source: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1836145,00.html

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English.

The LPGA will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.

"Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

The tour held a mandatory meeting with South Koreans last Wednesday at the Safeway Classic to inform them of the new policy, which was first reported by Golfweek magazine.

There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea.

The South Koreans were informed of the rule, however LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens has not given them - or anyone - a written explanation, Galloway said.

But the message already appears to be lost in translation. The magazine said every South Korean player it interviewed believed she would lose her card - not be suspended - if she failed the English evaluation.

Angela Park, born in Brazil of South Korean heritage and raised in the United States, said the policy is fair and good for the tour and its international players.

"A lot of Korean players think they are being targeted, but it's just because there are so many of them," Park told the magazine.

Galloway said the LPGA is a "global tour and is not targeting any specific player or country."

Seon-Hwa Lee, the only Asian with multiple victories this year, said she works with an English tutor in the winter. Her ability to answer questions without the help of a translator has improved in her short time on tour.

"The economy is bad, and we are losing sponsors," Lee said. "Everybody understands."

The policy was endorsed by at least one tournament director, Kate Peters of the LPGA State Farm Classic.

"This is an American tour," Peters said. "It is important for sponsors to be able to interact with players and have a positive experience."

Galloway denied the move was based on sponsors and said interest in the tour has never been stronger.

"We are connecting with fans and sponsors like never before," she said. "But we want things to continue to get better, to continue to grow."

What a dumb rule. How does an ability to speak english help someone's ability? Sport spectators should only care about how well the players play, not how they speak. It is an American organisation, but it has international venues.

meh, the 'world' language is English anyways. Its the language of business, politics, and science. If they want to pick a 'standard' language for any international org, it should just be English.

Wow... that's just pure retarded.

@superchuck Why should theye have any standard language at all?

@vlad321 - So there wouldn't be a need for French lessons that bring your average grade down.

So people will hopefully have less complications due to language barriers.

I'm not saying get rid of other languages or anything like that. But, a standard WW language can only help and English is by pretty much there already.

I don't think this is a big deal at all.

Since the large population spread of international players being south Korean, they don't feel the need to learn the language, which in turn angers the sponsors (since they don't do interviews and thus promote the sponsor). The LPGA struggles for support, so i guess they want to force them to pick up the language (enough to make it through a interview, which isn't much (uh, i mean,)), so they can continue to get sponsor dollars.

They could just require that the caddy or the player has to speak English. Of the top 10 LPGA players last year, 3 were from English speaking countries.

1 Lorena Ochoa Mexico 4,364,994
2 Suzann Pettersen Norway 1,802,400
3 Paula Creamer United States 1,384,798
4 Mi Hyun Kim South Korea 1,273,848
5 Seon Hwa Lee South Korea 1,100,198
6 Cristie Kerr United States 1,098,921
7 Jeong Jang Korea 1,038,598
8 Angela Park Brazil 983,922
9 Morgan Pressel United States 972,452
10 Jee Young Lee South Korea 966,256
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_LPGA_Tour

Only talent should determine your eligibility to a sport.

Hell, any language classes other than English have only pushed my grade up, and this is an engineer talking, so I can't sympathize with you.

No it doesn't.  Go to the European Parlement in Brussels every member speaks his own language at a meeting to respect each other.




This is just discrimination.

This is bullshit discrimination. Now it will cost more for foreign athletes to play the game. They have to pay for language lessons to play a sport? Fucking ridiculous.

There should be no single magic language at the expense of thousands of others.

And if for some reason, an international organization needs one language (which is NEVER), it shouldn't be English. It should be a neutral conlang like Esperanto or something.

It would be cheaper, faster, and easier for every single person in the world to learn Esperanto, than for just the non-English speakers to learn English.

But they should just use translators LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.