Sophia Popov with the precious winning trophy of the Women's British Open - Photo Tristan Jones - LET

The disarray in which Sophia Popov currently finds herself concerns the LPGA's CME Group Tour Championship, which begins this Thursday in Naples, Florida. The 28-year-old, who won a major tournament four months ago, will have to follow the action from her couch across town as her status does not allow her to participate.

Let's try to explain this in the hubbub of tweets that fuse on social networks.

In a typical year, the top 60 players on the LPGA Tour advance to the season finale. During this most unusual year, the number of female players in the tournament was increased to 72. For the first (and apparently the last) time, two of these places have been reserved for sponsor exemptions. Since Popov was not a member of the LPGA Tour when she won the Open, his points from Troon didn't count. It was therefore not part of the top 60. Nor in the top 70. It did not benefit from one of these exemptions either.

The invitations were extended to Sarah Kemp, who is an ambassador for the CME Group, and to Natalie Gulbis, who is not. But Gulbis is a friend of CME Group CEO Terry Duffy, and that's enough.

"I've known Natalie since 2005, when I organized my first event with clients", Duffy said, adding that she helped sponsor the tournament.

Gulbis has only made six starts this year, missing five cuts, retiring once and improving by once. It's a tally that justifies the announcement of her retirement after the 2020 season. The pandemic has pushed back that plan for a year (apparently the departure of a single winner requires supporters to rally). Popov has just as much chance of winning the CME Group Tour Championship while sitting on her couch as Gulbis does in competition. But both have won the place in which they find themselves. This is the unattractive reality of sports sponsorship.

If the points that Sophia Popov earned for her big win had been taken into account, she would have been in the field for Napoli in 16th place in the table.

But they didn't count, so she finished 82nd and out of the cut. “It's a matter of fairness, as far as playing ability is concerned. It's not like I didn't win it. It's like I won it in terms of points, technically ”, Popov said.

As we all learned in the schoolyard, anyone who calls their place "Technical" is generally on slippery ground, and the"Equity" is a terribly precarious slope on which we must bet to claim a right in sport, because "Technically" Popov did not win it. She didn't play her part in the first 60, didn't play her part in the next 70, and shouldn't assume that she is entitled to any of those sponsor invitations.

The rules don't cease to be the rules just because a competitor and her social media supporters feel they are being treated unfairly, a thesis that holds true in most places.

It is undeniable that the field in Naples would be strengthened by the presence of Popov. She wrote what could be the best golf story in an otherwise miserable year. But exemptions for sponsors - even those that are arguably added to a supposedly elite event in the midst of a pandemic - are decided by the golden rule: they are the ones who have the gold, who make the gold. rules.

It's a dispute over the 70 places, not the other two. The CME Group is fully empowered to extend its exemptions based on corporate loyalty. With any invitation to a tournament, there are always more deserving players. But these invitations are not designed for deserving people or subject to feelings. And they are certainly not based on fairness. A Lim Kim, who won the US Women's Open last Sunday, is also out of the field this week as she is not a member of the LPGA Tour.

Much of the pressure on social media seems less about Sophia Popov stepping out than about Gulbis stepping in. This is completely normal. Her victory at the Evian Masters in 2007 is the one thing that sets Gulbis apart from the golf equivalent of Anna Kournikova, a 90s tennis star who didn't win a win but still won and who has launched numerous searches on the Internet in isolated university residences. And nothing beats the spectacle of a grand champion sitting at home while an exhausted once-winning player secures a spot in a major tournament in the final days of her career.

But the fact that golf finds itself in another needlessly embarrassing story is not the fault of CME Group or Gulbis. The sponsor has the right to extend the invitation and Gulbis has the right to accept.

The harsh reality of competitive sport is that only one person could have guaranteed Sophia Popov a spot on the course this week - herself.

To know more : https://cmegrouptourchampionship.com/

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CME Group Tour: Sei-young Kim returns a putt at 1.5 million dollars