PGA, Women, and Vijay Singh. As you probably know, last week Annika Sorenstam was the first woman to play in a PGA event in the last 58 years. The last woman to play actually qualified to play in the LA Open. Annika was invited to play by the PGA. She has thoroughly dominated the LPGA, and was given a shot to play in the PGA. She played respectably, but missed the cut. She ended up beating 11 players.


Okay, so much for "what" happened... Let's talk about all the hype, scuttlebutt, and hijinxs that surrounded the event. Most notably was the harsh criticism by Vijay Singh, who said that if he was paired with her, he would drop-out of the tournament. He also said things like, men should be allowed to play on the LPGA, she doesn't belong here, and we are just trying to make an honest living.


FIRST OF ALL... Pro Golf is not an "honest" living! You don't produce anything, you don't service anything... you play GOLF! HELLOOOO! You are entertainment. That's it. And by the way... ALL of pro sports is JUST entertainment. Your only purpose is to put on a show. I'm not saying that you don't work hard on your putting, or swing, or grip, or whatever. But... Actors and Directors also work on their "craft".


Second, the PGA (and all professional leagues) should be the best athletes available to compete. period. Nothing about gender, race, creed, religion, etc. If a twelve year old girl can play better golf than a 30 year old man, you know what? Bring on the girl. That goes for baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. Annika hit from the same tees as all the rest of the players, she got no special favors (other than a seperate locker room from the men), and she stepped up to the challenge.

Thirdly, saying that a man should now be allowed to play on the women's tour is missing the whole point. At the top of the range are all the best players... down from there you make up categories to even the playing field. Hence all the women getting together to play. At that level it IS about segregation... you are gathering together a group of people that have something in common to compete on a level playing field.

One last thought. The thing that's so great about women and men competing in Golf, is that this game has just as much to do with the mental, as it does with the physical. So naturally, it would be dumb to match the best woman against the best man in some sport that was lobsided to the physical (wrestling, or shot-putting, or whatever)... But golf has so much mental aspect to it, that it makes for a very very interesting competition between man and woman.