NAPLES, Fla. -- If golf were traded like stocks, the LPGA would be an expert pick to buy.
For starters, the women's tour is one of the most undervalued properties in sports. Not only are the players fun to watch, enjoyable to be around, and more accessible to fans than any professional athletes outside of Australian Rules football and Professional Bull Riding, the events are exciting and the value-for-dollar equation might just be the best in any league.
Take the CME Titleholders Championship for example. For the price you would pay for a meal at an NFL concession stand, a sports fan could have spent a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon in Naples seeing the best female golfers in the world close out the 2013 season in style.
In the final round, for example, Stacy Lewis from Texas, became the first American in two decades to win the Vare Trophy for having the lowest stroke average of the year. But having history in her sights didn't stop Lewis -- a former Arkansas Razorback who is still listed as an "assistant coach" for the women's golf team -- from donning an elegant dress and attending a gala dinner on Friday night where fans, sponsors and the media saw her applauding and admiring her fellow players.
"Coming out on tour did I ever think I could ever win any of these awards? Absolutely not," Lewis said. "Just to be in the running is a huge honor."
She wrapped up the Vare Trophy with weekend rounds of 63-71 to finish tied for fourth, five shots behind tournament winner Shanshan Feng, who also added to the history she had already made as the first professional golfer from mainland China to earn her LPGA Tour card, the first to win a major championship (the 2012 LPGA Championship at age 23) and, now, the first to win the Titleholders, the tour's richest event with a $700,000 first prize.
Feng had to fire a final-round 66 to do it, and then had to wait behind the 18th green as Roswell, New Mexico's Gerina Piller, one of the most popular newcomers on tour and one of the game's longest hitters, birdied the 17th to claw to within one shot. Piller then hit a fantastic 7-iron approach from 168 yards within nine feet of the hole at the difficult 18th, the most impressive shot of the day and, had she holed the final putt, one of the most memorable of Piller's life.
He Piller made the nine-footer, she and Feng would have gone to a three-hole aggregate playoff. But the ball slipped just right of the hole and Feng celebrated with friends and fellow players.
It was Feng's second victory of the year. She won in October at the smog-delayed Reignwood Classic just outside Beijing.
"I set a goal to finish 15-under par and that's what I was able to do," Feng said. "I never thought I was going to win, even though I was only two behind (going into the final round). All the people in the last two groups were strong competitors. I'm really happy I'm at 15-under and I finally won."
Those "strong competitors" included Piller, Natalie Gulbis, Germany's Sandra Gal and 23-year-old Pornanong Phatlum from Thailand, all of whom were either tied or within a shot of the lead at some point in the final round.
Even Michelle Wie made an appearance, beginning the day in eighth place and shooting 72 to finish tied for 11th.
There were other great stories from the week, including the introduction of 16-year-old Lydia Ko to the world of professional golf. Ko looked a bit overwhelmed by all the early attention, but inside the ropes she settled in and had a solid week, shooting four-under-par and finishing tied for 21st.
But it is outside the ropes where the LPGA separates itself. Every week the tour sets up meet-and-greet areas where kids can get autographs and pictures and spend time with their favorite players, and sponsors get more recognition and accolades than anywhere outside of NASCAR.
For years the women's tour was dismissed by sports fans for a variety of reasons -- too slow, too quiet, and too boring, with too many foreign players who didn't speak English. Some of those complaints were valid, but not anymore.
All you had to do was look around after the end of play at the Titleholders to see that all those in attendance got more than their money's worth. As Feng accepted the trophy and fired the Revolutionary War cannon behind the 18th green, Piller, just minutes removed from missing the biggest putt of her career, signed autographs and spoke to kids just a few yards away, clearly heartbroken but setting an incredible example for the young fans who had come out to watch.
You won't find that at many professional sporting events these days. But you will see it on the LPGA every week. It is the reason the tour deserves a lot more attention from sports fans, even those who might otherwise have never given it a moment's thought.
