Player-created female athletes aren't anything new to EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour games. But, while those avatars have been able to compete in the sport's most storied tournaments, there hasn't been any virtual representation of the LPGA Tour in the golf games. That all changes this year, with the inclusion of a new LPGA option in Tiger Woods '14.
In a press release issued today touting the ability to play as PGA legends like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, EA Sports said the LPGA will be one of the tours available in the game's career mode. Female golfers can play on either the PGA or LPGA Tour and the Kraft Nabisco Championship—one of the LPGA Tour's major events—appears in the game on its real world course at the Mission Hills Country Club. However, male avatars won't be able to play in the LPGA Career Mode.
You've been able to create and play as female athletes in tennis series like 2K Sports' Top Spin or EA's Grand Slam but neither recreated the ATP or WTA tours. This means that Tiger Woods ‘14 is the first time a women's tour has appeared in any major video game. Considering that women still can't play on some of the most important, historic courses in golf, a move like this on EA's part makes the real world seem all too conservative.
Photo by Dave Martin. Courtesy of AP.