Shin back on top
During a week filled with miserable — and almost comical — weather and poor management decisions, Jiyai Shin shined on her way to a record nine-shot win at Royal Liverpool Club in Hoylake, England, to capture her second Women’s British Open title. I’m not sure what’s most mind-blowing and inspiring — the margin of victory; winning the LPGA tourney in a nine-hole playoff against Paula Creamer on the other side of the Atlantic less than a week before; missing two months this summer after enduring hand surgery.
Um, all of the above?
Shin’s victory completed the “2012 Asian Grand Slam.” Fellow South Koreans, Sun Young Yoo and Na Yeon Choi, captured the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open, respectively, and China’s Shanshan Feng won the LPGA Championship.
This will spark some borderline racist (or simply racist because often people unintentionally make bigoted comments without realizing it) commentary about the Asian Grand Slam being “good or bad” for the LPGA.
Sorry, I’m late for an appointment, but I’ll update this post later with my some more of my thoughts. Interested in the initial reaction/discussion…TBD.
(AP Photo/Jon Super)
By my count, the field combined to shoot 7 rounds in the 60s.
It is what it is. Four tournaments and four winners. Everyone trying to win it for themselves. If they can’t win it they would like to see their friends be successful. I don’t know if there is a collective feeling of community in Asia. Lot of history there. I believe the Koreans feel proud of their three major winners but I don’t know if it is sweeter for them that Shanshan Feng won the LPGA Championship than say Paula Creamer or Suzann Pettersen. But golf went through this nonsense with the “Chubby Slam.”
We learned that resting and hanging out the week before a major may be overrated. Noticed that players who played well the week before the WBO continued to play well. Shin (1st @ Kingsmill), Park (2nd @ JLPGA), Creamer (2nd @ KIngsmill), and Ryu (1st @ KLPGA) all played a continent away last week and topped the leaderboard.
Personally, I love it when the best players win, period. For every Champion’s tour event I’ve watched, I’ve watched at least 6 LPGA events. I have my favorites ( Stacy Lewis for one), but I really just want to see good golf. It no doubt helps the tour when a woman with personality wins, instead of someone without one. I’m positive that there are ‘fans’ who only want to see Americans ( or Caucasians for that matter) win. But, I just don’t see the LPGA’s fan base as being full of those people. The marketing angle is a whole nother’ pile of laundry though. JiYai Shin reminds me of Cory Pavin for some reason, and how many companies jumped on the Cory Pavin bandwagon? (Cleveland VAS irons anyone?). The LPGA is already a tour that struggles for media time and Asian players dominating isn’t new. The LPGA struggled when there wasn’t any Asians on tour as well. The only comparable example in another sport that I can come up with is hockey. I think interest in the NHL flagged when it wasn’t just Canadian and American born players anymore. But, the core stayed strong. Because good hockey is good hockey, even if you cannot pronounce a player’s last name. The same interest level (I hope) hold true for golf. At least it does for me.
Royal Liverpool and the conditions smashed the entire LPGA and LEt tours with the exception of Shin. Going 9 under when nobody else broke par has to be one of the best tournament performances ever. As for the Asian nonsense I wonder if it would be different if the LPGA knew how to market better it wouldn’t be an issue. At least with the fans, the media is a different story, as ESPN and the Golf Channel prove on a consitant basis. The LPGA really dropped the ball when Yani was dominating, she has a great personality that I think everyone would appreciate but nobody knows who she is. This may be sexist but it probably wouldn’t hurt if instead of Yoo, Feng, and Shin, the major winners were I.K, Kim (little and cute), So Yeon Ryu (hot), and Wie who is actually well known.
There is a difference between professional golf and American Idol. The winners aren’t determined by text message voting. Jiyai Shin is known for her beautiful swing, not for having a beautiful body. But she is winning, has an interesting back story, and plays golf with a very positive mind set without giving us the bitter bee face whenever she hits a bad shot or a put lips out. And GC will instead give more attention to Jungle Bird than to the winner of the WBO.
Would GC write more positive stories about the LPGA if hotter Koreans won. I haven’t seen it yet. What about if Paula Creamer won? Yes. And would she likely register more with the American golf public. Yes. And if “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts… But Paula hasn’t won for over two years. Neither has Michelle Wie. And with the exception of Stacy Lewis, no American has won more than once. Look at the final results. GC needs to be more positive about the people who will likely fill their leaderboards on Sunday. Asians, Americans, and even the occasional European.
G or B ? …Who cares! Chicks playing golf – it really doesnt any better than that
Shin is truly the Smiling Assasin (time for Shigeki Maruyama to forfeit the moniker since he has disappeared).
It was great to see Shin smiling during they playoff last week against Creamer to looked like she was having a miserable time. I think the golf gods chose their winner long before the playoff was done and then consumated their favorite choice with the runaway victory at the British.
What the delightful Jiyai Shin has done the past couple of weeks, in spite of being one of the shorter hitters on the LPGA Tour, is nearly miraculous. Her tempo on every shot is sublime. A lot of men would benefit from watching her play, especially in person.
I think most people prefer to watch better looking athletes. It’s just human nature. You can’t tell me that if Ricky Fowler and, say, Jason Dufner were battling in a final group, that more people wouldn’t pull for cover boy Fowler. It’s just the way it is.
Great win by Shin! Maybe( probably?) sponsorship and viewer numbers would be up if Creamer won more often. That really is the crux of the matter.
For me I love the LPGA as it is and only wish for more televised events.
@sports medic asked: is there a collective feeling of community in Asia?
Very, very little. There been a lot of bad blood over the years that involved wars, occupations, and hundreds of thousands of people getting killed. Not to mention some really nasty disputes over land that are currently taking place (Korea vs Japan @ Dokdo Island/Takeshima Island and China vs Japan @ Diaoyu Islands/Senkaku Islands).
The Asians are dominating the women’s events but they’re still very competitive fields. Plenty of other top players are pushing them all the way but just haven’t been able to quite get there.
Now that the Tour Championship is upon us, I’m guessing the chance of Stephanie coming back and updating this article with her thoughts are pretty slim now. Was interested in what she might have to say.