Suzy Whaley has been playing on the PGA Tour since the Greater Hartford Open in 2003. Whaley, now a pioneering past president of the PGA of America and the first woman since Babe Zaharias to compete on the PGA Tour in 1945, is a pioneering former president of the PGA of America.
Whaley earned her place by winning the Connecticut PGA Championship in 2002.
It was announced last week that Lexi Thompson accepted a sponsorship invitation to the Shiners Children’s Open in Las Vegas . This will make her seventh woman to compete on the PGA Tour.
Thompson will experience a very different scene and field next week than Whaley who was able to laugh out loud at David Duval’s introduction on the putting-green. Whaley credits her success in that week, “I know who you’re!” to the chip shot Peter Jacobsen showed her during a training round.
Thompson only has a week to prepare for the tournament and deal with the naysayers.
Whaley has been dealing with the buildup for several months, both good and bad. She shot 75-78 and missed the cut by thirteen strokes. Zaharias is the only player to have ever made a cut on a PGA Tour.
Golfweek caught up with Whaley recently to talk about her experiences playing against men, and the challenges Lexi may face.
Whaley is adamant that women must take risks and step outside of their comfort zones to make progress.
Whaley said, “I heard more about women’s Golf yesterday than I did in the nine months leading up to the Solheim Cup.”
I can’t wait until women no longer have to compete with men for attention.
