Paula Creamer wants a Women’s Masters at Augusta

Paula Creamer, two days after Jordan Spieth held the golf world in thrall with his wire-to-wire win at the Masters on Sunday, called on the tourney host to stage a similar event for women.

The 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion went to Twitter on Tuesday to ask the green-jacketed powers-that-be to say yes to a request the chief of the LPGA Tour has made almost each year since taking the reins in 2010.

Creamer’s plea was certainly popular with her 189,000 followers. We just hope the 10-time tour winner isn’t holding her breath because Augusta chair Billy Payne made it rather clear last week that weeping for the remains of a dead tree was a much better use of his time than considering the prospect of women over the age of 15 competing at his uber-exclusive club.

Augusta’s grass ceiling cracked ever so slightly back in 2012 when the Masters of the Universe admitted two women members. IBM chief executive Virginia Rometty became the third in 2014 — the same year that 9-year-old Kelly Xu won her age division in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition to become the first female champion in the history of the club.

Even before last year’s inaugural pre-Masters junior event, LPGA commissioner Mike Whan had commended Payne for his efforts to support female golfers — one of the fastest growing demographics in the game. It’s something he apparently prefers to do behind closed doors, because Payne last week squelched chatter about as trivial an event as a Women’s Masters

“We have a very short member season at Augusta National, it’s seven months only,” Payne said during his annual state-of-Augusta press conference. “The time that we dedicate to the preparation and conduct of the tournament is already extensive. I don’t think that we would ever host another tournament here.”

Whan, who has not been shy about making the same request Creamer tweeted about, recognizes the issues involved with staging another mega-event on the iconic course that closes from late May through early October. He also believes that continued talking about his vision of realizing such a dream may not be the best way to attain it.

“I don’t know how you become a member of Augusta but I’m pretty sure you don’t become a member by telling people you want to become a member. I’m not exactly sure how you get a women’s event at Augusta, but probably continuing to talk about it may not be my stronger strategy,” Whan told SB Nation earlier this year.

Still, the fire burns bright to showcase the “best female athletes in the world” on “the best golf platform in the world,” Whan said.

“It’s hard to walk the grounds at Augusta and not envision a day where Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie are walking up that hill on 18,” he added. “Doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to happen. but as my father used to day, ‘Don’t say no to yourself in the parking lot; get out of the car, walk in the shop and let somebody else tell you no.’

“At least I ask,” Whan said. “I can handle no, I just can’t handle not asking.”

★★★

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