Norman: Keep Women Off The PGA Tour

Greg Norman has seen Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie try their hand on the PGA Tour, and he doesn't like what he sees:

Norman said it was time for officials on men's tours to rewrite tournament entry conditions to keep women out.

"I think everyone is just jumping on it and it has got to stop," Norman said at Royal Melbourne yesterday in the lead-up to the Heineken Classic, which starts tomorrow.

"How do we stop it? It's up to our administrations to come up with the wording of our by-law. We can't go and play on their tour because we weren't born female. That's the wording in their by-laws and I think we should do something about it."

Here's Ernie Els on the same topic:

"I don't think it's a natural thing. Women don't play against men in tennis tournaments or any other sport," Els said. "Golf is a little bit different. A person like Michelle Wie, if she's good enough to play out there, I'm kind of for it. (But) I don't think there's much of a future for it."

Ok folks, if the PGA, a private organization, wants to ban women from playing on the tour, that's their right (just as the LPGA has the right to ban men). But from a whole lot of angles, it would be a real mistake. Both Sorenstam and Wie drew huge crowds to the PGA events they played in, and their participation on the tour has done nothing but make money for plenty of people, and helped grow the sport in ways that bodes well for the future of the tour.

Buried in this story, however, is a legitimate point: what happens to the LPGA Tour if the best players on the women's tour are playing in PGA events? Is it possible we could be looking at a situation analagous to Major League Baseball and the Negro Leagues, where the Negro Leagues were doomed once their best players were allowed to compete on a level playing field in the Majors?

Don't be fooled into thinking this issue is going away. Wie, as I've said many times before, isn't an anomaly -- she's simply the first of many female golfers who may very well be able to compete at the highest levels of professional golf.

UPDATE: Ted at Women's Hoops is on the warpath, calling Norman the "Jackass of the Day," and saying the following about the sponsor's exemptions both Wie and Sorenstam used to play on the PGA Tour:

But sponsors' exemptions, by definition, always give a spot to someone who doesn't otherwise qualify. They're often given to famous old-timers who can no longer compete or local favorites or even non-golfer celebs. They are regularly used to put players on the course who will generate crowds and ratings (and thus financial returns for the sponsor).

In short, sponsors' exemptions are often given to players who aren't the best out there.

Maybe sponsors' exemptions are an all-around bad idea. You could make some argument that it's not fair to give a spot to someone other than the best, most deserving player... but what difference does it make if his spot is taken by a man or woman? If sponsors' exemptions are unfair, why hasn't Norman been complaining about them for years?

Down in the comments box, regular Off Wing reader Skip Oliva makes the point that if female golfers want to make a few extra dollars by regularly moonlighting on the PGA Tour, then those players ought to be asked to make their way through Q-School like anybody else.

Brad Dowdy also has a good roundup of the issue over at Making The Cut.

Eric 10:58 AM

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With LPGA Tour regular Laura Davies scheduled to appear in next week's ANZ Open - a men's European Tour event in Australia - Greg Norman has made his stance perfectly clear on women playing in men's events:"I think the situation... [Read More]

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