‘Tone-deaf’ Sorenstam and Player blasted for their White House visit
GOLF has been accused of political “tone deafness” after Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump less than 24 hours after his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Nine-time Major winner Player (85) from South Africa and 10-time Major champion Sorenstam (50) of Sweden received the honour from Trump at the White House at an event that was not open to the press.
Player and Sorenstam, who recently retweeted Jack Nicklaus’ ringing endorsement of Trump’s re-election bid, were taken to task in the US media for dragging golf into the mire.
“There will be those who say Sorenstam, who was born in Sweden, and Player, from South Africa, can choose to accept an award from Trump whenever they wish,” wrote influential ‘USA Today’ columnist Christine Brennan.
“That is true, but Sorenstam and Player don’t just represent themselves. They represent all of golf, a mostly lilywhite sport that has struggled for decades, to its continuing detriment, to attract women and people of colour.”
Cancel
Influential US golf commentator John Feinstein called on the PGA of America to cancel plans to stage the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey.
“Golf is the whitest of the major sports,” Feinstein wrote in ‘Golf Digest’. “Golf is, without question, also the most right-leaning of the major sports. If the 2020 election had been confined to the PGA Tour, there’s little doubt that Trump would have won easily. Icons like Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson have vocally supported Trump with great enthusiasm.
“The sport’s tone-deafness continued Thursday when two of golf ’s greatest players – Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam – accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump after what happened Wednesday, thanks to Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat, all bets – or acceptance of awards from Trump – should have been off.”
Meanwhile, Ryder Cup skipper Pádraig Harrington will join Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship from January 21-24 before going on to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, where Lowry and McDowell also start, at the Emirates Golf Club the following week.
McIlroy’s absence from the field for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic would indicate that, as expected, he’s likely to play the clashing Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, which is scheduled to host the US Open from June 17-20.