Could Michelle Wie Save the LPGA?

Recently the LPGA released their 2010 Tour schedule and it is clear that the women’s circuit has been something of a victim in the wake of the global financial meltdown. The main proof is in the fact that since 2007 the number of tournament staged on the LPGA has dropped by almost one quarter from 31 tournaments to just 24.

However, the drop in the number of events isn’t down to any lack of quality on the Tour – the LPGA is as strong as it has ever been – but the reluctance of sponsors to invest in the Tour.

Despite being strong, the LPGA is dominated not by US players but by players from outside the US. Lorena Ochoa, the current Women’s number one hails from Mexico, while the emergence of South Korea has shaken the LPGA to its core with a whole host of players taking high order in the rankings. Add these facts to the issue of only five out of twenty-eight LPGA events in 2009 being won by US players and its quite apparent that the LPGA could struggle to attract investment.

One of the biggest problems this causes to the LPGA is that there is no ‘face’ on the tour; no-one that the fans can really pick up and support. Contrast this to the men’s tour and Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Padraig Harrington. Would the men’s tour attract the support of sponsors should any or all decide to pack away their clubs for good? Sponsors know that names such as these draw huge crowds to the course, while attracting millions more to watch on TV and online.

But on the LPGA, no such ‘face’ exists and this makes it harder for sponsors to justify backing an event. What’s more, sponsors are usually fiercely ethnocentric and if they are to part with money to sponsor an event they want to make sure they attract the best players possible, but also that homegrown players can shine. After all, it’s rare for local galleries to support foreigners whether on the men’s or ladies’ tours; supporters want to see home favourites in contention.

As good as players such as Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Christina Kim and Angela Stanford are; none of them really capture the imagination of the crowd despite Kim’s cheerleading antics in whipping up the home crowd during the Solheim Cup and if the influx of Korean, Japanese, Australian and other countries’ golfers into the LPGA continues, then it could well be difficult for the LPGA to continue to attract sponsorship in years to come.

That’s where Michelle Wie’s entrance into the big time comes in and her maiden victory – in Lorena Ochoa Invitational – has been so warmly welcomed. Her victory provided the LPGA with the boost it so desperately needed and went some way towards banishing the dark clouds amassing over the LPGA Tour.

Wie could well become the ‘face’ which the LPGA desperately needs; indeed the Golf Channel received several complaints about their decision to show Wie’s Mexico win on a delayed transmission, suggesting that in TV-land at least, Wie’s star burns brightly among the audience.

And it isn’t just in the US that Wie holds popularity; she is also very popular in the Asian market thanks to her Korean roots, making her an extremely marketable commodity and an attractive proposition for any prospective sponsor.

Still a teenager, Wie’s first victory will undoubtedly give her the belief she needs to go onto bigger and better things in the game now that she has the taste of success and providing she can steer clear of injury looks destined to take high rank in the women’s game and she can become not only the ‘face’ of the LPGA but also the saviour of the Tour in general.