The LPGA will soon suspend players from the tour if they don't pass an English proficiency test.



Canadian Lorie Kane presents a dissenting view.



Stronger opposition from blogger on TravelGolf.com: LPGA's new must speak English policy reeks of racism from clueless Tour run by Carolyn Bivens



On another blog someone posted the comment: You know I really think they had good intentions behind the rule, I just think their delivery was all wrong. This was such a bad move I would have sworn Michelle Wie was involved in helping make it in some way.

This will probably end up getting reduced to suspensions or fines or, more likely, behind-the-scenes warnings. The negative publicity for yanking someone's tour card would be unbelievable.

The LPGA has lost multiple tournament sponsors this year and will probably lose more. They need these Korean players to learn English. Professional golf is entertainment and American eyes glaze over when every other tournament winner can't conduct a post-round interview.

http://www.golfweek.com/story/lpga-english-news-082508

Most of the players quoted in that article don't have a problem with the idea behind the proposed rule--or at least don't admit it publicly.

They have these things called "translators." I know it's a radical concept...

And this will help the LPGA how? What a ridiculous rule.

The LPGA is losing sponsors faster than the nationals are losing games. It may not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And how do they know that sponsors are leaving because some of the golfers don't speak English? Maybe sponsors are leaving because one of the best players, Annika Sorenstam, is retiring at such a young age. Or because the overrated hype machine that Michelle Wie has become doesn't help sell their product.

what a stupid rule.

I'd love to see an Asian version of the LPGA start up, and have all these girls play in Asia. Oh, and of course, require that all the Western players learn Mandarin, or Korean, or Japanese. The outrage in this country would be staggering.

Never let it be said the Ugly American is dead.

Why is it a problem for the LGPA that players have to speak English when the PGA doesn't seem to have the same problem. Sports has become international and you either accept that or should get out of the business.

The outrage this seems to be fueling here and throughout the media is pretty funny. The women on the tour seem to be in favor of this so far. And this isn't just about giving a speech after a win. The players meet and play rounds with current and prospective sponsors. How can they schmooze the sponsors if they can't talk to them. And the press isn't going to go out of their way to interview a player when a translator is required, thereby limiting media exposure. If the sponsors bail and the media stops paying attention, the money dries up and the LPGA goes away. I just don't see what the huge deal is. I dare say most private businesses here in the US require their employees speak at least basic English. If the LPGA thinks this will help their tour survive (I am not saying it will help), then why not?

Supposedly the LPGA has a lot of pro-ams, and various events where the sponsors play with, or mingle with, the players. They say that the sponsors are not happy with so many of the players not being able to speak English well. But I wonder if it's that the sponsors are not happy because so many of the players are foreign (largely Korean) and whether improved language skills will make a difference. Maybe they should be seeking new sponsors. Wouldn't Samsung or LG or Hyundai be interested in sponsoring an tour event?

As for the PGA, they are not as overwhelmed with non-English speaking foreigners as the LPGA. But, of course, no other major league (and many, like the NBA and NHL and MLB and MLS, etc. have plenty of foreign players) has done this. And many teams take advantage of their foreign players... the Mariners and Yankees, for example, benefit by all that Japanese advertising that appears during their games.

Still, one would think that the Korean players, for example, would be happy to learn English if much of their career means working in English-speaking countries. The LPGA should encourage this rather then threaten compliance. Offer incentives or free private tutors, but to threaten to kick someone out of the league--not for misbehavior, but for something that has nothing to do with the sport--seems ridiculous.

In this international world and multicultural North American society, some have suggested that they should be encouraging the English-speaking women to speak other languages--Spanish, or Mandarin, for example--which might help the league develop a bigger fan base.

There are plenty of Asian people who play and are fans of golf (I would say the majority of my Japanese-Canadian relatives--both male and female--play golf, for example). This language rule seems like a slap in the face to them, at a time when they should be encouraging their support of the league.

Is the LPGA solely an American body or an international one? If 35% of it's players are Korean and many more from outside of this country, then the LPGA should get sponsorship from corporations in those countries. Perhaps canmark can explain the phenomenon of 35% of women all from a small country while the same small country has hardly any men on the pro tour. Perhaps a better question is where are the 150 million+ American women? Why is their representation so small in the LPGA given the sheer numbers of women golfers in this country. Think about this, if the number of Chinese Bball players in the NBA ever reached such proportions you can best bet Chinese corporations would be wooed left and right for money.

The numbers.



I checked the LPGA website, and:

- the 4 majors in 2008 were won by: Lorena Ochoa (Mexico), Yani Tseng (Taiwan), Ji-Yai Shin (South Korea) and Inbee Park (South Korea)
- there are numerous international tournaments in places like: South Africa, Singapore, Mexico, France, England, Canada, China, Korea, Japan
- on their directory of players there are 10 women with the last name Kim, 6 Parks, 3 Chos and 2 Chois. Only 1 Jones and 2 Smiths

One would hope they would want to capitalize on how international their tour is, rather than try to homogenize it. But with Anika retiring and Michelle Wie busy playing in men's tournaments, I guess they are just grasping at straws.

Wow, has the LPGA tour taken Jan Stephenson's comments to heart?

I like this rule. It should apply to everything. If I go to Spain, it would be wrong of me to expect anyone I talked to, to understand me. If I go to Spain, I should know how to speak Spanish. If I go to Italy, I should know how to speak Italian.

Simple as that.

The difference is if you went to Spain or Italy most people would make an attempt at English, the thinking being that you are their guest.

It is only Americans who are so insecure we demand linguistic obsequiousness.

I went to Canada and I didn't know how to speak Canadian. But seriously, you don't have to speak a language if you're not a resident. And golfers aren't exactly conducting business deals.

The problem isn't the players not speaking English. The problem is that the LPGA does little to nothing to market players beyond Wie and Sorenstam. They have personalities whilst the remainder of the tour, especially the foreign players, are unnkown personalities.

If the LPGA provided more background and more significance and tangibility to the players and to make people care about them, then the language ability or capacity is nearly irrelevant.

Well, the US would lose far more from such an arrangement than any other country, as very few Americans speak the languages of other major countries like China, Japan, Russia and Germany. Besides, how on earth does it make sense to require people to speak English to play an LPGA event held in Mexico, Japan, China or Korea?