An interesting thing did coincide with Tiger’s rise to dominance -- professional golf has seen an influx of Asian-American players. Asian and Asian-American players have dominated the LPGA for nearly a decade. The PGA has seen less on an influx of Asian-American players than the LPGA, but that is about to change. And it is going to happen very quickly.Kevin Na, Anthony Kim and Charlie Wi are three young talented Asian-American players on the PGA tour. (Wi technically plays under the South Korean flag; he moved to he U.S. as a child and resides in California.). Beyond these players, a look at the Boys Junior golf rankings shows that 8 out of the top 20 ranked junior players are Asian-American or Asian players based in the United States. Get ready to see the names of David Chung, Mu Hu, Alex Shi Yup Kim and Alex Kang on a PGA leaderboard within the next five years.
Can the increase of Asian-American players be credited to Tiger, whose mother is from Thailand? It is difficult to answer. There are several cultural and socio-economic factors to consider in the answer to that equation. And the Tour Review’s expertise is not in sociology. However, it is worth noting that Tiger is seen as an African-American golfer by the mainstream media in the United States. But outside the U.S. (especially in Asia), Tiger is viewed as an Asian-American and his influence as an Asian-American role model generally is never discussed or acknowledged.
