End of 2009 much better than start for the LPGA

As more than 130 players begin play this week at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage in an effort to join the 2010 LPGA Tour, those players all have to be wondering just what kind of tour they could join next year.
It has seemed like a summer full of bad news for the women's golf tour, from canceled tournaments to the resignation of its commissioner. The only thing that has seemed certain is that the 2010 LPGA will be smaller in purses and in total tournaments than the 2009 tour.
But there have been some glimmers of hope for the women's tour in the last few weeks, and any good news is certainly welcome on the LPGA these days.
The most recent good news came this week when Rolex was named the presenting sponsor for the LPGA Tour Championship in Houston. That tournament had been without sponsorship since Stanford Financial backed out in part because of an ongoing federal investigation into that company. Rolex is no stranger to golf or the LPGA, but it's still good to see the Tour Championship have a sponsor.
There have been other bits of good news for the tour. The Wegmans LPGA, a tournament that had waffled on returning after being played in June, announced an extension with the tour through 2012. And the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, another tournament that seemed tentative at best for 2010, announced that it would return next season. While that might only be a one-year commitment, that's better than the tournament not being played next year.

Roller coaster year

It was believed that the potential loss of the Wegmans and the Jamie Farr tournaments, in the wake of the loss of the popular and long-time tour event in Corning, N.Y, played a big part in sparking big-name tour players to sign a letter asking for commissioner Carolyn Bivens to resign. What role Bivens' resignation played in the Wegmans and the Jamie Farr agreeing to return to the tour next year and beyond may never be known.
And there was the Solheim Cup, where the U.S. team played well and budding stars such as Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome and others showed that there can be a big American presence on the tour in the coming years. That, in turn, could give American companies a reason to sponsor tour events and could get fans who complain about too few Americans on the leader board to watch more tournaments on television. Better ratings would also create more interest among sponsors.
Wie's continued climb back to competitiveness also has many looking at the tour with more of a positive attitude.
By being named to the Solheim Cup team and playing well, Wie has erased some of the ill-will her harshest critics unleashed in recent years.
No one questions it's been a rough year for the LPGA, and there are still questions like who the new commissioner will be and how many tournaments will be on the 2010 schedule. But in some important if small ways, the women's tour has started to turn around its fortunes in the last few months. And now, when future LPGA players are at Mission Hills, it's important to know the LPGA has a future.
Larry Bohannan covers golf for the Desert Sun. His columns appear Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at 778-4633.
Source