Variety is the spice for LPGA

The billboards and light pole posters from I-26 through the manicured avenues leading to the RiverTowne Country Club clubhouse are all about Annika. The accomplished Annika Sorenstram is, after all, the marquee draw at the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika.

But the new-look LPGA is about more than one superstar and will be on full display for four days, 72 holes and 6,548 yards this week with a whopping $2.6 million at stake. While Sorenstam and 17-year-old Michelle Wie have grabbed more than their share of the headlines, the LPGA decided over the last decade to forget about trying to compete name for name with Tiger and Phil.

These days, the 57-year-old organization prefers selling the full depth of its tour.

"It's not unusual for a tour to be centered around one person for a long time," said LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens. "Annika was a dominant player for a long time, as was Nancy Lopez. We right now do not have that, and it's great. The first six tournaments of the year we did not have a duplicate winner and we didn't have a winner over the age of 27. I like it a lot, absolutely. The diversity of the product really helps."

Tennis comparison

You have to tip your visor to the bold approach that goes contrary to what many other personality-driven sports are doing.

Because as a marketing venture, the strategy is working.

LPGA cable and network television numbers are rising steadily.

"It's a very exciting time to know that we're going counter to all the other sports trends," Bivens said. "We are the only major sport that has had double-digit increases in TV ratings each of the last three years.

"If you look at the hits on the LPGA Web site, the number of unique visitors who are going there, if you look at the numbers we're getting on television and if you look at the galleries we're attracting ... At Phoenix we had 150,000 people come out and watch and the first day was a rainout. These women have followers, so there's something for everybody to watch."

Comparison, anyone?

The women's tennis tour currently is hurting for young American stars but has plenty of international diversity.

The LPGA is blessed with a surge of talented young Americans, including Wie, and is happily expanding its field of international contenders.

'Raising the bar'

"We're getting younger and younger but up until this year, the younger ones really weren't dominating the tour," Bivens said. "It was Annika and the Juli Inksters."

But now here comes the era of Lorena Ochoa and Morgan Pressel to go with Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Alejo Peralta and other winners who may soon become household names.

"The younger players have made the veteran players work harder," Bivens said. "They have raised the bar. This year, the younger players are really coming into their own."

It's a tournament up for grabs, in other words, and that's good for the LPGA.