Following Brooke Henderson this week successfully petitioning the LPGA for full membership prior to turning 18, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said he "gets numerous requests each year to waive" the tour's age limit. He said, "Generally speaking, I probably turn down 98 per cent of them.'" Whan: "There are a lot of people all over the world who say they’re ready for the LPGA now. I’m not going to say I’m 100 per cent right in my decisions. But I look at their resume, their maturity, the team that’s built around them and ask: 1) Are they ready? and 2) Is this really the only place they could go to build their game? I don’t want a player's greatest golf experiences to be between the ages of 12 and 16" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 8/20).
HEAR HIM ROAR? Tiger Woods finished his first round this morning at the Wyndham Championship at -6, good for fifth place at presstime. Woods needs to finish this weekend no worse than second place to make the FedExCup Playoffs, and ESPN's "PTI" wondered if it would be better for the PGA Tour if Woods did not qualify. ESPN's Michael Wilbon said, "The game of golf still can't afford for Tiger, and Phil for that matter, to not be relevant.” But the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan said, “It's time to cut the cord, and we’re starting to do it. ... These young kids have changed the landscape. We had to do it sooner or later, and it's happening” ("PTI," ESPN, 8/19).
ALLIED FORCES: USA TODAY's Scott Gleeson reports Athlete Ally Founder & Exec Dir Hudson Taylor, whose non-profit is dedicated to eliminating homophobia in sports, joined former NBAer Jason Collins at last week's NBA's Rookie Transition Program, where they jointly "spoke to freshly-drafted NBA rookies about how powerful their voice can be." Collins said that it is "vital for the education process to start early." The Rookie Transition Program, which started in '86, "is the longest running support system in professional sports" (USA TODAY, 8/20).
MIXED BAG: In Columbus, Michael Arace writes MLS "is better" because of designated players like NYC FC MFs Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo and F David Villa, who have won a combined 12 European league titles and "are cashing in, big time, in the twilight of their careers." But the league also is "improving by the day" because of players like Crew MF Wil Trapp, who came through the club's academy, and F Kei Kamara, who moved from Sierra Leone to the U.S. as a teenager, played collegiately and went through the MLS Superdraft process (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 8/20).
