the curve of the mouth, except for maybe Morgan Pressel. In the playoff Annika certainly played excellent golf, straight down the fairway, on the green in regulation and putting for birdie on most every hole. Granted she didn't hit any pins, have any kick-ins, or save par by bending it around a tree (was there a tree on the course?), but who could fault her play. It was amazingly consistent, precise and successful.

I was also surprised by the lack of interaction with the crowd. Maybe Arnold and Lee need to don golf skirts and wigs and work the crowd a little for them. About 10 years ago I saw an LPGA tournament in Massachusetts. I was blown away by how accessible and personable the players were. It was such a refreshing change from the PGA tournaments of the time, which was a constant refrain heard in the lines waiting for the bus back to the parking lot.

If the 2006 Women's Open wasn't an aberration, then the LPGA is in trouble or at least they aren't going to expand their fan base by much more. Most of the swings I watched on the practice tee were beautiful. If the devil offers you Shi Hyun Ahn's swing for your soul, consider it carefully. I'd love to have it on tape. I wish I could hit one drive a season the way most of the LPGA pros crank them out over and over on the practice range. However, in the end, I'm not very excited about going to my next LPGA tournament. Sporting events need to get the blood flowing to be entertaining and this tournament certainly didn't.