Speaking of race
The Denver Post had an article on how there are still not many African-Americans golfers playing on the LPGA or PGA tours
The Denver Post had an article on how there are still not many African-Americans golfers playing on the LPGA or PGA tours
The Associated Press named golfer Lorena Ochoa as female athlete of the year - here is USA Today's piece. Tiger Woods was the male athlete of the year.
Happy New Year!
The New York Times has a feature profile piece on Lorena Ochoa -- from growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico (where she still lives) to playing in the elite ranks of women's professional golf.
Christine Brennan at USAToday weighs in on Michelle Wie and why she should reconsider publicly airing her ambitious career goal/dreams. The piece was triggered by a comment Wie made to reporters about wanting to play in the Ryder Cup someday.
"Hopefully, I will be able to play the Ryder Cup one day. That would be awesome, and I think it is totally possible."
However, this is the kind of quote I would like to see prefaced with "After a reporter asked Wie if should would like to play in the Ryder Cup someday" because, to me, it changes the context. Wie didn't just blurt out here desire to play - she was asked.
Reporter: You are part of a new breed of young women who are becoming increasingly competitive in golf - do you think there could ever be a time when women could qualify for the Ryder Cup?
Wie: Hopefully I will be able to do it one day, that would be awesome. I think it is totally possible. Anything is possible in the future. I think players, both women and men, are getting better and we are starting to get stronger and work out more and are mentally tough and we can do it.
Granted, as Brennan argues, she might want to reconsider her answers to these questions. Because the media jumped on this one quote and ran headlines such as "Wie keen to play in Ryder Cup" and that becomes the focus of the story. Here is the full transcript of that interview.
In between all the "We Love you Pedro" stories, the Boston Globe has some nice coverage of the upcoming U.S. Women's Open (being held in Newport, RI). Globe golf writer Jim McCabe is also blogging from the event.
Lots of coverage from all angles on Michelle Wie's failed attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open. The sports columnists range from saying she is "doing a great thing" to taking her parents to task for the choices Wie is making. Blaine Newnman at the Seattle Times says "The issue, for me, isn't gender, but age." On ESPN, Wie has a lot of people in her corner with Wojciechowski leading with "The next chowderhead who says Michelle Wie doesn't 'belong' within a
par 5 of men's golf gets to catch one of her drives with his teeth" and Sirak wrote that
"The simple fact is that Wie gets better every time out." Just google her name and hit the news tab and peruse the 1,000+ stories that turn up.
Gwen Knapp of the San Fransisco Chronicle has a column on how the number of vocal doubters of women athletes - particularly women athletes competing in men's tournaments, races -- is going down.
A piece by David Owen in the May 15 issue in the New Yorker profiles three daughters of tennis great Ivan Lendl who are making some noise on golf courses from Conn. down to Florida - they range in age from 11 to 16. The article isn't online (not much of the New Yorker is), but it shows how the young women coming down the pipeline have power, confidence, and will most likely change the face of the LPGA - although some could argue it's already changing with the likes of Creamer, Pressel, and Wie. Mike Dudurich of the Pittspurgh Tribune-Review calls these three the "attention getters".
Hootie Johnson is on his way out as chairman of the August National Golf Club - home to the Master's tournament and one of the only (maybe the only?) private golf club in the U.S. that does not allow women members. Billy Payne is stepping in to wear the "old rich guy" crown and vows there will be no changes on the women issue. The Detroit Free Press is hoping he'll change his mind, the San Jose Mercury News says no chance, and ESPN's Gene Wojiecowski has some advice for Billy. The New York Times, which went on a rampage on this issue two years (or was it three?) is laying low - there's a piece on Billy's refusal to meet with Martha Burk, who protested against the women rule and is chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations.
After making the cut and history at a men's event in South Korea, Wie ended up down 12 shots behind the winner. So a disappointment for her, but step by step, she seems to be closing in on some of her goals. Eric Adelson at ESPN weighs in on Wie's accomplishments. Christine Brennan had a column that touches on Wie - with a focus on the strides women athletes have made and looks into the future.
