It’s time for the Presidents Cup to add LPGA players

When was the last time a top men’s golfer visited a Solheim Cup and cheered for the women?

I haven’t seen it lately. Does pie in the sky sound like an idea? Maybe, but a mixed Presidents Cup would at least have the potential on the American side to build that strong bond between the top male and female players, something the golf pros could use.

We saw that two weeks ago when a shirtless party got a number of top PGA Tour players engaged and mocking the Solheim Cup on social media. It felt so rare.

If I had my way, that interaction would be just the beginning—the best women in golf should be added to the Presidents Cup, turning the sleepy event into something worth watching as the men and women finally gather for a big match.

The Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup are often compared because they are the only time each year that America’s top men’s players face an opposing team in match play. Clearly, the history of the Ryder Cup and the strong identity of Team Europe have made it a more interesting watch when it faces the Presidents Cup. And it certainly helped to have a badass spirit coming from Seve Ballesteros to cement the Ryder Cup in more importance. Since 1979, when continental Europe joined the Ryder Cup, Team Europe has won the event 13 times, while Team USA has won nine.

In the 30 years of the President’s Cup, the USA has won 10 in a row and 13 of 15 played against the International Team (made up of players not from the US or Europe).

Last week, the Americans swept the international team once again. The United States went up 5-0 after the first day and eventually won 18.5-11.5. The event had (once again) a bit of intrigue.

For an event generally modeled after the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup just keeps missing the mark.

The international team has not won since 1998 as it holds an overall record of 1-12-1. Yes, the last two President’s Cups on foreign soil have been very close (16-14 in 2019 and 15.5-14.5 in 2015 in favor of the American side), but that’s not enough for me to overlook what can be done with the injection event. of LPGA talent.

Do golf executives want to raise the game? This is the perfect way to do it. Get young women from all over Asia, Australia, Canada, the USA and many other countries to watch the President’s Cups and dream about the possibilities of playing in it one day. Augusta National was wise to initiate the 2014 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at the course, and this year a new original entrant (Akshay Bhatia) made his Masters debut. It was the first time it had happened. Inspiration goes a long way.

Imagine what it would look like with a mixed event at the Presidents Cup, with six men and six women competing for each side. While the Tour, which owns the Presidents Cup, may not want to share the spotlight, they could use positive PR by upgrading their event into something much more interesting than it has been, while promoting women’s golf in a new way ( at a time when women’s golf sports are rapidly gaining popularity).

Stacy Lewis expressed her interest in adding some of the LPGA’s best to the Presidents Cup recently during Solheim Cup week.

“I’d like to see the Presidents Cup mixed,” Lewis said at her captain’s pre-tournament presser. “It’s the perfect way to combine two tours. The international team will improve very quickly.”

There is no doubt that adding women to the Presidents Cup would make it more competitive. The players ranked third to eighth in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking would play for the International Team – this includes red Lydia Ko, who successfully teamed with Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant’s Invitational Last year’s Thornton.

Currently, Hideki Matsuyama is the only International Team player ranked in the top 10 of the men’s rankings. Six players in the top eight, instead of just one, sounds appealing.

“I really think (the Presidents Cup mix) would be great for golf as a whole, not just any tournament,” Lewis told MyGolfSpy via email this week. “Our main goal should be to grow the game. Team events and mixed formats, like what we saw at the Olympics, are definitely the way to go. Plus, I’m sure the players would be excited to come together and make it happen.”

Young players would have another tangible event to aspire to play. Lewis also sees the value of these opportunities.

“I believe this could evolve into one of golf’s premier stages, featuring some of the toughest competition to break into,” she said in her email. “At the junior and youth levels, many kids are already competing alongside their male counterparts, so it only makes sense to carry that dynamic into professional sports.”

The Junior Ryder Cup has been a mixed event between young European and American players since its inception in 1997. Ko emphasized the importance of aspiring youngsters in her winning Grant Thornton Invitational partnership with Day last December.

“I hope that many young people who are either here or watching on TV will be inspired,” Ko said.

Another potential Presidents Cup pairing is Corey Conners and Brooke Henderson, who finished in second place that week. Conners was happy to join his fellow Canadian.

“It was a fulfilling week to be able to team up with Brooke,” Conners told MyGolfSpy this summer. “Brooke was such a pleasure to spend time with that week and we really enjoyed the experience.”

He told the media that week when he finished that he hoped for more mixed events in the future. “Yes, after my experience this week, I would like to see more events added where Tour players can play alongside LPGA Tour players. They are so impressive. It was a lot of fun this week. We hope this leads to more in the future.”

What would a mixed Presidents Cup look like? Well, it would only make sense to keep it in the current 12 player structure and have six spots for the men and six spots for the women. This kind of small size would make it very difficult to win your way into teams, which gives it a bigger feel and increases the competition that comes even more.

The addition of the game’s top US women and international teams would add to the intrigue. It would also open a door for some good old trash talk stories between men and women.

Remember the story in Annika Sorenstam’s prime when she won the 2005 LPGA Championship (now the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) and then texted Tiger Woods that night to say where their championship lead stood (tied 9-9) )?

Women getting the chance to play in Presidents Cups will add this kind of fun bonding and rivalry between the players. It might even spark some banter between the men and women on opposing teams. Professional golf needs more connections and playful digs like this, especially among players from the LPGA and PGA tours.

But here’s a critical part: If you add women to the mix, the decision would be felt not just during the event, but year-round on social media and within player relations between PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars. These relationships would strengthen overnight. Just think of all the fun team meetings and dinners new LPGA players get to attend throughout the season. Some of the social media posts from those dinners would be funny, real, entertaining and just the injection of life the Presidents Cup needs.

This was one such fun prank started during Solheim Cup week when Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, Joel Dahmen and other male players participated in the shirtless caddy party during the second day of the Solheim Cup. The inside jokes and social media backlash in the run-up to these events would only increase.

So let’s give it a shot. Give fans a new Presidents Cup.

Image caption: The Presidents Cup could add some juice by bringing golf’s best women into the mix. (GETTY IMAGES/Douglas P. DeFelice)

Post It’s time for the Presidents Cup to add LPGA players appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Source link