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Why does the USGA take it so much easier on the women in the U.S. Open?
Tuesday July 3, 2007 | 01:16:51 170 words, 5053 views
The USGA just held a national championship where five players finished under par - that’s right under the mark the blue blazers live to uphold the “sanctity” of. Cristie Kerr finished five under herself at the U.S. Women’s Open. Five under. If that happened in the men’s Open, USGA president Walter Driver would have the greenskeeper, his competition chairman and two interns shot on the spot. Angel Caberera won at 5 over at Oakmont’s ridiculous setup. So why does the USGA take it so much easier on the women? Why are the courses suddenly reasonable when Annika Sorenstam and friends show up? Does the USGA not care about par when everyone’s not playing in long pants? Is it simple sexism? If the USGA wants to torment golfers (and the fans who are denied ever seeing a charge) with crazy setups, the women deserve their pain too. Is Walter Driver saying girls are not good enough to be completely messed with? Seems like the blue blazers have some explaining to do. Again.
Comments:
Comment from: John D [Visitor]
They had to make the LPGA easier in order to give Wie-Wee a chance. But they failed.
Chris,
If the USGA had made the course layout any more difficult, the tournament might not be over yet. The pace of play was painfully slow. It moved with the same deliberation as the Mendenhall glacier. Most of these ladies treated every shot, even tap-in putts, as a crucial event, measuring and plumbing, and then doing it all over again. In an effort to induce the possibility of some excitement, the USGA shortened the par five tenth by thirty yards to 478 yards. The intent was to make something happen with the longer hitters trying for the green in two. When the final threesome of Christie, Morgan, and Lorena came to the tenth tee, I figured that Loren's extra length might get her in position for birdie or perhaps eagle. But not one of these ladies, the three tournament leaders, got on the putting surface in THREE STROKES! That's when they lost me and I switched to the PGA. Enough pitty-pat golf for on afternoon.
The LPGA really needs to penalize those slow players (which is majority of them) by adding a few strokes to them whenever they are caught. This will send a message to the rest of the field. In the short term, they might get some complaining, but it will clean up the act eventually.
They'd better do this now before they have a super star that is larger than the tour (see Tiger at PGA).
If it had not rained as much as it did, the golf course would have played firm and fast and scores would have been significantly higher. The players have the weather to thank, not the USGA.
In her first 13 years on the LPGA through 2006 Annika won the US Women's Open three times. All three times were in years when she won three or fewer times--she never won in any of the eight years when she won four or more times. The USGA is obviously testing something very different from what other events test.
Comment from: patricia [Visitor]
Guys are always going to be envying girls for one thing or another.
Right on the money Jack. The only thing that kept these ladies from shooting over par was the rain.
And the USGA just "allowed" a handful of Seniors to finish under par at Whistling Straits too. Sorry Chris, but that's a very faulty premise.
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