LPGA’s worldwide audience helps Hawaii market itself

It used to be said that boxing’s popularity is linked to the economy. Stock market down, boxing up. How true that is, and whether it’s relevant at all in this era is debatable — especially since mixed martial arts has stolen much of the thunder of the sweet science anyway.

But the opposite does seem to make perfect sense in reference to golf. It’s a recreational sport that requires plenty of time and money. A great number of golf fans are golf players, and golf players buy clubs and balls and pay greens fees. And a lot of golf players are regular tourists.

So, while it still might be a tough sell for people who have lost their jobs and/or homes, the fact that the LPGA and Champions tours have returned to Hawaii is a good sign. It signals a confidence in golf interest and consumerism in the islands, as well as worldwide.

The in-person crowds at Ko Olina this week to see the best women players in the world at the LPGA’s inaugural Lotte Championship have been sparse, including for Friday’s third round. That had to be somewhat expected with a Wednesday-through-Saturday format, and more spectators will surely be on hand today as Ai Miyazato, Japan’s most popular female player, tries to maintain her 3-stroke lead over Cristie Kerr and Azahara Munoz.

But the format makes sense for TV purposes, and TV is how the LPGA gets much of its return on investment, as do its sponsors — and the state of Hawaii, which pitched in $150,000 to help make this happen.

Miyazato will tee off at 5:30 Sunday morning in Japan. For Kerr’s friends and family in Miami, it will be 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and a couple of hours later in Spain, from where Munoz hails.

Live TV for all three. Viewership will be significant on three continents (despite the early hour in Japan), and that’s good for the LPGA and Hawaii.

More eyes on TV shots of the islands equals more airline flights booked to Honolulu from all over the world. (Well, maybe not that much lately from Europe). And golf is often part of the vacation plans.

"Since the tsunami (in Japan last year) we’ve seen a real healthy number of people coming in from all parts of Asia, as well as North America, including Canada," said Greg Nichols, PGA general manager and director of golf at Ko Olina. "Hawaii is seen as a great destination. It used to be seen as way too expensive, but now people are figuring out they can afford it."

One of the great things about the LPGA Tour is that you usually get almost all of the best for every event. Unlike men’s pro golf, foreign tours don’t have enough juice to distract the big guns, and with fewer tournaments than the PGA Tour, the women are eager to compete. This week’s field included 97 of the top 100 players.

Yani Tseng, No.1 in the world, is here and still in the hunt at 6 under. Her homeland of Taiwan is among eight countries on four continents represented in the top 16 going into today’s final round.

Down the list at T32, we find rookie Ayaka Kaneko. Born in Japan and schooled at Pepperdine, she symbolizes the international nature of the LPGA. But she’s also a local kid.

Three of the four Hawaii products did not make the cut, and that hurts the galleries. But Kaneko did, and she climbed a few spots by shooting 1 under par Friday. The Sacred Hearts graduate will surely attract some new followers today, and probably win over most of them permanently with her playing style, best described as gritty and resilient.

Miyazato talks about Hawaii reminding her of her home of Okinawa, so she’s a player the locals can get behind, too. Let’s just hope she’s wrong about something.

"I heard it’s going to rain too (today)," she said.

Please, not until Sunday. We need one more day of sunshine televised around the world.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.