Editorial

After the great great performance by Christina Kim at last weekend's State Farm Classic, I decided to peruse some of the golf message boards out there, to see what the fans' reactions to her were. I have heard, since I first started following women's golf, a lot of people on these boards pontificate about The Problem With Women's Golf. Well, there are a few "Problems" you hear about on these boards, but one of the top ones is this: 'They don't have any personality. They don't seem to be enjoying themselves out there.' And so, I checked out the boards, to see what these naysayers had to say about Christina. For say what you will about her, one thing you most certainly cannot say is that she is uninvolved and unemotional on the course.

Well, you could have bowled me over with a feather. The vast majority of posters who had an opinion seemed to be thoroughly against Christina! Rather than embrace a player who seemingly acts like they claim they want a golfer to act, they criticized her! Among the criticisms levied against her: 'She is not acting like a professional. She is distracting her opponent. She has a smart mouth. She does not dress properly for a golf course.' And my personal favorite: 'She and Jennifer Rosales were ganging up on Cristie Kerr'.

Is Christina a bit too animated? Not according to me!

My first thought when I read this was to wonder what golfers, and Asian golfers in particular, are to do with all these mixed messages. You'll recall (whether you want to or not) the brouhaha last year when Jan Stephenson accused the Asian golfers of 'killing' the tour because they are so unemotional. Yet here is an Asian (American) golfer who is as emotional as any golfer on tour of any color, who interacts with galleries more than any golfer I have ever seen, yet she, too, is being for the most part criticized for her actions. If I were Se Ri Pak or Mi Hyun Kim, I'd wonder what exactly they have to do to win with these critics. Heck, I'm not even them, and I still wonder.

Here is my personal take on these comments:

She is not acting like a professional. She is distracting her opponent.
I think this is ludicrous. Juli Inkster jumps around like a hen on fire when she makes a big play; Dottie Pepper too. Do they give a second's thought as to how their celebrations might affect their playing partner? How about Tiger Woods? When he makes a great shot, and does his patented fist pump, the galleries go absolutely craaaazy. That's got to be incredibly distracting to his playing partners. Someone on one of the boards also mentioned Lee Trevino, a fan favorite for years known for his hijinks on the course. Should he have been driven away from the game for having a little fun out there, on the off chance it might be distracting his more serious opponents?

After losing the match, the fans were there to console her and congratulate her
on a job well done. Clearly, they connected with her quite well!

She has a smart mouth.
Say what? She certainly isn't out there dissing opponents; in fact, she is nothing but polite to her opponents and the galleries. It does seem like she swears on occasion, or at least, mouths what looks like swear words of the 'd*mn' variety. I suppose that isn't the greatest trait to have, but I for one am unoffended, and it's not like she's doing it constantly.

She does not dress properly for a golf course
OK, I'll be the first to admit that Christina's couture is a matter of taste. You either like it, or you think it's a bit over the top. Personally, I have yet to see an outfit on the LPGA tour I thought was too extreme. In fact, compared to women's tennis, women's golf is still very demure. When someone shows up at the Nabisco Championship in a one piece body suit, or a belly bearing tank top, perhaps we'll have reason to talk.

Regardless of what you think of the way she dresses, however, I still find it hard to understand how anyone can hold that personally against her. I.E., 'I don't like her because she wears berets'. Judge her by the content of her character, not the craziness of her fashion sense!

Christina is known for her colorful attire as well as
her colorful attitude

Jennifer Rosales leant emotional support to Christina throughout the final round

She and Jennifer Rosales were ganging up on Cristie Kerr
Now this is a funny one, but there was actually a guy on one of the message boards I checked out who was arguing this with a straight face. How exactly do golfers 'team up' against someone else? Golf is an individual sport. I saw not even a single instance of Jennifer or Christina saying anything to Kerr, let alone 'ganging up' on her. I would not be surprised if Christina was leaving Kerr alone because she was still in the competition and was afraid of disturbing her. In other words, she was acting like a professional towards Kerr. Rosales, a good friend of Christina's, by the way, was no longer in the hunt for the title, so there was no danger in Kim's mind that she would distract her by joking around with her. Doubtless Rosales remembered how helpful it was to her, when she was trying to win her first title a few months ago, that Meg Mallon was helping her relax between shots by being supportive. No doubt she was trying to help her pal likewise. I don't consider that ganging up; I consider it being friendly. She obviously does not feel as comfortable with Kerr, and so did not act the same way towards her.

And if you're going to condemn that, why stop there? What about if one opponent has more friends or family in the gallery than the other? Isn't that unfair? What if the gallery itself is rooting more for one player than another for whatever reason? That must make the Solheim Cup inherently unfair. What about those times when other players wait by the 18th green to douse a first time winner in champagne? Wouldn't that bother her opponent? In other words, this argument is a real reach!

What seemed clear to me is that the crowd at the State Farm really adopted Christina. They seemed for the most part charmed by her guilelessness and heart-on-her-sleeve style of playing. It contributed to what I consider to be the most electric LPGA tournament since the US Women's Open, and easily the most enjoyable edition of this particular tournament I can remember (and that includes the ones where Pearl Sinn and Mi Hyun Kim won). Could Christina hold on? Would she pull another rabbit out of her hat? And how would she react when she did? Can you imagine how much different it would have been if both players were as unemotional as Kerr was most of the back nine?

It's not necessary for every player to be as over the top as Christina can be. Indeed, it's probably preferable. But having players like her in the mix certainly adds to the flavor of the league, and I for one hope she doesn't change a bit.

Get in there! Christina makes a good putt on Sunday