The LPGA could have gotten a big boost through some simple measures during the “The Match II” and the TaylorMade Driving Relief events.
Let’s start with this: I enjoyed every minute of “The Match II.”
Listened to every word. Watched every shot. High-fived my husband twice on the couch and neither of us cared who won. The golf was both relatable and exceptional. The broadcasters were fresh, funny and their input was beautifully timed. Golf needs as much of Sir Charles in the booth as it can get.
And I haven’t even mentioned the charity component. An afternoon broadcast that produced that much fun for a sports-starved nation and $20 million to help those in need?
Outstanding.
How can there be downside to two Sundays of golf taking center stage and raising mega-money for COVID-19 relief?
Well, there is no a downside, but it could’ve been more. As LPGA player Mel Reid tweeted during the TaylorMade Driving Relief Challenge, the broadcasts could’ve represented all of golf.
They could’ve included women.
Between both charity matches, Amanda Balionis was the only female involved in the telecasts, working as an on-course reporter in The Match. To be fair, The Match was in the works well before the COVID-19 crisis. The all-star cast of Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Peyton Manning drew an average of 5.8 million viewers on Sunday, making it the most-watched combined golf telecast on cable television.
NFL quarterback Russell Wilson came on the broadcast and donated 300,000 meals during a memorable par-3 segment in which Woods hit the worst shot.
It would’ve been great to see an LPGA player and her sponsorship partners get in on the action in a similar fashion.
The TaylorMade event could’ve been a mixed-team format. Maria Fassi and Paula Creamer are both in Florida. Some of TaylorMade’s female stars could’ve also called in during the broadcast as Jon Rahm did. Staffers who could’ve called in include Natalie Gulbis, Muni He and Charley Hull. Sung Hyun Park, who speaks limited English, was involved in a charity exhibition in South Korea with current No. 1 Jin Young Ko. Women’s golf frequently takes center stage in that part of the world.
England’s Reid, a three-time Solheim Cup participant, got hammered on social media for pointing out a missed opportunity. To the extent that she posted a follow-up tweet that said her words had been taken out of context.
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People ask: “Why don’t the women just have their own event?”
It takes money to raise money. And it’s obvious to everyone that the men command more viewers and sponsorship dollars. Why not take the opportunity to help lift the women’s game in the process by introducing LPGA stars in a relaxed environment? Bring them alongside the men and celebrate both.
LPGA pro-ams have long been the bread-and-butter of the tour. The women, in particular, excel in this area of entertainment. Let them banter with the men. Let them show off skills that are so often overlooked.
Women can trash talk too. And quite frankly, the first match at Seminole could’ve used some personality.
There hasn’t been a mixed-team event on the LPGA and PGA Tours since 1999, a format that should’ve been resurrected ages ago. The back-to-back U.S. Opens at Pinehurst in 2014 were a rousing success, and Michelle Wie’s victory upstaged the men in every way possible. But there’s no sign of that happening again anytime soon.
So often it feels as though female athletes are an afterthought, if they are thought of at all.
Why can’t backers look at female golfers as added value to a broadcast? If equality is important to corporate America, then why doesn’t that extend to sponsorship and marketing dollars?
As LPGA commissioner Mike Whan says, “live your values.”
“If you’re going to say something is a value, it has to be involved in everything you do,” Whan said last year at the season-ending event in Naples, Florida. “I’ve had this conversation with a lot of CEOs. Some like it and some hate it, which is – don’t call it a value statement unless you’re going to hold that mirror up to everything.”
In my personal circle, female sports fans who don’t watch golf at all, tuned into “The Match II” and loved it. With limited competition from other sports on the table right now, it’s an ideal time to showcase players from a women’s organization that turned 70 this year.
Reid wasn’t trying to take away from the charitable cause. She was trying to point out ways to make it better. Representation matters. When male players praise the talents of female players (which would inevitably happen in such an event), it matters.
People often ask, why do women have to make it a gender thing?
We’ll stop asking – where are the women? – when the question no longer needs to be asked.
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