LPGA's policy business based

Say what?

The LPGA's new proposed policy that would require all players to speak English or be subject to suspension has touched a lot of nerves.

Almost every story on the Internet about the subject has elicited hundreds of comments.

Some people say, "This is America. If you want to play in America, speak English."

Others believe the rule could be discriminatory and is unnecessary since many foreign players who can't speak English often have their own interpreters.

I say this ultimately comes down to business, and as a business, the LPGA, which is promising all kinds of support (tutors) to the players who would be affected by this policy, really has the right to do whatever it wants.

For instance, if the Daily Herald believed that it would be better served if all of its employees knew how to speak Spanish, I suspect that we as employees would have to comply or risk our jobs.

I know people in my neighborhood who travel frequently to Asia for their jobs and have had to learn either Chinese or Japanese in order to do business. Would they still have jobs if they didn't?

On the surface, the LPGA's policy doesn't seem very tolerant or politically correct. And maybe it's not. But from a business standpoint, it makes sense.

The LPGA is heavily dependent on sponsorship dollars, and a big part of the golf culture - more so than many other sports cultures - involves players glad-handing sponsors (playing golf with them, socializing with them) with the hopes of securing more support.

If some of the best players in the world can't communicate with these sponsors - nor with the media and the fans - then the LPGA may not maximize every possible opportunity for publicity or financial gain.

I would bet that at the end of the day, the foreign players who don't know English would much rather learn it - at least enough to communicate conversationally - than be out of a job.

- Patricia Babcock McGraw