LPGA Tour, players rise above negative comments

When I attended the spring meeting of the Northeastern Women's Golf Association, a member of the group who knew I was a golf writer came up to me and said, "Look at all the stories in this room — this is a group of amazing women."

I couldn't agree more.

The same is true for the LPGA Tour. At the Sarah Hunter Spring Classic last weekend in Manchester, Vt., many women were discussing being disappointed in Hank Haney, the one-time coach of Tiger Woods who has a show on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio. He said several things that not only were disappointing, but were racist and dismissive of the tour and its players.

Here are his comments on his show last Wednesday with co-host Steve Johnson:

"This week is the 74th U.S. Women's Open, Hank," Johnson said.

"Oh, it is? I'm gonna predict a Korean," Haney said. "I couldn't name you six players on the LPGA Tour. Maybe I could. Well ... I'd go with Lee. If I didn't have to name a first name, I'd get a bunch of them right."

"We've got six Lees," Johnson said.

"Honestly, Michelle Wie is hurt," Haney said. "I don't know that many. Where are they playing, by the way?"

Ouch. Cringe.

Fittingly, a Korean won the $1 million prize given to the winner of the U.S. Women's Open. And she is known as Jeongeun Lee6. More than 40 percent of the population in South Korea has the surname Kim, Lee or Park. The Korean tour has six players with the name Jeongeun Lee, and so they have numbers after their name. Lee6 embraced it and wants to be called "Six." She even marks her ball with a "6."

LPGA Tour card holders all have incredible stories about the sacrifices involved in climbing to the top. Yes, Koreans dominate the sport right now, but the LPGA's ascention as a global sport with million-dollar purses thanks to strong sponsorship only adds to my...