The LPGA Tour “could be on the verge of a breakout season attention-wise after swimming against the tide for several years,” according to Ron Sirak of GOLF DIGEST. The RR Donnelley Founders Cup begins today in Phoenix and the tour will play tournaments “three weeks in a row, culminating with the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first major of the year.” And “all three events, next week's Kia Classic included, will be live on Golf Channel.” Sirak wrote the “clouds are lifting.” The LPGA “has a legitimate star” in 23-year-old Yani Tseng, who “won seven LPGA events last year, five more times on other tours and already has five major championships.” Rookie Lexi Thompson, the “latest can't-miss American,” turned 17 last month and “became the youngest-ever LPGA winner last year at the Navistar LPGA Classic and proved that was no fluke when she won the Dubai Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour later in the year.” The victory by 18-year-old Jessica Korda to start this season “is further affirmation that the LPGA has a new wave of talent coming along.” There could also be “no more appropriate event to kick off the American portion of the LPGA schedule than the Founders Cup.” The event last year was “played without a purse, with the top-10 finishers getting money to give to their favorite charities.” Donnelley officials were “thrilled with the success of the tournament and this year $1.5 million is up for grabs” (GOLFDIGEST.com, 3/14). GOLFCHANNEL.com’s Tom Abbott wrote there is “certainly a sense this week that the LPGA has turned the corner.” Commissioner Mike Whan has “settled into his role, building a solid backroom staff who have been instrumental in adding new events in Hawaii, Canada and Virginia.” The tour has a “worldwide star in Tseng, whose talent seems endless,” and she is “grasping the English language and is working hard to build her profile in the U.S.” Golfer Michelle Wie “still has the ‘x-factor’ that draws galleries, television viewers and new fans to the LPGA, but her presence on the tour is slowly dwindling.” Wie finishes her studies at Stanford this month and with college “behind her, she has the chance this year to right the ship” (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 3/14).
GETTING THE WORD OUT: Whan said of marketing around Tseng this season, “The most important thing we’re doing this year with Yani is just kind of opening the floodgates. She does so much off the course. Sometimes I worry -- I’ve talked to her and her agent about it -- we don’t want to overwhelm her with all the different media opportunities.” He added, “We kind of get out of her way. She loves it. She really embraces being No. 1. It’s a tough task” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 3/14). Tuesday’s edition of PBS’ “Nightly Business Report” profiled Thompson, with PBS’ Susie Gharib noting, “You may not know her name, but she could be the next big thing to hit the golfing world.” Thompson is sponsored by Cobra, Puma, Red Bull and Rolex and she said of taking her brand global, “It’s important to be known around the world. You can’t be just known in one spot. I just came back from Australia and Thailand so I’m all over. I love travelling just to see different cultures and different people” (“NBR,” PBS, 3/13).
