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I’m sure there are a few. While my 5 yr old son Clayton is partial to the Tiger (daddy no longer ranks as the world’s best golfer), my 21 month old daughter jumps up and down shouting "AUNKA! AUNKA!" whenever Ms. Soremstam is on television. And my daughter’s name? Annika, of course. :-) Regards, Mark
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Money, shmoney! I know who I’d rather kiss! Kevin
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| Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of | success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? | | Eldrick Woods, however great he may be [and he is], still has a distance | to go to parallel her recent achievements. | | I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even | I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from | the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? | | She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot | better were it not for the double standard. It’s not a double standard, it is simply a matter of companies putting their advertising dollars where they think it will do the most good. The fact is that women’s golf does not have the drawing power that the PGA does, let alone the PGA when Tiger is playing. Typical ratings for the LPGA majors usually ranks up there with a "normal" PGA tour event and are about half (or less) the ratings of the PGA majors. Tiger Woods has also shown (at least in his short stint so far on the PGA tour) that he can have a dramatic impact on TV ratings. Corporations know this and they invest their dollars accordingly. When the LPGA draws the same interest that the PGA Tour does, the corporate dollars will follow. Regards, Terry
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| I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even | I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from | the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? No. But neither did anyone else in the PGA. Nick
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yes.. I agree she is the VERYTHING about womens golf. A lot of class… and what golf should be… A lot of men should consider watching her to learn and learn on how golf is played… (Not just physically). Annika rules…she is the best and will always be the best….
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Can she shoot a 59 at Augusta and consistently drive 300+ yards with accuracy? No? Then maybe there’s no double standard
Ah…but Tiger DIDN’T shoot a 59 at Augusta!! He shot a 59 at his home course in Orlando the week PRIOR to the Masters. Get your facts straight. Susan — | Susan Hanson | | "Hell, I don’t need to know where the green is; | | where’s the golf course?" | | –Babe Ruth, playing Pine Valley |
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Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? … She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard.
I’ve seen two arguments in the replies to you that justify the "double standard" eminently well: 1. The logical/sports argument. 2. The money/value argument. THE LOGICAL/SPORTS ARGUMENT: It was decided (at least in the USA) decades ago that "separate but equal" is not equal. I think that applies here. As long as the men and women are playing separately, rather than competing against one another for the same prize, they are not playing the same game. If they are not playing the same game, then there’s no logic that says the prize money should be similar. When Annika is prepared to play against Tiger week after week for the same prize, then the "double standard" will vanish. Until then, the fact that she doesn’t suggests that it isn’t interesting to talk about a "double standard." THE MONEY/VALUE ARGUMENT: The money (both prizes and endorsements) in pro sports — ANY pro sports — is put up by sponsors. Those sponsors aren’t being charitable; they expect value in return. They are buying an audience to whom they can present their advertising message. They measure the value of their sponsorship in terms of exposure to the message and increased sales. If the TV audience for womens golf is smaller than that for men’s golf, then the purses and endorsements will be smaller because there isn’t as much audience to sell to the sponsor. If putting Nike shoes visibly on Tiger will sell 10 million pair of Nike shoes, and putting Nike shoes visibly on Annika will sell 1 million pair of Nike shoes, then there’s a good commercial reason Tiger gets ten times as much in endorsements. Personally, if we are really interested in eliminating the double standard, I think we should be looking harder at high school and college sports. Put much more emphasis on intramurals (make minimums required, and for both genders), and take away emphasis on varsity sports. This might raise interest and awareness (1) OF women’s sports, and (2) BY women about sports. The result might be a bigger audience and more competitive female athletes. But, at least in the US, this isn’t likely to happen. I recently saw an election ad for a local school budget; it threatened which programs were going to be cut if the budget wasn’t passed. There were lots of academic and school maintenance programs on the block, but absolutely nothing connected with the varsity team. Apalling! Just the way I see it. Dave
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Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? Eldrick Woods, however great he may be [and he is], still has a distance to go to parallel her recent achievements. I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard.
The reason why Annika Sorenstam doesn’t have a $50 million dollar endorsement is because she’s not someone who stands out. Sure she’s a great golfer and all but most of the women on the LPGA all play at the same level of skill. There’s not one golfer on the LPGA that can blow away the field in an event let alone a Grand Slam. That’s what people want to see. Also as someone already mentioned, Woods is a minority of two races so that makes it even more interesting. One other reason is that he is the type of person that can make thousands of people who have never even thought twice about the sport of golf to start playing it. That’s why Tiger Woods has such a contract. People are willing to buy things the Woods uses or wears just because they want to be like him. Does anybody want to be like Annika? I don’t think so. Besides, women’s golf is very boring to watch. If it wasn’t, then don’t you think it would be televised more often? L8R SapSucker! Andy Hua / Carleton University / "Go to Heaven, Biochemistry / ski like Hell!"
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I mostly watch the PGA ,but some of those women can sure swing theclubs
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She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard. Hjalmar
In every sport the viewership speaks volumes. Though there may be a double standard, that standard is set by the masses, not by sponsors or tournament organisers, which I felt you might have gently implied in your post. It just the reality of the sporting world in the 20th Century, and it’ll be hard to forsee changes in it until perhaps women and men compete in the same events, which could start in event like uhm… darts, curling, snooker and bowling (ie. quasi-sports, where physical strength isn’t an overwhelming requirement, and the playing field is, in effect, level. I’m not being sexist here, its just the way physical sports are going to be. But I guess its not for me to judge… local junior girls are outdriving me… 
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Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? Eldrick Woods, however great he may be [and he is], still has a distance to go to parallel her recent achievements. I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard.
Can she shoot a 59 at Augusta and consistently drive 300+ yards with accuracy? No? Then maybe there’s no double standard – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hjalmar
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? Eldrick Woods, however great he may be [and he is], still has a distance to go to parallel her recent achievements. I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard. Hjalmar
Hjalmer: If we are going to talk about double standards between male and female golfers, I think we should also looke at the doube standard between Tiger and other PGA players. Why should Tiger make more money from endorsements than Norman, Faldo, Price, and etc? They should sit out in protest from all tournies until they make what Tiger makes, right? Of course we would not want that, and PGA players know that Tiger isn’t taking a larger piece of the pie, but making the pie bigger for everyone. I’ve heard every pro-golfer say this about Tiger: he is bringing more interest into golf not only from new golfers, but from corporations as well and the PGA Tour and its players will benefit from it. On the issue of female golfers making less than male counterparts, I believe Tiger and his presence will benefit the LPGA as well. Tiger isn’t just inspiring the future stars of PGA Tour, but LPGA Tour as well. A niece of mine admires Tiger Woods and actually wants to go out to the range and practice with her father. There is inequality between PGA and LPGA Tour, but we can’t fault Tiger Woods because he received a fat check from Nike. If we truly want to remove the double standard between female and male golfers, we need to teach our children the same. Frank
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Annika didn’t get a $50m dollar contract because no one watches womens golf. Is to boring, slow moving, and there is no one who really dominates. Tiger got the money because he is an ethnic minority, and because in mens golf, it was always the select few who won tournaments, they wanted and needed someone who was outside of the inner circle, someone who wasn’t born with a silver sppon in his mouth. plus Annika is foreign. I’m not saying that its right, its just the way it is. brian "I’m not stupid, I just have command over thoroughly useless information." Clavin and Hobbes
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Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to watch her play! She has a great game. Your thoughts?
I absolutely agree! I could watch her all day!
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Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to watch her play! She has a great game. Your thoughts? I absolutely agree! I could watch her all day!
Annika rules! Actually, I do like watching the LPGA tourneys a lot. The ladies swing so smoooothly! Fernando Ma Materials science & engineering University of Arizona http://bigdog.engr.arizona.edu/~ma "A team of individuals does not win, but a team of teams, uh, of a group, uh, a team of players is a winning team. Oh, you know what I mean." -Bennett Davison, UA Basketball player
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I’d carry her bag anywhere! Kevin
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<< Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to watch her play! She has a great game. Your thoughts? I absolutely agree! I could watch her all day! Annika Sorenstam is a better golfer than Tiger Woods. For those who disagree, length isnt the only measure of a good golfer. Rob
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: Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to : watch her play! She has a great game. : : Your thoughts? : I am a huge Annika fan… I love her game. Her swing is so beautiful. I am constantly impressed with the top womens golfers, with the exception of Davies, most are not as strong as your average top mens golfer. Not being able to muscle the club on the correct swing path forces the women to have PERFECT swings. And they do. They squeeze every last bit out of their game and swing, the tempo and rythm is so good on most of them its almost hypnotic. I wish my swing was even close to how good Annika’s is. chopper
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: : Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to : watch her play! She has a great game. : : Your thoughts? : : I absolutely agree! I could watch her all day! : : Annika rules! Actually, I do like watching the LPGA tourneys a lot. The : ladies swing so smoooothly! i love annika! she broke my heart when she got married! <sniff — see why?….(fashionably late) -"i’m late, i’m late, for a very important date! — yes, a date with tfn to finally change my sig!" -me and disney
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Is there a male golfer on the PGA tour who has reached the level of success that Annika Sorenstam has displayed in the LPGA ? Eldrick Woods, however great he may be [and he is], still has a distance to go to parallel her recent achievements. I’m no feminist (in its modern, political form) – far from it – but even I can see the blatant double standard that separates the men’s tour from the women’s tour. Did Annika get a $50M endorsement contract ? She’s probably doing quite well financially, but she’d be doing a lot better were it not for the double standard. Hjalmar
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Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to watch her play! She has a great game. Your thoughts?
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Womens golf may not be as big a draw as the PGA but I still love to watch her play! She has a great game. Your thoughts?
Annika is good…but I’m a DOTTIE fan! Susan — | Susan Hanson | | "Hell, I don’t need to know where the green is; | | where’s the golf course?" | | –Babe Ruth, playing Pine Valley |
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the only times that i will watch womens golf is when i know that they will be showing her playing. she is the most dominant female golfer that i have seen play. i am a huge fan and wish her the best in the future.