Should Wie be playing on the PGA?

I'm all for her playing 1 tournament a year, but i think , unless she qualifies, its highly unfair on the men that are trying to make a living on the tour that are probably better than her.

Once she has proved herself on the womens tour and beaten them, then she should have the chance to qualify for PGA tour events because some women on the LPGA may feel they deserve a chance instead. Sony just want to make money through the publicity.

What are your thoughts?

To start, Wie is a sponsor's exemption, so she is not taking anyone's spot.

As for women playing in the PGA, it's the same old arguement as last year with Annika. The women have their own league that men are not allowed to participate in, so does that mean that women should not be allowed to play in the 'men's' league? Or isn't the PGA the place for the best 'golfer's' in the world, so why can't women play?

Just as last year with Annika, this is a publicity event. It can do nothing but good for the PGA, LPGA and Michelle Wie. People will watch the Sony Open to see Wie compete against the men. If they are impressed by her play, which they will be, they may watch her on the LPGA. If they follow her career, they will buy her line of clothing, clubs, etc.

It's not like there is a woman being exempt every tournament, so who cares? The women who are good enough to compete in the PGA know they can make WAY more money on the LPGA than on the PGA because they can win tourney's frequently on the Ladies tour, where as they would frequently miss the cut on the PGA. I'm not saying they couldn't win a PGA event, just not as good of a chance because of a MUCH stronger field on the PGA tour.

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Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

These kind of questions are of the same flavour as 'should professional athletes be participating in the Olympics?'

The answer is what does the league/organization claim? Is the PGA the best men, or the best club swinging humans? Are the Olympics the best amateurs, or the best in the world?

So then, assuming that each sport is about the best human playing, then we need to dismantle the LPGA, the WNBA and any other 'womens' league, and we need to integrate the women into our existing leagues - both at the pro level and farm team/qualifying level as required by ability.

However, back in the real world, the discriminating, sexist, racist real world, women competing in mens' leagues are merely novelties at this point (Hayley Wickenheiser, Michelle and Annika, Manon Rheaume). While they are good enough to play with the bulk of their male contemporaries, as Gord has pointed out, they are not superstar ready or capable. I don't think Michelle or Annika would be in the top 10 in the PGA, just as Wickenheiser isn't lighting the lamp as often as the top 10 scorers in Europe.

But the question, I guess, is SHOULD she be playing? And so my answer is if she chooses to, and the PGA chooses to allow her, yes.

For all of those who don't get the Wickenheiser and Rheaume references, they are female hockey players who have made attempts at playing at the men's professional level... Rheaume was invited to the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) training camp back in the 90's as a publicity stunt. Wickenheiser is the best female hockey player in the world right now and two years ago now played in Finland in a pro league there. Last year the team moved up one tier and her ice time was cut considerably (and the level of play was much better) and she quit (about a year ago now) and moved back to Calgary to be with her family.

To get back to golf, I would compare Wie in the PGA similar to Tampa's move of inviting Rheaume to training camp. Strictly a publicity stunt to get press time. Also, both were very young, and just starting to show what they are capable of, but by no means proven in their sport.

Annika could much compare to the Wickenheiser situation. Annika has dominated women's golf just as Hayley has dominated women's hockey. Hayley went to the men's pro league to better herself and get a prospective of where her game was versus the men. Annika has said she was interested about where she would finish vs the men and she said afterwards that she picked up very valuable lessons playing those two days that will help her futher her skills.

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Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

I enjoyed watching her compete, but I do think it should be a one time a year thing. I really wanted to see her make the cut and play for a couple of more days. She is an amazing talent and will dominate the LPGA when she turns pro.

Sorry Gord, she is taking a spot, if the spot exists at all then it should go to a PGA pro, not be used as a shameless media circus for Sony.

If she's entitled why dont we have a media friendly young male phenom (that young guy that Jim Flick teaches, Phillip Francis, comes to mind) playing in one of the womens events on the same week? I think we all know the answer to that one. Theres no media mileage in it and no male golfer in his right mind would agree to it because it's a no win situation for them, if they win it's expected, if they do badly they are the laughing stock of the tour. I have absolutely no problem with women being allowed to play in mens competitions. If they are good enough they should be there. If Annika Sorenstam is the best player in the world, male or female as has been suggested, then she should be allowed to prove it. Let her enter the US Open and see how far she gets, personally I would love to see her do well just as I love to see real amateurs (as opposed to college players who havent really been amateurs since they started college) do well in The US and British Opens.

The thing about Wie is that despite her undoubted talent there are still girls out there in the amateur ranks that can beat her on any given day (so how she will dominate the LPGA Tour just by turning up I'm not sure, myates). None of these girls can thrash the ball 300 yards yet they can still best her. Michelle is already in danger of becoming a bit of a media freak show like John Daly, just watch the huge drives, never mind that there are players out there who can putt and chip her off the course. Does anyone else remember what happened to Jennifer Capriati?

The real argument here isnt if Michelle Wie should be able to play in the PGA Tour, but whether women pro's in general should be able to play. I think that qualifying should be opened to any and all only then will the issue be resolved. I can't imagine that any LPGA players want to play on the men's tour in preference to their own. They have a great tour that is slowly gaining audiences and increased revenue every year. The lack of depth of quality that used to be brought to attention is no longer so stark, more and more good young female pro's are coming through. Neither the LPGA tour or the members of that tour would sacrifice this to be bit players on the mens tour as Gord rightly points out.