golfrewind.com

For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to work like that for the women. Histiorically, I believe they tend to peak much earlier than their early-mid 30s.

There really is no physical reason for that though. It was probably more motivation factors, maybe with some of them getting more into family stuff.

I think that Annika is more motivated that most, and so will continue to play good golf. She really hasn't played that much worse in 2006, than 2005 if she had just played better down the stretch and turned some of her 5 2nd places into wins.

Juli Inkster is a good example of a 46 year old woman who can still very much phsyically compete. Other players can do the same if they dedicate themselves to golf enough.

Well I think the fact that women reach full physical maturity quicker than men may be a factor. Another factor contributing to great women golfers dominating at a younger age may be due to the competition being not nearly as deep as it is in the mens game. There are probably 10 serious male golfers for every serious female golfer. Though I just pulled that stat out of my.. um hat , I think it may even be a conservative estimate.

That is true. I think that is why the womens tennis game used to be overrun by youngsters, because if they were half decent, it was easy to jump up the rankings. However, since there is more strength in womens tennis, there hasn't been that many young winners at all, and nearly all the top 20 are 23 and over. In fact the top women tennis players are on average, older than the top male tennis players.

On the issue of reaching physical maturity there have been plenty of studies, but who declines faster is the real question in relation to how long they can go on playing at the top level.

Yes, you rarely see a 16-17 Y/O girl emerge to dominate tennis anymore. That used to be commonplace. I only played casually when I was younger, but that is a young person's game if there ever was one. It's really hard to compare it to golf, though , as tennis is one of the most physically demanding sports while golf is one of the least.

That is easy. Make your last name Wie, do not win anything and you will start out at #2. Work your way up from there.

Im not complaing about natalie gulbis looking nice!! Though like anna kornikova (sp.) she got drawn into celebrity and fame and look were she is now

Good comparison.
Both Anna and Natalie were talented in their respective sports.
However as good as they are and were, they weren't really good enough to get into the very top tier of the sports.

Someone else who doesn't have the talent to reach the top tier of the sport. Who would you be referring to?
If it's Pressel, perhaps you are being a bit hard on her, she still has plenty of time yet.

- Well, at the start of the 2006 season, Pressel was pronounced as the easy winner of the rookie of the year without even hitting a ball. She didn't win that and didn't even get close.
- She was also supposed to win, that was a given, the only question was how many.
- Then the next question was would she beat Paula Creamer's rookie season money total. She got about a third of the way to that.
- Perhaps the most important thing of all is that, information was spread around that she was a closer, because she had stuck with amateurs and learned how to win and close the deal. In that area she has been really found wanting and anytime she has had a chance to win, she has really tumbled down the leaderboard.

So yah, pretty good chance it was Pressel who you were discussing.

The description you were comparing to was for Natalie and Anna Kournikova, who were described as not talented enough to reach the top tier of their sports.

If you honestly believe that Wie would in any way fit that description of not being talented enough, then you are entitled to you opinion, but it is not one that I would subscribe to and I doubt many others would either.
I even think Pressel is talented enough.

Pressel would be the first to say that isn't going to happen. She isn't interested, and right now her game isn't enough to win on the LPGA.

That and I doubt her grandfather would ever consider that path. It isn't about the money for them, more about nurturing and making sure her game gets where she wants it.

I could see her going the Annika route if she became a dominant force on the LPGA, and her length increased enough to be marginally competitive. I doubt seriously that she would try more than once, even if she made the cut.

She wants to promote women's golf, and get it to be more mainstream. That is why she wanted MW to play more women's events worldwide.

Who said anything about the pga tour?
Pressel getting to the top of the sport, would be to the top of the lpga tour, as it would for Wie as well, and both have the talent to do so, although Wie has more talent in my opinion.

You are correct, and it's strange that League brought it up.

There I disagree, I think Pressel is good enough already to win on the lpga. She just hasn't put the 4 rounds together yet.

She sort of incinuated that she might try it when she reached the top of the womens game. I think she has found the attempt at reaching the top of the womens game harder than she expected.

Be honest. Who has done more to promote the women's game out of the two players so far.
Which of those 2 players do you think have made more young girls want to pick up a set of golf clubs?
If Michelle had just played women's events, she would be just another woman player. It is her play against the men that has brought her more attention, and thus brought the womens tournaments that she has played more attention as well.

Lorena Ochoa clinches LPGA 2006 POY and 6th tournament in 2006 with a 10 stroke victory.

Next year could be very interesting!