Having overcome economic downturn, LPGA Tour goes global: commissioner

Michael Whan, commissioner of the LPGA Tour, is a well-traveled man. As the chief of the world’s longest-running women’s professional sports body, he said he’s been to 17 countries in the past 12 months.

South Korea, where he made a brief stop earlier this week to meet with a new tour sponsor, was also on his itinerary. He had flown in from Thailand, the LPGA Tour’s previous stop. When he sat down for an interview with Yonhap News Agency Monday, Whan was on his way out to Singapore, the tour’s next destination in its early Asian swing.

Whan, 47, said such extensive traveling is all part of LPGA’s commitment to “borderless golf.”

“I would say in the last 15 years, LPGA has successfully gone global by bringing in players from around the world and by inviting sponsors from around the world,” Whan said at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “And as a result, we have an incredible fan base around the world.”

The 2012 LPGA Tour season kicked off in Australia earlier this month, with Thailand and Singapore as intermediary stops before the tour reaches the U.S. in March. After going to France, Canada and Britain, the tour will travel to Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico from October to November.

Whan stressed that the tour wants to showcase the best golfers from around the globe and that won’t happen if the tour just stays home in the U.S.

The LPGA Tour has thrived in recent years with international exposure. After losing some tournaments amid the economic downturn in 2009 and 2010, the tour added four new events this year, and a fifth one is back on schedule after one year absence. Whan called this “exciting time” for women’s golf.

The tour also boasts international stars. Through Feb. 13, three of the top-five players were from outside the U.S.

“What I’ve said about the LPGA Tour is no matter where you’re from or who you root for, on the women’s side right now, there’s something for everyone,” Whan said, reeling off names of international stars such as world No.3 Choi Na-yeon from South Korea, Hall of Famer Karrie Webb from Australia, and former No. 1 golfer Ai Miyazato from Japan.

“They’re coming from all around the world. That’s why our TV viewership is like it’s never been before,” Whan said, adding that the international rating was up nearly 30 percent worldwide in 2011, compared to the previous year.

“Nobody would have said, even 10 years ago, that 130 countries will watch us play in Singapore. It was inconceivable,” the commissioner said. “But more than 130 countries will watch us this week when we play in Singapore. And they will each have kind of a local flavor to watch.”

No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng, from Taiwan, has dominated the LPGA Tour for nearly two years, with 11 of her 13 LPGA wins, and four of her five career majors, coming since April 2010. Before that, young South Koreans took almost weekly turn in taking titles, combining for 29 wins from 2008 to 2010. Miyazato herself won seven times from 2009 to 2011.

Though U.S. golfers such as Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr have fared well, they have been largely overshadowed by Asian stars.

Whan said, however, that the lack of dominant American names hasn’t affected the tour’s popularity.

“To be honest with you, in America, the ‘We have to have an American star’ thing is changing,” he said. “A lot of Americans think Annika Sorenstam (former No. 1 from Sweden) was born and raised in America. Our North American TV viewership is up 39 percent (from 2010 to 2011). So even without the one name, the U.S. response to women’s golf has been staggering the last 12 months.” 

(Yonhap News)