Pornanong Phatlum. She's got an ultra exotic name, she's only 18 and she's already a golf star. After all, this adorable Thai teenager won both the Ladies Thailand Open and the Indian Open earlier this year, and she's currently number one on the Ladies Asian Tour. This week however, she's doing something that has historically been... quite provocative...she's playing with the guys.Pornanong Phatlum is going to try to become only the second female player to make the cut on the Asian Tour when she competes in the Bankok Airways Open later this week. Michelle Wie, of course, was the first female player to make the weekend rounds on the Asian Tour. She did it at the SK Telecom Open in 2006. See what I mean by provocative?
On the Asian Tour's website Pornanong said, “I am very excited and happy as I am the only female player invited for the Bangkok Airways Open. I have been practicing from the men’s tee in preparation for this tournament. I’ve played at the Santiburi Samui course previously and found it to be quite a challenge, so I hope to be more prepared this time around.”
I for one, would love to see her do well, and naturally, I'm wondering what the reaction will be. Will there be the same disgust, dismisal and vitriol expressed on other occasions where women competed in men's events... or will this go largely unnoticed? Will this put Pomanong in the spotlight, ensuring her lucrative sponsorships...and major scrutiny by the press and public?
Whatever the outcome this weekend in Thailand, we'll probably be seeing much more of this exciting player going forward. Pornanong says her goal is to play on the LPGA Tour, and she's going to be making another attempt at Q-school in August, after failing get her card last year.
In any case, I'm quite sure the name Pornanong Phatlum will soon seem a lot more familiar.
Exsqueeze me ?? "disgust, dismissal and vitriol" ??? Perhaps a bit of "those mean ol' men are picking on the girls" sentiment here ??
ReplyDeleteThere are only two women who have been pounded on for playing with the men - Michelle Wie and Susie Whaley. (ok - three if you include Carmen Bandea - but she just talked about it...a lot)
Michelle Wie was cute for a while until the men got tired of being nice to her and just buried her at the bottom of the leaderboard. The only reason she was getting invitations was to sell tickets as a sideshow and the Tour finally had to say something about it.
Susie Whaley "qualified"...sort of. She got into the BC Open through the regional PGA Professionals tournament - BUT - she didn't play the whole golf course. This was a glitch in the rules, and even though she played from forward tees, her score WAS low enough to "earn" a spot in the tournament. She was not ridiculed as much as the fact that she didn't play the same course as the men.
Women have been getting invitations to play in "men's" tournaments in Asia for years - and, with the exception of Wie, they have been women with a pedigree on the women's tours and are given out of respect for their play. (the tournament fields there are not exactly stellar - the one that Wie managed to make the cut on - the highest ranked player in the field was around 400 in the world)
Sorry GG - you missed the boat on this one. None of the men's tours exclude women from playing. The last tournament that excluded women from even attempting to earn a spot was the British Open, and that was opened up two years ago.
It is the LPGA and other women's tours that are gender exclusive.
The women are welcome to try to play on the PGA Tour, all they have to do is qualify like all the men.
Wie has earned the ridicule she has received because she has never EARNED anything. The tried to qualify at The Sony once and missed. After that, she was invited because she became famous for being famous - not because she earned the spot. (and that's fine - the two Hawaiian tour stops have a tradition of inviting local Hawaiians who have some game) And she tried to qualify for the US Open once a couple of years ago, but didn't make the field.
Pull for Phatlum - cheer her on - hope she does well - but enough of this "disgust, dismissal and vitriol" nonsense. The hype just doesn't have any basis.
Oh - it was Se Ri Pak who was the first woman to make a cut in a men's event in Asia - not Wie.
ReplyDeleteCourt, you seem to know a lot about women golfers but your memory is rather short (not to say selective) when it comes to the reaction their playing in men's events. What about Annika, a player your surely admire. If you go back to 2003 and Colonial, the reaction from many, from players Jesper Parnevik and Vijay Singh (whos reactions were dismissive and vitriolic respectively) to many members of the golf media and the public were, to say the least, negative rather than positive, though in retrospect most agree it was good for golf.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lisa, you appear to be suffering from short term memory loss Court. You can't deny that Sorenstam's participation in the Colonial stirred up a firestorm at the time, both pro and con, although most PGA Tour players appeared at the time to fall into the "con" camp.
ReplyDeletePatricia's not saying that the men's tours exclude women she's just saying it's controversial and I think you'd have to agree with that.
I'm just hoping her parents and her entourage can protect her from the forces that so damaged Michelle Wie.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like those forces have abandoned Michelle who now seems to be on a more sensible course. I really hope they don't move on to this talented young girl.
Pornanong Phatlum - sounds more like an X rated foreign film staring a bodaciously buxom beauty, than a shy and unassuming Asian golf champion.
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected (except for the "short term memory part - 4 years ago isn't "short term - so just call me senile, ok ?) :-)
ReplyDeleteAnnika did take some shots from a few of the guys - Vijay was a bit harsh, not to mention misinformed. (he said he would pull out if he was paired with Annika - but tournament winners are never paired with non-winners.) MOST of the field, however, was supportive and enjoyed having Annika in the field - and she came out learning a lot about the game by being there and watching how the men prepare - her game improved quite a bit.
SO - you have one example of a woman golfer with a pedigree of winning who took some abuse - I have three examples in the US, two who have never earned anything and one who "earned" her spot but only because the rules were poorly written. There are several others in Asia who have been welcomed with open arms over the years.
E - "I'm just hoping her parents and her entourage can protect her from the forces that so damaged Michelle Wie." Are you kidding ? Michelle Wie and her family are the ones who did the most damage. These memories are more recent than my 4 year slip. How about just two years ago when poor widdle Michelle spoke up and said that SHE was making all the decisions that concern her life and career (such as it is). Her "entourage" got fired every time they tried to head her in the right direction - caddies and agents.
Phatlum seems to be much more stable and has actually done something with her talent.
All I'm saying is, get the chip off your shoulders, ladies. Annika didn't hold any grudges - why should you get so bent out of shape over this appearance in another country where her presence will be welcomed openly by the players and galleries ?
That is some name she's got.. I wonder if she's going to be dismissed outright because of her name. Dismissed in the minds of the players anyway..
ReplyDeleteNot sure about 'disgust, dismissal and vitriol' - the majority of the Asian players are too well mannered for that - but I noticed that Simon Yates, who was paired with Pornanong and defending champion Lee Sung, was listed as retired. Fishy.
ReplyDelete"Retired" means he started the round and had to quit. Maybe he was getting beat. :-) Phatlum did put up a 75 in the first round.
ReplyDeleteOdd that they were paired together - he has two wins on the Asian Tour, and has had a number of top 10 finishes in the Order of Merit. Most men's tours do not pair Tour winners with non-winners.
court reminds me of hilary, she won't give in and changes her position to suit the current mood. court, are you going to cry next?
ReplyDeleteAnon - I haven't changed anything. The exaggerated position of the post premise is still just that - exaggerated and incorrect. I admitted to forgetting a couple of idiotic comments about Annika by Singh. Fact remains that she was invited to beat the BC Open to the punch and have a woman in their field first. She was a sideshow and admitted that she had no interest in doing that ever again.
ReplyDeleteTissue, Anon ?
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ReplyDelete