Lefty, Lyle, Sexism and Deer Antler Spray Pt 2

Lefty, Lyle, Sexism and Deer Antler spray Pt 2

Sexism

Golf is full of traditions and some are more appropriate in today’s society than others.  Sexism, for example is still rife in the game, although lessening in recent years and there are several events in the past few months that have triggered me to write about it.  2 weeks ago, Karen Stupples, a former Women’s British Open champion, lost her contract with long time sponsor Wilson.  On its own this doesn’t seem a big deal, players switch equipment all the time however the reason for this rather sudden drop of one of the games greats was that they were going to place less sponsorship in the Women’s game because there was less money to be made there.  Unfortunately it is attitudes like this that are the reason the Women’s game cannot compete with the male tours. 

                Sexism in our sport has been a topic of discussion for some time now, since Augusta opened its doors to Condoleeza  Rice and Darla Moore, which was swiftly followed by the Rand A’s frank refusal to follow suit.  There are fewer women playing Golf, memberships of lady golfers across the country are dropping and while the economic climate is no doubt playing a bigger part, sexism must be considered a factor, and that is something that needs to change.

 

Deer Antler Spray

Whilst sexism appears to be somewhat confined to golf, drugs in sport has been and is still a growing problem across a whole range of professional sports.  Golf has more or less gone unaffected ( or at least those involved have not been caught) but Vijay Singh has admitted to taking a banned substance, Deer Antler Spray, presumably something that was going to allow him to be more competitive in his twilight years.  He claims to have not known that it contained a banned substance.  Drugs has become a bigger issue in other sports, most noticeably in professional cycling where it has now come to light that Lance Armstrong was taking performance enhancement drugs when he claimed his 7 Tour de France titles.  In light of that, Tennis star, Andy Murray has argued that in tennis there needs to be stricter doping regulations, stating that Armstrong is an example for all sports so is it time to go that way in golf?  Vijay Singh is only the second player to be caught taking banned substances since new regulations took hold back in 2008.  Vijay is now under investigation and will almost certainly face a tournament ban of some length, not his smartest move considering he becomes eligible for the seniors Tour later this year.   I think drugs are less of a problem in golf than they are in other sports but it would probably not hurt to become a little stricter so that that remains the case.  Vijay is a good player and consistently competes on the PGA tour despite his putting struggles; I just hope he is still remembered for being a former number one and winning three majors and that this relatively minor drug scandal does not become a career defining moment.