Caitlyn Jenner defended transgender golfer Hailey Davidson’s quest to qualify for the LPGA Tour, saying the game is “totally different” from other sports and that the top female golfers are “really, really good.”
“She [Davidson] is playing within the rules,” the reality show star said Wednesday on Fox News. “Let’s see how this thing works out. It will be interesting. But I don’t think she’s in a position where she’s going to be dominating on the LPGA Tour. To be honest with you, those girls on tour are so good. I guarantee you, the top girls on tour can beat probably 99.9% of the men out there.”
Ms. Jenner, the 1976 Olympic men’s decathlon champion who transitioned to female in 2015, was an outspoken critic of the NCAA rules allowing University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas to compete last season on the women’s team, but said golf wasn’t the same.
“Now we come to golf. Golf is a totally different game. It is a game of touch and feel, it is about your ability around the green, to get the ball close, out of the bunker, your ability to putt,” Ms. Jenner said. “And the girls on the LPGA tour — I’ve played in some LPGA tour events, these girls are so good it’s a joke.”
She added: “It really depends on the sport. Every sport is different.”
The 29-year-old Ms. Davidson, who began transitioning in 2015 after playing men’s Division II and III college golf, missed the cut last weekend at the LPGA qualifying event, or Q-School, but posted scores low enough to earn status on the 2023 Epson Tour.
In a Wednesday post, she thanked the LPGA and defended her bid to play on the tour, saying that she understands the concerns but not “the hatred that comes with it.”
“It’s amazing, one decent round and all of a sudden people start claiming that I’m close to securing my LPGA Tour card and dominating women’s golf,” she said on Instagram. “If I were truly dominating, I would’ve cruised through Q-School last year and have much better playing status than I currently do, which is practically no status at all.”
The LPGA changed its rules in 2010 to allow male-born golfers to compete after hormone therapy and gender-transition surgery, specifically a gonadectomy. Ms. Davidson underwent surgery in January 2021.
In May 2021, Ms. Davidson was credited with being the first transgender player to win a U.S. women’s professional golf event after notching a one-stroke victory at a National Women’s Golf Association tournament.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a three-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer who heads Champion Women, disagreed with those saying that transgender golfers have no physical advantage.
Ms. Davidson has said that her swing is now 15 mph slower than before surgery.
Ms. Hogshead-Makar said in a Twitter thread that “you say there isn’t evidence that she doesn’t belong in the LPGA … the evidence is that she was nowhere near this elite athlete when competing as a male. She played DII and DIII. We know that females are not competitive against the @PGA players.”
My eyes can only roll back inside my head so far  https://t.co/BcISeDu7Hu
— Nancy Hogshead-Makar, JD, Oly (@Hogshead3Au) August 21, 2022
A half-dozen top female golfers have played in men’s PGA Tour events over the years, but only one, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, has made a PGA cut, which she did in 1945, according to GolfLink.
An avid golfer, Ms. Jenner, 72, said that some LPGA players can hit the ball farther than she can off the tee.
“I was hitting next to Lexi Thompson at one of the pro-am events on the LPGA tour. She’s six feet tall, the girl is in shape, she’s just bombing it out there, 30 yards farther than I could hit it,” said Ms. Jenner. “These girls are really, really good.”
Ms. Davidson became the second transgender golfer to earn Epson Tour status. In 2013, 63-year-old physician Bobbi Lancaster qualified for the tour, but reportedly did not play.
“Honestly for me, the jury is still out on this one,” Ms. Jenner said. “Let’s just let it play out. I don’t know if she’s going to be able to make it on the LPGA Tour.”
Under the LPGA Gender Policy, “transitioned female athletes” may compete by declaring that their gender identity is female; by completing at least a year of hormone therapy, and by undergoing “gender reassignment surgery (i.e., a gonadectomy).”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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