In 2003, Australian LPGA sexpot Jan Stephenson made the now infamous comment to Golf Magazine that "Asians are killing our tour [with] their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English." 

Now-ousted LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens saw the value in players learning some proficiency in English.  She tried to create a program that created English proficiency requirements for players within two years of being on the LPGA Tour so as to create better relationships between players, fans, and - most importantly - sponsors.

Ultimately, the whirlwind that surrounded how that was announced to players, communicated through the press, and interpretted by fans made the program impossible to keep.  Ironically, Eun Hee Ji's victory comments to NBC Sports' Roger Maltbie on Sunday - the eve before Bivens' resignation - re-confirmed that the language barrier in women's golf is prominent and meaningful.

Still, Stephenson's notion that Asian golfers are doing measurable harm to the LPGA Tour by winning and their struggles to grasp a really tough language and culture has been taken personally by players of Korean descent.  In fact, so much so, that many of the Korean players are now embarking on their own PR campaign to try to give back to the American communities in which they play.

Amy Ellis-Nutt details the work in the Newark Star-Ledger:

Il Mi Chung and Inbee Park, last week's defending U.S. Women's Open champion, helped clean the 14-bedroom [Ronald McDonald] house [in Toledo, OH], which is used by families of cancer-stricken children undergoing medical treatment.  Every one of the 47 LPGA Korean pros donated money, eventually presenting the Ronald McDonald House with a check for $13,570.

Last week, half of the eight players who volunteered to sign autographs for U.S. Open volunteers, were Korean. And recently nine LPGA players, including several Koreans, helped to build a house as part of a charity event for Habitat for Humanity.

Of course, the story also features some personal tidbits about the Asian players and their effusive personalities that are often unnoticed by fans.  Perhaps this quote from Yani Tseng helps explain why:

"I feel like I grow up too fast. Everything, I didn't expect," she said. "It's hard to make this big step, to have fun more like Americans. For Asians it's hard."

But, it appears that Asian players are trying to chip away at that cultural barrier and the image that they lack emotion and personality.  My question, then, is why we don't hear about this stuff more often.