Will Mark Purdy of The Mercury-Times please pick up the white courtesy phone
by Bill Jempty
on Oct 5, 2008 7:58 PM EDT
He writes today -
Lately, our favorite sports have dialed up a bunch of international area codes. And this is a good thing. Right?
In basketball, three of the past four NBA Most Valuable Player awards have gone to non-Americans. People cheered. In baseball, four of the past seven American League MVPs have been foreign-born. People applauded.
It is puzzling, then, why the recent flood of talented South Korean players onto the women's pro golf tour has wound up raising such a ruckus. The trend is on full display at the Samsung World Championship that ends today in Half Moon Bay, where nine competitors in the elite 20-woman field are South Koreans.
Lets count the South Koreans in the Samsung field.
- Na Yeon Choi
- Seon Hwa Lee
- Inbee Park
- Ji-Yai Shin
- Hee-Won Han
- Jeong Jang
- Eun-Hee Ji
- Song-Hee Kim
I count eight. Who is Purdy mistakenly counting? Angela Park. Will golf writers finally get the memo that Angela is a Naturalized US citizen of Korean heritage but born in Brazil. She's only been to South Korea to compete on the LPGA Tour and for vacation.
If that qualifies Park as South Korean, I'm Polish because I got a tiny bit of Polish ancestry and my wife and I went there on vacation in 2000. Let me note also that NBC put the total at 8 during Sunday's broadcast.
Mick Elliott of the Tampa Tribune made the same mistake last summer. I'll be nice to Mark and not give him my Knucklehead award. (Elliott won it)
All nine players earned their invitations the hard way — through their 2008 performances. Two of them, Song-Hee Kim and Ji-Yai Shin, are in the top six entering today's final round, within three shots of the lead. Kim and Shin did that the right way, too — by playing good golf in the weird and changeable, wet and windy coastal conditions.
At least 18 of the 20 women in the Samsung, not just the South Koreans, qualified 'the hard way' through their 2008 performance. Defending champ Lorena Ochoa is one possible exemption, though LPGA.com shows her qualifying through her 2008 play. Juli Inkster got a special invite.
The last sentence is dumb sounding also. I mean, all players try playing good golf. Don't they?
Maybe I should give Purdy a Knucklehead award.
FanPosts are written by Waggle Room members. Viewpoints expressed do not necessarily reflect those of WaggleRoom.com and its editor, Ryan Ballengee. The Waggle Room member whose byline appears with the FanPost is solely responsible for its content.
0 recs |
1
comments
Email
PrintComments
don't hold your breath
most of the golf media doesn’t put in the effort to get details like that right – especially on players who haven’t won majors or any regular tour event. her name is Park – she is of Korean extract – close enough for journalism. (sorry to say)
Michelle Wie has gotten similar treatment because of her heritage – not as much, of course, because she is the golden girl – but it does happen.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Oct 6, 2008 10:32 AM EDT 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
New FanPost
