Playing With the Boys ... Again
Friday October 10, 2003
Today, Jan Stephenson becomes the first woman to play in a Champions Tour event. Thursday, Laura Davies shot a 78 in the opening round of a tournament on the Asian PGA Tour. A further sign that what Annika Sorenstam wrought at Colonial was a bad thing? Or proof that the sky-is-falling crowd was wrong to get so bent out of shape over Sorenstam's adventure?
Many of the critics of Sorenstam's earlier appearance on the PGA Tour based their criticism on the premise that the floodgates were being opened. That women trying to play in men's events would distract from and detract from the PGA Tour.
Balderdash! (Or poppycock, if you prefer.) As About Golf argued at the time, Sorenstam's adventure was sure to give a few other women golfers and tournament promoters a desire to try it themselves. But the novelty wears off pretty fast. Especially when it's a player without the stature of Sorenstam.
Michelle Wie's efforts will be very interesting to watch in the coming years. But Jan Stephenson on the Champions Tour? Laura Davies on the Asian Tour? Nobody - not even the people who were so angrily opposed to Sorenstam's adventure - seems to care.
A PGATour.com artricle on the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Classic that appeared on Thursday didn't even mention Stephenson until the second-to-the-last paragraph of the article.
Despite the waning interest, I still applaud Stephenson and Davies for giving it a shot. They were invited to play, after all. If I was invited to play, I certainly would, so why should anyone expect these professional golfers to decline?
If you are one of the few people with an interest in closely following these events, here's the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Classic tournament page, and here's the Asian PGA Tour Kolon Cup Korean Open tournament page.
• Profile: Jan Stephenson
Many of the critics of Sorenstam's earlier appearance on the PGA Tour based their criticism on the premise that the floodgates were being opened. That women trying to play in men's events would distract from and detract from the PGA Tour.
Balderdash! (Or poppycock, if you prefer.) As About Golf argued at the time, Sorenstam's adventure was sure to give a few other women golfers and tournament promoters a desire to try it themselves. But the novelty wears off pretty fast. Especially when it's a player without the stature of Sorenstam.
Michelle Wie's efforts will be very interesting to watch in the coming years. But Jan Stephenson on the Champions Tour? Laura Davies on the Asian Tour? Nobody - not even the people who were so angrily opposed to Sorenstam's adventure - seems to care.
A PGATour.com artricle on the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Classic that appeared on Thursday didn't even mention Stephenson until the second-to-the-last paragraph of the article.
Despite the waning interest, I still applaud Stephenson and Davies for giving it a shot. They were invited to play, after all. If I was invited to play, I certainly would, so why should anyone expect these professional golfers to decline?
If you are one of the few people with an interest in closely following these events, here's the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Classic tournament page, and here's the Asian PGA Tour Kolon Cup Korean Open tournament page.
• Profile: Jan Stephenson
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