Photo courtesy of “Golf for Her”
According to “Golf for Her” Magazine and the Golf Channel, the PGA and LPGA are considering a joint tournament — perhaps the “Tournament of Champions” that just concluded in Hawaii! Great news — and for those of you who saw Lexi Thompson and Bryson DeChambeau play together in the Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, FL, you know why: the ladies from the LPGA are hitting it longer…the excitement of watching them compete on equal turf is really a lot of fun!
How exciting for the women — and fun for all the viewers!
Here’s the body of the story this morning on GolfChannel.com:
The PGA Tour is exploring the possibility of spicing up its opening event of the new year with some help from the LPGA.
The Tour is considering sharing its Tournament of Champions stage in Hawaii with the women.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan tells Golf Channel that talks are in the works with LPGA commissioner Mike Whan to stage a similar women’s event jointly with the men’s in the future.
“You could see men and women here at the Tournament of Champions,” Monahan told Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner as part of a wide-ranging interview that will air Monday on Golf Central and Tuesday on Morning Drive. “That is something we are thinking about and talking to Mike and the LPGA about. We would like to see that happen. We have some interest from sponsors.”
Monahan didn’t give specifics on how the joint event would be presented.
Back in March, the PGA Tour and LPGA announced a “strategic alliance agreement” where the tours would work together coordinating schedules, including trying to come up with joint events. The tours said the alliance would include some joint marketing and domestic television and media strategies.
“We have been partners with the LPGA for a long time, so when we made the announcement it really wasn’t anything new,” Monahan told Lerner. “It’s just more formalized.
“We are spending more time talking about how do we drive more people to the game, both men and women, girls and boys. Can we potentially get men and women into the same field of play? Again, another thing that no other sport can do, and then looking at media. Are there some shared efficiencies with how we present our tours to the world at large?”
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