A 30-year-old man who identifies as a woman placed first in a women’s tournament in Florida earlier this week, inching him closer to an LPGA qualifying tour.
Hailey Davidson, who played golf on a men’s college team, won the NXXT Women’s Classic on Wednesday at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Florida, The New York Post reported. The trans-identifying golfer was three shots behind the leader going into the last two holes, but he forced a playoff, which Davidson ultimately won after two extra holes.
“Honestly this one came as a bit of a surprise to me,” Davidson said in an Instagram post celebrating the victory, “Being 3 shots back with two holes to play I got myself into a playoff after sticking it to 3 feet on the 18th hole. We tied the first playoff hole with birdies and then a Par on the second earned me my first win in 2.5 years!”
“I had come so close lately with a playoff loss 3 starts ago to then finishing one back last week but this is why you never give up no matter where you think you are at in a tournament! It’s never over until that last putt goes in on 18 so push till the end!” the golfer added.
The tournament win puts Davidson at the top of the season’s leaderboard. The top five players at the end of the season get exemptions to participate in the Epson Tour, which is the official developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. Davidson also took home a $1,576.51 award for the NXXT Women’s Classic win, putting his total winnings for the season at $4,206.84. He also leads the NXXT Women’s Tour in total Eagles with three and total Birdies with 50.
The NXXT Women’s Tour says its mission “is to champion the talents of women golfers.”
Davidson reportedly had gender surgery in 2021 after taking hormone treatments since 2015. LPGA players voted in 2010 to remove the tour’s requirement that golfers be “female at birth” to join. The vote came two months after a trans-identifying sued, arguing that the rule violated California civil rights law, The New York Times reported.
The LPGA’s “Gender Policy” says people “who have undergone gender reassignment from male to female after puberty are eligible for membership and/or participation in tournaments.”
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