JRO Eagled at the 7th hole, tied at 13th

Van de Velde won an ET event in March.
Length is not his strength, so the LPGA would not be a handicap for him.

Gender and age restrictions exist for a reason. Children, seniors and women in general are not expected to play up to the same standards as men in their prime. The restrictions permit players in those categories to compete with others of similar capability.

Events with no such restriction accept any player. The U.S. Open had many entrants who compete in restricted events as well.

Van de Velde might as well try to gain entrance to an event for juniors or seniors as to the LPGA.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Boola Boss

Here is ONE - MICHELLE WIE

She has played in SEVEN PGA events, with 2 more this year. That should qualify her as a female PGA touring pro! And how many events will she have when she is finished with the PGA, in about 30 years.......oh, wait a minute......she will go on the SENIOR tour then!

With all respect, you are delusional. What parts of PGA Touring Pro do you not understand? Let's review the elements:

PGA: Most would interpret this to mean the PGA Tour, not the Nationwide Tour, or the Canadian Tour or even the Asian Tour. Michelle has only played in 4 PGA Tour events: The Sony Open 3 times and the John Deere Classic once.

Touring: As in to tour from event to event. Again, over the years, she played in the Sony Open in her backyard once and the John Deere once. Hardly touring.

Pro: As in professional. Three of these events came while she was an amateur, one as a pro, but all four on sponsor exemptions. Pro also implies making money. And she has made none.

We could go on and talk about PGA Touring Pro involving having a Tour Card or making a liviing from playing on the PGA Tour (Michelle's PGA Tour earnings over these three years? Zero, zip nada.)

You wonder why we challenge you! You are in a fantasy land!

[BocaJr]

The argument that "since no woman has ever been a touring PGA pro, it must mean the PGA is a men's tour", is convenient. But it is also obsolete.

In the past, no women had the talent and ability to compete with professional men golfers. But that is changing. And as more and more women demonstrate the ability to compete with men, more women will challenge men. Whether they challenge the men on the PGA tour or not will be a matter of personal preference.

Michelle can challenge men in golf right now. She is here now. Her time is now. And she should have the right to challenge for a spot on any PGA event that she wants. She should have to qualify, but once that is done, she should be allowed to compete whenever and wherever she wants.

You may say that her chances of winning a PGA event would be very slim. I would agree with that, FOR NOW. But I would respond with a simple question. How many of the men currently playing and touring on the PGA tour have actually ever won a men's event that any of us would consider a "regular" PGA event?

[viperr68]

Originally Posted by virginian

In the past, no women had the talent and ability to compete with professional men golfers.

What is you definition of compete?

[viperr68]

Originally Posted by virginian

Michelle can challenge men in golf right now.

What do you mean by challenge?

[viperr68]

Originally Posted by virginian

You may say that her chances of winning a PGA event would be very slim. I would agree with that, FOR NOW. But I would respond with a simple question. How many of the men currently playing and touring on the PGA tour have actually ever won a men's event that any of us would consider a "regular" PGA event?

If Michelle wants to be a journeyman PGA TOUR player just like those many men who have never won a PGA TOUR event, OK maybe, but that doesn't sound like much fun for her or her fans.

Oh before I forget, in your opinion, why hasn't Michelle won on the LPGA tour as yet?

[BocaJr]

Originally Posted by gxer

Oh before I forget, in your opinion, why hasn't Michelle won on the LPGA tour as yet?

In my opinion, Michelle has not won on the LPGA tour yet because she can not compete consistently on the LPGA tour. LPGA officials, in their infinite wisdom, will not let Michelle become a regular member of their tour. So she has to rely on sponsor exemptions and special invitations to participate in LPGA events. Even then she can only compete in 8 events a year.

Regular tour members can compete in as many as 25 or 26 events if they want to. I don't care how good you are at anything, if you're not allowed to do it regularly, you will not be as sharp as you could be.

Even though she can only compete in 8 events a year, let's review her record in the MAJOR events on the LPGA tour:

2005 Kraft Nabisco - Tied for 14th
2006 Kraft Nabisco - Tied for 3rd
2005 LPGA - Solo 2nd
2005 US Open - Tied for 23rd
2005 British Open - Tied for 3rd

The Evian Masters is a regular event on the US LPGA tour, but it is a MAJOR event on the European LPGA tour, Michelle tied for 2nd there in 2005.

This year at the Field's Open in Hawaii, Michelle finished in solo 3rd place.

If Michelle were allowed to compete regularly on the LPGA tour so she could gain rhythm and consistency, she would regularly "smoke the field". And, by the way, maybe she would not be so interested in the PGA tour.

And also by the way, Michelle is not my favorite player. Grace Park is my favorite player. Michelle ranks 9th among my favorites. Here are my 10 favorites:

Grace Park
Cristie Kerr
Laura Diaz
Stacy Prammanasudh
Natalie Gulbis
Paula Creamer
Lorena Ochoa
Rachel Hetherington
Michelle Wie
Jeong Jang

[Boola Boss]

Let's cut to the chase here folks, and get to the bottom line.....PGA does NOT memntion a gender.....it is NOT MPGA.......M for Men's.........it is JUST PGA..........That is why Michelle can compete in it........compete means PLAY in an event......just like card-carrying PGA members.....it doesn't make any difference if she makes the cut or not.......the PGA (unlike the LPGA) has a profile page for her and lists ALL her stats in PGA events......they treat her with dignity and respect........

On the other hand......The LPGA stands for LADIES Professional Golf Association........please notice the first word..........that is WHY MEN cannot compete in ANY of their events.........it is the same reason why GIRLS cannot join the BOY Scouts of America.......and BOYS cannot join the GIRL Scouts of America.........are you starting to get the picture?.......

So let's NOT even bring up men competing in LPGA events, OK?.......what we should be talking about is how a young girl like Michelle CAN compete against men.......does everyone realize that she is giving at least FIVE years to even the youngest members of the PGA........AND that she is a high school junior?.........She IS AWESOME!!!...........We should ALL be singing her praises.....NOT just a few of us.........

[cleo]

"If Michelle were allowed to compete regularly on the LPGA tour so she could gain rhythm and consistency, she would regularly "smoke the field".

Virginian, that kind of over the top statement gives you the same kind of credibility as Boola.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by virginian

In my opinion, Michelle has not won on the LPGA tour yet because she can not compete consistently on the LPGA tour. LPGA officials, in their infinite wisdom, will not let Michelle become a regular member of their tour. So she has to rely on sponsor exemptions and special invitations to participate in LPGA events. Even then she can only compete in 8 events a year.

Well, no that's the not exactly the reason. The LPGA has a perfectly good system in place that would allow Michelle to compete in as many LPGA events as she wants. She can petition for full-time membership even though she is under 18 and has a year of high school remaining. Morgan Pressel did this last year and was approved. The LPGA has said they will approve players on a case-by-case basis based on their playing ability, their maturity and their support system. If there is any under-18 player on the planet who has proven they can join the LPGA full-time, it's Michelle Wie. She has been pro since October, has a skilled support team of agents, lawyers, trainers, etc. around her, a dedicated family, years of experience playing in pro events. She actually has played in 7 pro events during her school year that ends this week. That's as much as many LPGA members. The LPGA is eager to have Michelle as a member of their tour, but Michelle has not even tried to file this petition. Why? Because doing so would mean she would have to play in the minimum number of tournaments required by LPGA members and that would mean she could not spend as much time playing in men's tournaments.