EQUALITY?:

Playing From the Men's Tee (NY Times, 2/19/03)

Ms. Sorenstam will be the first woman to challenge the men from their back tees since 1945 when Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the multi-sport Olympic legend, struck a blow for postwar feminism. She missed the cut after three rounds, a fact that will undoubtedly drive Ms. Sorenstam. At 5 feet 2 inches, she has great power and accuracy off the tee that is matched by a competitive zeal in which she does hundreds of sit-ups a day and maps a course with spreadsheets highlighting every peril and shot. Tiger is wise not to bow and scrape.

The beauty of this tournament will be in the game, not the hype. It should be a simple, free-flowing salute to a bit of creative progress, whoever wins. It may also serve as a needed antidote to the controversy over all-male admissions policies of Augusta National, host to the Masters.

Setting aside for the moment the fact that the only controversy over the Masters has been drummed up by the Times, real "progress" will come only when women take their claims seriously enough to give up the crutch of a "Ladies" golf tour and contend with men as equals. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 20, 2003 4:57 PM