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Post by HappyFan on Apr 14, 2021 16:54:19 GMT
5,000 fans per day for the men at San Diego & zero fans per day at the ladies' open in San Francisco. Whan is off to a roaring start. Everybody likes Whan but the schedule is still a mess, UL Crown is a poor format (US and Korea play like 1 match) and there haven’t been any breakthrough events with the PGA Tour that would raise the players profile. There's room for improvement, but he is infinitely better than Bivens in several ways. For one, he didn't needlessly p*ss off sponsors like Bivens did when she unilaterally decided they needed to pay extra fees for tournament maintenance. And he treated the Koreans like they were an asset instead of a problem. His biggest weakness was that he didn't follow his actions through to their logical conclusions. For instance, if Korea is really such a huge source of income and fandom, why NOT have a Major there?
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Post by philknj on Apr 14, 2021 23:31:01 GMT
Everybody likes Whan but the schedule is still a mess, UL Crown is a poor format (US and Korea play like 1 match) and there haven’t been any breakthrough events with the PGA Tour that would raise the players profile. There's room for improvement, but he is infinitely better than Bivens in several ways. For one, he didn't needlessly p*ss off sponsors like Bivens did when she unilaterally decided they needed to pay extra fees for tournament maintenance. And he treated the Koreans like they were an asset instead of a problem. His biggest weakness was that he didn't follow his actions through to their logical conclusions. For instance, if Korea is really such a huge source of income and fandom, why NOT have a Major there?
Sure, let's have a sixth Major ... after all, Mike Whan said it didn't matter how many Majors the LPGA had. But, as far as the ROK getting an annual Major of its own, FORGET IT!!!! Regardless of player skill, Japan is still the financial giant of Asian women's golf. My vision would be a rotating Asian Major between ROK, Japan and a third country (doesn't have to be the same country each time). I think the fields could be selected in a similar way to what the USGA did for the 2020 USWO.
If it happens, I hope they could pick some really top-notch courses that are not the same old tracks. There are some interesting choices in the 2020 article below for the top-100 non-USA golf courses ... I never heard of half these places. For instance, #9 is South Cape Owners Club on Namhae Island (the middle of nowhere). How about #13, Hirono GC in Hyogo, Japan ... called the Pine Valley of Japan after it was built - that I'd like to see! I would limit or completely avoid tourneys in China, which is NOT a real golf-loving country ... I don't care what anybody says to the contrary. Thailand and Taiwan would be much more deserving.
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Post by rlspore on Apr 15, 2021 2:51:40 GMT
If no Korean major, at least 2 events a year would be nice - Incheon and Busan, or Jeju. Fans would definitely come out in support in Korea, and I'm sure sponsors would jump at the chance to come on board too.
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 15, 2021 5:00:47 GMT
Who said anything about a sixth Major? I would definitely take one or two of the existing ones out before adding the Asian Major.
And since you asked, Evian and ANA. What better way to honor the memory of Dinah Shore than by replacing her Major with one in Asia? OK, that's not honoring her at all, but it's not like they honor her at the ANA anymore, anyways.
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