Four major golf events in the island chain the first four months of the new year is the kind of attraction the state should be celebrating and trying to expand if possible.
Saturday’s final round of the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship drew a nice crowd at Ko Olina and provided another exciting finish with most of the world’s best women players in attendance.
Australia’s Minjee Lee came from five shots off the pace with a final-round 64 to edge 54-hole leader Katie Burnett just as a talented player is supposed to do these days. World No. 6 In Gee Chun caught Burnett, but couldn’t hold off Lee to tie for second.
To add a nice local touch, Punahou product Stephanie Kono caught fire with a final-round 65 and had a nice gallery with her over her closing 18 at the $1.8 million tournament. The current contract with Lotte ends in 2017, but by all accounts, LPGA officials believe the future is bright for the LPGA Tour in the island chain.
What would help this event on Oahu is for another LPGA tournament to be played the following week, either here or a neighbor island. Maui last hosted the Kapalua LPGA Classic in 2008. The SBS Open ended its run at Turtle Bay in 2010. Both venues can still handle an LPGA event.
Adding a tournament to the Champions Tour also sounds like a good investment. It could be held on Oahu the week after the seniors start their season at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on the Big Island. Or it could go to Maui if a major resort is willing and able to take on the senior set.
Of course, the biggest challenge is finding title sponsors willing to plop down a big chunk of change and local golf courses willing to do what is necessary to host a major professional championship. It’s good publicity for the golf course, but it does cut into regular week-long action.
While a $1.8 million purse is OK for a 54-hole tournament, if you are going to expand that to 72 holes, then the purse should be at least $2.1 million. The women don’t have as many tournaments as the men to pick and choose, but you still need cash to attract players like world No. 1 Lydia Ko and top American Lexi Thompson. Had Thompson’s balky putter not gotten in the way, she could have easily won this event.
As for the PGA Tour, keeping the Sony Open alive and well at Waialae and the winners-only event at Kapalua will be front and center soon enough. Hyundai left town, leaving Korea broadcaster SBS looking for someone to fill that role.
Having world No. 2 Jordan Spieth as your defending champion should help and the possibility he will return to Oahu the next weekend wouldn’t hurt the outlook at Sony. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama is already eligible to play on Maui in 2017 and there are those who believe he would sign up for Sony as well, an addition that would draw a crowd.
You can’t take anything for granted, but if those responsible for keeping professional golf on these island shores can be a key part for long-term contracts, the exposure the state receives is well worth the cost of admission.
