Time to dissolve the LPGA

By Steven Lienert

Right now, Michelle Wie might as well be the younger incarnation of Anna Kournikova.

She has never won anything on the LPGA Tour, just like Kournikova never won anything significant in the WTA.

Yet, for some reason, Wie keeps trying to win a men's golf tournament. Perhaps it's time to stop separating men and women when it comes to sports like golf. Throw them all in the pot, then let the best person win.

Annika Sorenstam, widely considered the best women's golf player on the planet, can't make the cut in a non-major men's golf event. Wie couldn't make the cut in a U.S. Open qualifying event.

They want to play? Let 'em all play.

Sorenstam and Wie's participation in different men's events takes a spot away from a man who has regular Tour status. Meanwhile, the man that lost his spot to a woman does not have the right to play on the women's tour.

More likely than not, if a lower-ranked man did get the opportunity to play against the women, he would make a helluva lot more cash than he would on the men's tour.

Wie and Sorenstam have so skewed the playing field that it's time to get rid of the LPGA. Let all golfers, men, women and children alike, play on the PGA Tour.

I might (that's might) make an exception that would allow women to hit from the ladies' tees, but other than that, let's see how much money some of these women golfers would make. Half of them would need to get part-time jobs to help supplement their income, or lack thereof.

Remember the 1992 Olympic Basketball Dream Team, which was comprised of the NBA's top players (Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, et al)? They crushed the competition en route to a gold medal. But 14 scant years later, the world closed the gap.

When Argentina downed the U.S.A. last September, handing the mighty Americans their first international loss since the pros started playing, it showed that the rest of the world has caught up.

Perhaps 14 years from now, women golfers will compete on the same, even playing field as men. Right now, however, they can't.

The only way they will is if women are made to raise their level of play to that of the men, just like Argentina had to raise its level of play to defeat the United States in hoops.

In the meantime, the ladies should stick to their own gig and keep stealing money while they can.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com or at stevel@phillysportsline.com