Posted on: Friday, July 1, 2005
Incoming LPGA head says age limit will stay
By Michael Buteau
Bloomberg News Service
Honolulu's Michelle Wie and other teenage golfers won't force the LPGA Tour to change its minimum-age rule just yet, according to Carolyn Bivens, who will take over as commissioner of the top women's circuit in July.
Bivens said she didn't foresee lowering the LPGA's age limit of 18 to capitalize on the popularity of the 15-year-old Wie and other young players.
While the teenagers, combined with the success of Annika Sorenstam, have helped increase interest in women's golf, Wie will remain an amateur attraction, said Bivens, 52, who will succeed Ty Votaw as commissioner.
"The rule is as the rule stands and that's the way I see it staying for awhile," Bivens said in an interview in New York. "We really haven't made a decision right now."
A player under 18 may gain full-time playing privileges on the LPGA Tour if the commissioner accepts her petition to enter its annual qualifying school. The top 25 finishers and those tied gain spots on the tour.
Aree Song, then 17, became the only player to join the LPGA early in 2003 after being the top finisher in qualifying school.
Wie, who will be a junior at Punahou School, was runner-up at the LPGA Championship three weeks ago and was tied for the lead at the U.S. Women's Open entering the final round, hasn't petitioned to enter the qualifying school. Instead, she has relied on sponsors' exemptions to enter events on both the LPGA and men's PGA Tour.
Golfweek magazine reported in its June 25 issue that Wie and 17-year-old In-Bee Park soon will attempt to join the professional ranks. The magazine didn't cite where it got its information.
Teen's Request
Earlier this month, 15-year-old Carmen Bandea, who has never played in an LPGA event and failed to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Women's Amateur tournaments, sent a letter to Votaw seeking a chance to enter the qualifying school. The LPGA said it was reviewing her request.
Bivens, who has spent the past five years as president and chief operating officer of Initiative Media North America, the largest media services company in the United States, was introduced to several of the top LPGA players before the start of this week's HSBC Match Play event in Gladstone, N.J.
Sorenstam heads the field in that event after a 23rd-place finish in the Women's Open ended her chances for an unprecedented sweep of women's golf's four major championships.
Major Streak
Sorenstam won the first two, the Kraft Nabisco in March and the LPGA Championship in early June, and her presence at the Women's Open helped boost final-round television ratings on NBC to 2.9, an 81 percent jump from a year earlier.
Besides Wie, amateurs Morgan Pressel, 17, and Brittany Lang, 19, tied for second at the Women's Open. Last month, 18-year-old Paula Creamer became the youngest LPGA Tour champion in 53 years when she won the Sybase Classic.
"It feels good to come into the LPGA when there's certainly a lot of momentum," Bivens said. "There's a lot more interest and we're going to market the heck out of it."
For now, Wie isn't part of the plan.
