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Post by philknj on Jan 24, 2019 4:54:48 GMT
It's two weeks away (Feb, 7-10) at 13th Beach Golf Links (Barwon Head, Australia) and this thing looks like a frickin' disaster. 'Ol Randall hit the nail on the head (above)...only three players in the top-ten (Minjee, Hall and the ECP) and just two others in the top-50 (Hull and Lindberg). I had a chance to look at the field at lpga.com before it was removed after Randall's Rant...deeply disappointed that MHL was not on it and stunned that Chella wasn't on it (I thought she never skipped an event)...it had lots of names I never heard of before; they would need to wear name tags inside their own homes...meanwhile, Muni was far down the alternate list, WTH. I think Karis was in the field (deservedly so), but can't recall if any other JLPGAers were there. There were about a dozen sponsor invite positions that hadn't been filled yet. Mike Whan yanked this tournament away from the LET to fill in for Lydia's NZ event going down the toilet...and look how these women responded...what a disgrace. I hope the Commish is working the phone to get his better players to reconsider...they have back-to-back tournaments in Australia, what's the problem?
A few random facts:
* The total purse is a bit skimpy by LPGA standards at $1.1 M (the Nov. 2018 press release said it would be $1.5 M)...the Victoria government is backing this event, to what degree I don't know; I assume they did NOT give the LPGA a blank check.
* The 2018 purse was about $519K USD, which was pretty good for an LET event * Definitely some bigger names among the guys (Ogilvy, Ishikawa, Colsaerts, Dunne, Manassero and Ryan Fox) committing to this one compared to last year's field.
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Post by don on Jan 24, 2019 5:22:22 GMT
Did anybody ever think of paying the women more than these men since since they would be better players if the top 50 showed up.
I know money doesn’t grow on trees and I love the Vic Open but equal money is a low ball offer for the best women in the world.
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Post by awhson on Jan 24, 2019 12:23:22 GMT
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Post by jumpcut on Jan 24, 2019 15:12:57 GMT
There's only one reason LPGA.com removed the field list from the Vic. Whan is making phone calls to strong-arm a few of the bigger names to show up.
He really only has to convince Leo's Mommy and his job is done.
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Post by jumpcut on Jan 24, 2019 16:07:18 GMT
Since Ol' Randall is so passionate about supporting the Vic, I'm looking forward to seeing his reporting from there when the tournament starts.
He is going, right?
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Post by 18majors on Jan 24, 2019 16:09:12 GMT
There's only one reason LPGA.com removed the field list from the Vic. Whan is making phone calls to strong-arm a few of the bigger names to show up. He really only has to convince Leo's Mommy and his job is done. There is no chance Leo will travel 26 hours to Australia; therefore no mommy. I'd say this'd truly be a mixed event if Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and etc. from PGA Tour are men's side. You can be sure the entire Rolex Top 50 will show up even without prize money. Seriously, this's a LPGA tournament by name only; at least 30-40 LET members will play plus tens of ALPGA members and sponsor's exemptions. As a result, tens of regular LPGA members are on alternate list. The tournament should return to their root and stay as the premier LET event even with half of the purse of $550,000K.
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Post by philknj on Jan 24, 2019 20:18:40 GMT
Since Ol' Randall is so passionate about supporting the Vic, I'm looking forward to seeing his reporting from there when the tournament starts. He is going, right?
Don't hold your breath waiting for him showing up...I've never seen him at the Shop-Rite/Acer!!! Come to think of it, Sirak and Nichols are never at Shop-Rite. Maybe our working media member TonyJ can confirm this. I saw Randall interview Dumbo under the clock at the Bedminster practice green in 2017...aside from that, I can't recall seeing him in person. I've seen Nichols and Sirak at multiple USWOs and Beth Ann often attends significant women amateur events...saw her interview Amy Anderson at the 2009 US Girls Junior at Bedminster. I saw Stephanie Wei at 2009 USWO...don't think I've seen her since.
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Post by 18majors on Jan 24, 2019 20:25:20 GMT
philknjjumpcut was tongue in cheek, he knew The Golf Channel won't spend that kind money on Randall. They didn't even send Randall to UL International Crown and KEB Hana Bank doubleheader.
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Post by jumpcut on Jan 24, 2019 21:04:18 GMT
LPGA journalism is a joke. The fact that Amy Rogers -- who is a PR flak, not a journalist -- does the best interviews confirms the point.
GC's coverage is abysmal. I'm sure someone here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Pro Tracer was used on a single shot this past weekend. Contrast that with NBC's announcement that Pro Tracer will be made available on all 18 holes of men's coverage this year.
On Sunday there was a half hour left in the broadcast window after the final shot but, instead of showing the award ceremony, we got a half hour of highlights and inane chatter from Paige.
This is the last year of GC's 10-year deal with the LPGA and negotiations must not be going well, otherwise a renewal would have already been announced. I hope GC isn't just running out the clock.
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Post by 18majors on Jan 24, 2019 21:18:14 GMT
jumpcutHope is that Fox Sports is interested and has joined the bidding. Whatever they do; I hope LPGA and the network will enhance their live streaming programs.
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Post by philknj on Jan 24, 2019 22:09:29 GMT
For the 2016 thru 2018 Vic Opens, they had live streaming of Rounds 3 & 4 on Youtube, but the details for 2019 have not been posted yet on the tournament website.
BTW, the bigger names will be at the Aussie Open...but, it is only an 80-minute flight between the Vic and the Aussie...boy, what a burden playing these two events in a row. I'll admit it's not real convenient by car at 460 miles.
You'd think the top players in the Aussie would consider playing the Vic as a useful warm-up (and as easy money). Some of these women don't know how good they've got it...they weren't around when the tournament operators stopped talking to Bivens and the sked was turning into Swiss cheese.
Regarding the LPGA's next TV contract, what is Whan's vision for the future? We don't know, but the world has changed a lot in ten years. Thinking back, I recall the LPGA or Bivens saying they wanted GC to get the whole tour because the fans didn't know where to find the tour before from one week to the next. Funny, there are people who say they can't find the LPGA on GC today! I'd be delighted if they could put the whole tour on Youtube and forget about regular TV, but is that a pipe dream? I know nothing about the business of TV. Moving the tour to another network or channel (Fox? ESPN?) doesn't excite me in the least.
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Post by 18majors on Jan 24, 2019 22:15:00 GMT
philknjI'd give Fox a shot; they've done a commanding job with USWO.
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Post by jumpcut on Jan 25, 2019 2:19:04 GMT
A couple years ago there was an announcement that the PGA Tour would be working with the LPGA Tour in negotiating their next TV contract and coordinating schedules, but there's been radio silence since then.
In the meantime this weekend, Amazon Prime Video will have PGA Tour Live bonus coverage of the Farmers, free for Prime members. And for every tournament this season.
It would be great if the LPGA could piggyback onto that deal with their own bonus streams.
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Post by 18majors on Jan 25, 2019 17:07:52 GMT
Youngin Chun has moved from alternates list to the field Final Field
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Post by 18majors on Jan 25, 2019 18:48:19 GMT
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