Sports: LPGA needs four majors

LPGA needs four majors

By BOB HARIG

Golf is comfortable with the idea of four "major" tournaments a year. For decades we've referred to them as "Grand Slam" events, which obviously refers to there being four of them. And attempts to force in a fifth major have been futile.

So what if, say, next week's PGA Championship no longer existed? There would be an outcry. And it wouldn't happen.

Yet that is about to occur on the LPGA Tour.

The du Maurier Classic begins today in Canada, and there is an uneasy feeling at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. This is the tournament's last year because of a law effective Oct. 1 that prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring events in Canada. The parent company of du Maurier is Imperial Tobacco.

So the LPGA has a problem. Should it elevate an existing tournament to major status? Or should it go with three majors -- the Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open?

Commissioner Ty Votaw appears to be leaning toward the latter. "I don't think the world will stop spinning if that happens," he said.

It won't, but the LPGA will suffer with less exposure, which is why Votaw should do everything he can to ensure the tour has four majors.

There is precedent for less than four. At one time, only the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship were considered majors. The Nabisco Championship became a major in 1984. And Votaw cannot be faulted for wanting to explore every avenue.

But the majors naturally receive more attention than the other tournaments, and the LPGA is always fighting for more attention. One less major is another excuse to relegate the LPGA to ordinary status.

"If they are going to look for a fourth major, I would love to see the British Open as the fourth major," defending du Maurier champion Karrie Webb said. "I don't see the harm in having one of the majors outside the United States. ... I think the schedule of courses that we play at the British Open are definitely worthy of major status."

The Women's British Open would be an excellent choice for a tour that is global. And many of the venues are the historic sites used for the men's British Open, including next week's championship at Royal Birkdale. Future sites include Turnberry and Royal Lytham & St. Anne's.

It is important to keep the same standard of four majors, if for no other reason than to avoid holes in the record book. And it gives the LPGA another shot at much-needed exposure.

CLASSIC COMMITMENT: The Tampa Bay Classic, which last week secured six-time major championship winner Nick Faldo for the Oct. 19-22 event, got another well-known European.

Frenchman Jean Van de Velde, runner-up at the 1999 British Open after squandering a three-shot lead on the final hole, committed. Van de Velde earned a spot on the PGA Tour this year because of his high British Open finish, and he ranks 88th on the money list.

AROUND GOLF: Webb can earn a $750,000 bonus if she captures the du Maurier. Nabisco already has paid her $250,000 for winning two majors this year. The additional money is paid to a player who wins three. ... Tampa's Senior PGA Tour event, the GTE Classic, will be known as the Verizon Classic to reflect the telecommunications company's name change. ... Greg Norman's fourth-place finish at the International was impressive considering he was five weeks removed from hip surgery. "To come back and do what I did, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give myself a 9.8," Norman said. ... The LPGA Tour will open the 2001 season in Orlando with the new JCPenney Classic at Grand Cypress, followed by a Naples event and the Office Depot, which is moving from West Palm Beach to Doral's Blue and Red courses in Miami.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.