LPGA may be in for some major change

Few outcomes would please the LPGA Tour more this week than if one of its young, marketable American stars such as Paula Creamer or Michelle Wie put together four great rounds at Bulle Rock and won her first major championship.

The tournament begins today, and Creamer and Wie tee off on the par-72, 6,641-yard course early this morning. Yani Tseng is the defending champion.

A victory by Creamer or Wie would be a seminal moment for the tour, perhaps more so if the heavily hyped and occasionally criticized Wie showed she is capable of finally harnessing her potential.

Even if that does happen, however, it won’t change the uncertain future that this event, and arguably the women’s tour, is facing.

This is the final year McDonald’s is sponsoring the LPGA Championship. And it’s also the final year the tournament will be held at Bulle Rock.

That leaves one of the tour’s major championships without a sponsor, and without a location for 2010.

“I’m concerned,” said Creamer, who is the fifth-ranked player in the world and has eight career victories. “I’m 22 years old, this is my fifth year on tour, and we don’t know where one of our majors is going to be. It’s a scary thought.”

LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens is quick to point out that the Tour will now own its own championship, be able to reap all the revenue it generates and be able to pick the venue it wants for next year’s tournament.

“We will be one of the only professional tours to do that,” Bivens said. “Yes, it is high risk and high reward, but the opportunities for that to make a difference from a brand standpoint . . . over the next 50 years is very big.”

It’s difficult, however, for players to hide their unease. There are 14 tournaments up for renewal this year, and the slumping economy has hammered women’s golf considerably harder than it has the men’s game. Five tournaments disappeared this year, and more are in danger.

“I think it’s definitely a level of concern for everyone, whether it’s a mortgage that you’re looking at or your portfolio or your bank account or how many tournaments are up for renewal,” said Cristie Kerr, No. 1 on the LPGA money list in 2009.

The LPGA recently signed a 10-year TV deal with the Golf Channel and a five-year deal with a media conglomerate in South Korea that will promote the tour in a country that has produced a number of the best players.

“One of the biggest challenges for the LPGA over the course of the last 15, 20 years is getting these remarkable athletes exposed to the rest of the world,” Bivens said. “When one doesn’t have a television or media home, it’s hard for fans to follow -- even avid fans.”

The tour has tried hard to forge a connection between its players and its fans a number of ways, from additional pro-ams to social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

But its biggest strength -- its international depth, with 121 members coming from outside the U.S. -- has also created a challenge in that English is still a second language for some of the tour’s best players. And players who appeal to multiple demographics like Wie and Creamer haven’t yet found their groove.

Creamer has been limited by a stomach ailment doctors struggled to diagnose. She is just now getting back to full strength. For nearly six months, she kept losing weight and had no energy.

“My doctors haven’t really figured it out yet,” said Creamer, who has finished third, second and sixth in her last three events. “I guess it’s a good thing, but it would also have been nice to know if there was something serious or something I could prevent. But we don’t know. Maybe just bad luck, I guess.”

Wie is playing a full tour schedule for the first time in her career after officially becoming an LPGA member this year.

The dream of competing in men’s tournaments and qualifying for the Masters has been put on the back burner, but Wie remains more a curiosity than a finished product.

“I still feel like I have to improve a lot,” Wie said. “I feel like I’m nowhere near where I could be.”

Candus Thomson of the Baltimore Sun contributed to this report.

--

kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com