# Are the Americans Underachieving on the LPGA Tour?



## tonyj5 (Nov 23, 2011)

I have just returned home after spending nine days in Kohler, Wisconsin. I will elaborate on that in a future post. Congratulations goes out to Na Yeon Choi for her remarkable performance in winning the 2012 United States Open.


It seems that whenever the subject of the LPGA comes up, the conversation always drifts to the fact that the American players are being dominated on their own tour by the Asian players. Is this actually a fact, or is this just a lot of talk by the casual American fan who wants to turn on their television set and see three hours of Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer? 


Let us look at some key statistics:


No American has won a Major Championship since Stacy Lewis won the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year. The six winners since then have come from the following countries:


South Korea (3) - So Yeon Ryu, Sun Young Yoo, Na Yeon Choi.
Taiwan (2) - Yani Tseng (2).
China (1) - Shanshan Feng
Score: Asia 6, U.S.A 0


You say that is too small a period of time? let us look at the major championships since the beginning of the 2010 season.


Taiwan (4) - Yani Tseng (4)
South Korea (3) - So Yeon Ryu, Sun Young Yoo, Na Yeon Choi.
U.S.A. (3) - Kerr, Creamer, Lewis.
China (1) - Shanshan Feng
Score: Asia 8, U.S.A. 3


That doesn't look much better for the Americans, winning only 27.2 %.


Is this just a fluke? Are the Americans doing better if we count all the tournaments, and not just the majors?
Let us find out. Here are the 2012 results:


U.S.A (5) - Jessica Korda, Angela Stanford, Stacy Lewis (2), Brittany Lang.
Taiwan (3) - Yani Tseng (3).
Japan (2) - Ai Miyazato (2).
South Korea (2) - Yoo, Na Yeon Choi.
China (1) - Shanshan Feng.
Spain (1) - Azahara Munoz.
Score: Asia 8, U.S.A 5, Europe 1


You say that is much better? I say not that much. Where it is true that the U.S.A. has more victories than any single country, winning just five of fourteen tournaments is nothing to brag about. That is a 35.7 winning percentage.


Still not convinced? You say this is too small a period to make any definite conclusions? Let us go back to the beginning of 2010 for this also.


South Korea (14) - Hee Kyung Seo, Se Ri Pak, Yoo (2), Choi (4), Jiyai Shin (2), Jimin Kang, Ryu, Hee Young Park, I.K. Kim. 
Taiwan (13) - Yani Tseng (13).
U.S.A. (13) - Kerr (2), Creamer, Wie, Lewis (3), Lincicome (2), Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda, Stanford, Brittany Lang.
Japan (9) - Ai Miyazato (8), Momoko Ueda.
Australia (3) - Karrie Webb (2), Katherine Hull.
Sweden (2) - Maria Hjorth (2).
Spain (2) - Beatriz Recari, Munoz.
Norway (2) - Suzann Pettersen (2).
China (1) - Shanshan Feng.
Germany (1) - Sandra Gal.
Scotland (1) - Catriona Matthew.
Score: Asia 37, U.S.A 13, Europe 8, Australia (3)


The picture is not getting any brighter here for the Americans, winning a dismal 21.3 percent of the time.


Not that I think you need any more convincing at this point, but I will now point out the following from this weeks Rolex Rankings:


American Players in the top 100 = 16
South Korean Players in the top 100 = 34
Japanese players ranked in the top 100 = 20


Here are some opinions on why the Asians are playing better than the Americans:


Course Owner, Herbert Kohler Jr., essentially called out the American Woman, saying their lack of success is because of their work ethic. "These Asians have done so well because they know the meaning of work," Kohler told the Associated Press. "They work and they work. And that is starting to have an impact on the Americans. "The Americans have now seen what the Asians can do, and they are starting to work harder."


It has become quite obvious that the Asian players, namely the Koreans, have gained the reputation of being the first to the range and the last to leave. " Maybe I should spend a week with one of them and kind of figure out what they do," said American Brittany Lincicome on Sunday. "Obviously they practice unbelievably hard. They're not fishing on their weeks off like I am"


South Korea's last 10 major titles have been won by 10 different players. Same with the U.S.A., the last 10 American major champions have all been different players. 


The Korean's have certainly had the edge of late, but with such talented young players as Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie and a number of others, the tide could turn quickly. But until that happens, they will have to keep answering the question of why they have been underachieving. 

For more LPGA News:
Mostly Harmless: Are Americans Underachieving on LPGA Tour?


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## FrogsHair (Mar 4, 2010)

My opinion, which is that of a casual watcher of the LPGA is that the Asian players have a better work ethic than their non Asian counter parts. They practice harder which allows them to play better as a group than their non Asian opponents. The American players have a much fuller plate than the Asian players, with out side monetary interest taking time a way from their golf games. I can't say the non Asian ladies are on the lazy side, but as long as they can live the life style they want, playing the way they do, they might be satisfied with their on course golf games, where as the Asian ladies seem to have the personal drive to excel at golf more so than their non Asian opponents. This because they don't have as many outside monetary interests. In a way this reminds of how the players on the PGA tour played when Tiger was at his best, and winning everything in sight. "Second place was good enough" for them....


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