Striving for Equality or Obsessed by It

Michelle Wie is a very good golfer - she's among the best female golfers out there, and she's only 16 years old. Granted, she's never won a tournament in the LPGA, but she's come close many times. Yet for some reason there are many people that think she's capable of winning a men's tournament. I think that in time Wie could be among the best women's golfers of all time, but at this point in time she's not. In the golf world there is this thing about women (not) being able to play with the men. Several women have played with the men in high profile matches and none of them have done very well. Wie made the cut once earlier this year but lost by 10+ shots, but as far as I can remember that's the best anyone has done. This week she once again stumbled against the men.

With all the focus on a woman being successful in a mens tournament I'm wondering if it really is striving for equality or an obsession. The biggest difference between a mens tournament and a womens tournament (other than gender) is that the men play longer holes (the tee box is set back further). Men, generally speaking, are naturally physically stronger than women, which is why they play longer holes. I have no doubt that if the women played from the women's tee box and the men played from the mens box that the women would do quite well - perhaps even win. Striving is to prove that women can play just as well as the men - which they can, just watch them. But the obsession is to say that the women can play equal to the men, which they can't (184 men have a higher average driving distance than the highest woman). If those obsessed with the equality of women to men in golf want a fair match, then a man should play in a womens match, then things will be equal and here's why. In the womans match the tees are set to a distance appropriate to the strength of women and if the man is that good then he'll be able to compensate for the shorter holes. Asking a woman to do well - not to mention win - in a mens tournament is like asking me to win a wrestling match with Hulk Hogan. It has nothing to do with skill, it has everything to do with physics: bigger & stronger > smaller & weaker.

I feel sorry for Wie, because she's a genuinely good golfer with great potential. Unfortunately much of that potential is being wasted on the spectacle of a girl playing in a mens tournament, when it should be being nurtured in order to find the full potential much like what was done with Tiger Woods.