Opinion: The LPGA looks to exclude talent

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I guess golf just wasn’t exclusive enough. The genteel-sounding Ladies Professional Golf Association has swung a mashie-niblick at foreign golfers, adopting a rule that would make it harder for non-English-speaking pros to compete in U.S. tournaments. According to Golfweek magazine’s website, tour officials told South Korean pros last week that players who’ve been LPGA members for at least two years must prove themselves proficient in English. Otherwise, they’ll be suspended. In a nod to the peculiarities of our language, the golfers were given until the end of 2009 to study for the tour’s new test. 행운을 빕니다! Or, as Lorena Ochoa (right), the tour’s leading money winner, might say, adios!

The announcement drew mixed reactions from players (the tour has 121 players from 26 countries outside the U.S., with the largest faction being from South Korea). Some said it helps sponsors and pro-am participants -- i.e., the ones who supply much of the money for the tour -- when players can speak English. Others complained that the suspension was far too harsh a penalty. The Asian American Justice Center wasn’t so conflicted. ‘This policy is tantamount to national origin discrimination, which is prohibited under Civil Rights Act,’ Deputy Director Vincent A. Eng said in a news release.

The delicious irony here is that women of all languages continue to be excluded from some of America’s top golf courses, as well as many of the richest professional golf competitions. The LPGA’s move may be motivated by complaints from sponsors, but it smacks of a crude attempt to shield American golfers from more talented competitors from overseas. Take a quick glance at the LPGA’s leading earners this year to get an idea how strong that competition has become. Too bad Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam are already fluent, huh? Hey LPGA, do you think sponsors will like the product better with fewer of the world’s best players, or more? Sheesh.