tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post7308793220874835822..comments2023-11-22T03:32:31.513-05:00Comments on Mostly Harmless: Are Americans Underachieving on the LPGA Tour?The Constructivisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-79214528778177021372012-07-20T07:17:53.111-04:002012-07-20T07:17:53.111-04:00Well ,I read about Asian players ,they work hard,a...Well ,I read about Asian players ,they work hard,and performance in winning the 2012 United States Open .<br /><br />Best wishes from Washington ! <br /><br />RON BITON<br />Owner of <a href="http://www.brmovers.com/Washington-Dc-Local-Move.html" rel="nofollow">Gaithersburg Movers</a>, company.Office Movers DChttp://www.brmovers.com/Washington-Dc-Local-Move.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-80991227471710647232012-07-12T22:02:07.378-04:002012-07-12T22:02:07.378-04:00Inbee Park is making the other dual LPGA-JLPGA mem...Inbee Park is making the other dual LPGA-JLPGA members look lazy, playing in the Stanley Ladies this week!<br /><br />http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2012/07/can-you-believe-it-files-inbee-park.html<br /><br />Sure, Sakura Yokomine and Yukari Baba are doing the same thing, flying straight from Wisconsin to Shizuoka to go from the U.S. Women's Open to the Stanley Ladies, but you'd think Inbee would take some time off, wouldn't you?The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-52170284744911877592012-07-12T18:53:27.325-04:002012-07-12T18:53:27.325-04:00Read an interesting post on one of the other board...Read an interesting post on one of the other boards. It implied that Asians live to work, while Americans work to live. Interesting theory, what do yoy think?Tony Jesselli (Tonyj5)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10928776936875684588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-11018057906487634132012-07-12T11:28:03.598-04:002012-07-12T11:28:03.598-04:00Forgot Anna Nordqvist ('09er), who hasn't ...Forgot Anna Nordqvist ('09er), who hasn't won since her rookie season, but is playing very solid golf over the course of her career thus far.The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-52126445198203069502012-07-12T08:55:35.248-04:002012-07-12T08:55:35.248-04:00I still believe a lot of this is random. We'v...I still believe a lot of this is random. We've already had 2 huge playoffs that Americans won (Korda, Lang), each of which could easily have been won by one of the several Korean golfers in them.<br /><br />Another factor is that European and Australian golfers haven't been following in the footsteps of Annika, Laura, and Karrie all that effectively. Carin Koch decided to play in Europe full-time, while Rachel Hetherington retired. Sophie Gustafson and Maria Hjorth are really good, but pretty inconsistent, and haven't been playing all that well in 2012. Guilia Sergas is the best European in the rookie classes of 2000-2002, but she's only in 12th in winnings and has no LPGA wins. Yes, there's Suzann Pettersen in the 2003-2005 classes, but Katherine Hull, Lindsey Wright, and Karine Icher are nowhere near her level. The closest the Euros and Aussies come to a top-26 player in the classes of 2006-2008 is Amy Yang, who lived in Australia for a while! Oh yeah, I forgot that Sandra Gal is #19 in winnings and has 1 win. We may be seeing a Lorena bump from the Class of 2010 and up, with Spanish and Spanish-speaking golfers showing a lot of potential, but so far only Azahara Munoz has begun to realize it (although watch out for Carlota Ciganda once she gets full statuson the LPGA!). The fact is, Asian golfers have been outplaying Euro and Aussie golfers by far in the last decade.<br /><br />I wonder how big this effect is? Could it be that American winning percentages have basically held steady since the '90s, while European/Australian rates have gone up sharply in the 1990s and 1st half of the 2000s, then declined even more sharply ever since?The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-24508613671496653252012-07-11T22:14:58.701-04:002012-07-11T22:14:58.701-04:00For some reason I doubt Americans were winning at ...For some reason I doubt Americans were winning at a big clip when Annika Karie and Lorena were dominating the tour. It's actually 5-2 in tournament wins this year for the Americans over the Koreans. It's not as bad as you think and there is no reason to get your panties in a bunch.Raynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-12972061111821090442012-07-11T22:09:42.502-04:002012-07-11T22:09:42.502-04:00A couple of things that I think get missed when ta...A couple of things that I think get missed when talking about the American women:<br /><br />1 - Tournament money on the LPGA Tour is relatively small compared to what the men are playing for week in and week out. That's just economics - the men are the draw.<br /><br />2 - Not only is the purse money smaller, the endorsement dollars just aren't as free flowing as they for the top men.<br /><br />Personal opinion, companies that overpaid for the likes of Michelle Wie, whose performance has lagged way behind her ability, could be a bit skittish when it comes to putting money into the women who are coming up through the ranks. Only young players like Lexi Thompson, who hit the ground running and put up good results are going to get good sponsorship dollars.<br /><br />What the shorter money does to most American women, in my opinion, is to force many highly talented women to take time away from working on their games in order to make a living in other areas. Some do modelling - some do personal appearances at corporate outings or charity events, etc etc etc. These things take the American talent away from the same kind of focus the Asian women have without the distraction of chasing dollars to make a living.<br /><br />Playing in the US, away from most of the corporate distractions has to be an advantage for the Asian women. If most of these tournaments were held in Korea, that advantage would switch.<br /><br />So yes, I believe the American women are being outworked by the Asian players - but it is not a matter of laziness. (I have to admit that it is occassionally difficult to remember these things when following some of the LPGA stars on Twitter and seeing so many Tweets talking about getting nails done or going to parties, etc instead of working on their games)<br /><br />Most of us, I would guess, think that if these talented American women would bear down and get the most out of their talent, the dollars would follow - and that might be true, but a lot of these women are struggling to scratch out a living and are forced to trade practice time for outing dollars, while the Asian players come here pretty well funded and are able to buckle down on their games.<br /><br />It's just not as simple as it might appear. These are not "lazy" women.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-24134294024143676732012-07-11T20:44:07.929-04:002012-07-11T20:44:07.929-04:00Looking over my earlier post today on career wins ...Looking over my earlier post today on career wins and winnings across LPGA "generations"--<br /><br />http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2012/07/lpgas-top-rivalries-generation-gaps.html<br /><br />--I'm noticing that Americans have often been outdistanced by Asian or European golfers (Cristie Kerr is the only American atop her generation in winnings; none lead in wins). But the big case for Asian domination comes in the Tseng Dynasty generation. Only Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang, and Kristy McPherson are in the top 20 among the rookie classes of 2006-2008 (add Meaghan Francella, Katie Futcher, and Jane Park if you go to the top 26), and of them, only Morgan is in the top 5 in winnings and wins. Things seem to even out a bit in the next generation, with Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie pulling their weight, Vicky Hurst on the rise, and a host of young Americans poised to move up the ranks. Now it may turn out that not many of them actually do, in which case it's up to those 3 to rack up wins and winnings.<br /><br />Basically, it comes down to each country or region having 0-4 standard-bearers in each LPGA generation, when it comes to excellence over time. Then it just depends on how the best Americans do against the field relative to the best Asians, Europeans, etc.The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-34263601948351322982012-07-11T20:25:12.303-04:002012-07-11T20:25:12.303-04:00I think Mike makes many good points and would like...I think Mike makes many good points and would like to add another angle to the discussion, namely the idea of career arcs and momentum swings. The period we're focusing on is when Ya Ni Tseng and Ai Miyazato have been head and shoulders better than anyone else in the world, but where Ji-Yai Shin, Na Yeon Choi, and a host of young Koreans have been playing really well in bursts, too. Meanwhile, Cristie Kerr has gone from playing well and not winning in 2011 to just not playing that well over 72 holes in 2012, Paula Creamer's putter has deserted her, Stacy Lewis has stepped up, but inconsistently, Michelle Wie has slumped, and everyone else from the U.S. who's won has been pretty inconsistent.<br /><br />So there have been larger numbers of young Asian golfers playing well enough to win, and while the best Americans have been struggling, a greater percentage of wins than usual have been headed Asia's way. Maybe it's more of a random swing than underachieving on the part of Americans.<br /><br />Think about it: when have Americans dominated the LPGA? In the Ochoa Era? The Sorenstam Era? We have to go back to the '80s for real American domination. So what is a normal situation these days on the LPGA? What constitutes "average achievement" or "overachievement"? Should we go historical, and compare recent winning percentages to long-term ones? From which period? Or should we look at the percentages of each nationality across fields over a portion of time and expect winning percentages to roughly correlate to that? The basic question is what we establish as the norm?<br /><br />Given that the LPGA is the closest thing to a global tour in the entire world of professional golf, perhaps the tour doesn't belong to anyone anymore? Except Annika, then Lorena, then Ya Ni.....The Constructivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07242149985581771922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198629951037494295.post-46675793464942392362012-07-11T19:55:37.110-04:002012-07-11T19:55:37.110-04:00But here's another way of looking at the figur...But here's another way of looking at the figures, Tony:<br /><br />Of this year's winners, only 3 have more than a single victory -- Tseng, Miyazato, and Lewis -- and none of them have a major this year. And the USA has 4 different winners this year; South Korea has only 2, and no one else more than one. So the Americans look pretty good there.<br /><br />And since 2010, both South Korea and the USA have 9 players with wins. Each has 3 multiple winners, accounting for 8 and 7 wins respectively. Tseng with 13 and Miyazato with 8 clearly stand out from the pack, but that doesn't say anything about depth from their countries.<br /><br />Actually, I don't think it's the work ethic that separates the South Koreans. The difference is their grounding in fundamentals. I know about this firsthand.<br /><br />A few years ago I took of a couple of years of Tae Kwon Do from Tiger Kim, a three-time Korean national champion. Several of the instructors were golfers -- one played the then-Nationwide Tour. The most striking thing to me was how classes were structured. The running joke was that, once you got a black belt, you finally knew enough for Master Kim to teach you how to do it right.<br /><br />He always started classes with everyone -- from the newest white belt to the most advanced black belt -- working together on the same fundamentals. Everybody did the exact same exercises together. And in a 50-minute class, we would spend anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes doing those same fundamental exercises. And while he never pestered us to workout a lot away from class, he insisted on full effort during class.<br /><br />Master Kim is regarded as one of the best TKD teachers around -- even by masters in other martial arts -- because of his dedication to teaching fundamentals.<br /><br />That's where the Asian players -- and the South Koreans in particular -- have a leg up on the US players. They have simple swings that rarely break. But when you look at how individuals have performed, as I did earlier in this comment, I'm not so sure they have as big an advantage as it may first appear.<br /><br />And as I said, Tseng and Miyazato are exceptions. After all, Annika's success didn't mean that Sweden as a whole was better at golf than the US, did it?Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11719298227225074496noreply@blogger.com