LPGA requirements

The LPGA yesterday created a rule where only English would be spoken on the tour by its players to improve communication among sponsors, players, and fans. If one peruses the weekend paper and happens to look at the LPGA boxscore. The names will be Oh, Kim, Cho, Park in the lead. Michelle Wie will not be there. The LPGA is being overrun by Korean players like baseball was overrun by Dominicans in the 90's.

This is a bad move by the LPGA, because it cuts at the psyche of Korean nationalism. I noted previously in January 2006 while in Seoul, I came across the Emperor Ahn (An) museum on Namsan mountain. Ahn believed that learning another language enslaved a person to the language. This is the national story that could be playing in the heads of those Korean athletes and what does it say.

However, there is also this realization that the LPGA needs its players to be able to communicate on the green after a victory coming from the Korean players. If the Korean players are willing to invest energy in learning the language I think the tour will be dominated by the Korean players even more so. Perhaps, the LPGA sees this already at work that the US players are on the decline.

If the Korean players are truly not concerned about learning English then I really can't object. It they see learning English as a means of enlarging the sport then great. My feathers ruffle a bit with language requirements, but perhaps they understand more as an outsider than I do as insider.