It’s been 20 years since Suzy Whaley teed it up on the PGA Tour in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open. Now a groundbreaking past president of the PGA of America, Whaley became the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event since the great Babe Zaharias in 1945.
Whaley, of course, earned her spot by winning the 2002 Connecticut PGA Championship.
Last week it was announced that Lexi Thompson had accepted a sponsor invitation to the Shiners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, which will make her the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event.
The field and the scene next week in Vegas will be much different for Thompson than it was for Whaley, who laughed out loud when David Duval introduced himself on the putting green. (“I know who you are!”) Whaley actually credits much of her success that week to a chip shot Peter Jacobsen taught her during a practice round.
Most of the heavy hitters on the PGA Tour have shut it down this fall, and Thompson has only a week of lead-up to prepare and navigate the naysayers.
Whaley dealt with the buildup – good and bad – for months. She ultimately shot 75-78 to miss the cut by 13 strokes. Only one player – Zaharias – has ever made the cut in a PGA Tour event.
Golfweek recently caught up with Whaley to reminisce on her time playing against the men and talk about the challenges Lexi might face.
Whaley firmly believes that women taking opportunities outside their comfort zones is what must be done to create progress.
“Yesterday the world was talking about women’s golf more in one day than I heard for nine months to the Solheim Cup,” said Whaley.
“I can’t wait for the day when women get that kind of attention and don’t have to play against the men to get it.”
GW: What was your reaction to the Lexi Thompson exemption?
Lexi Thompson of Team USA warms up during Day One of The Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Club on September 22, 2023, in Casares, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
SW: I was up scrolling, as most of us do when we first wake up, or at least as I do, and I saw it right away and I sent it off to my husband my kids, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ … Good for her for saying yes.
GW: When you say yes to something like this, as you know it comes with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of opinions. What’s your advice for Lexi navigating criticism that she might see on twitter?
ST. LOUIS – JULY 24: Suzy Whaley tees off on the first hole of the Greater Hartford Open on July 24, 2003. Whaley is the first woman to qualify for the Greater Hartford Open. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SW: I don’t want to ever speak for Lexi, but she has been through media scrutiny. It’s not going to be a surprise for her.
I think any of us who played, and I’ll speak for myself, we know the pros and cons – we lived through it. I just didn’t have to live through it with social media. I lived through it with the U.S. Postal Service.
When you get things in the mail, good and bad, it definitely takes a really thick skin to realize not everybody is going to agree with your decision and that’s OK. You have to go with your objectives and your goals for the event and have people around you that support you. People who, whether you play well or poorly, support you. That’s what I hung my hat on, surrounding myself with those who supported the decision and a full 100 percent belief in my purpose and why I was doing it.
GW: How many letters did you get?
SW: A lot.
GW: Hundreds?
SW: Oh yes, more than that.
GW: Thousands?
SW: It was a lot.
GW: If you had to guess the breakdown of positive to negative?
Residents along the course encourage Suzy Whaley as she passes by during the second round of the Greater Hartford Open on July 25, 2003, at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SW: I don’t really know the answer to that. I got some incredible letters from women internationally who didn’t even play sports who were in support of taking opportunities, being brave, showcasing to my daughters that no matter the environment that you hold your head high with hard work, an enormous amount of work. Those were my favorites, obviously.
Then you have trolls, just like you did on social media, who would do anything to do make sure you didn’t step out of your comfort zone. To make sure you stayed where they believed you should stay. Those are hard to read, especially when you’re holding one of those.
You look to your family and your friends in those moments and again you stick to your purpose and you know you have something that you want to get across to the world in doing this and to yourself. I think when you hold that true and dear, no matter how she plays, she’ll hold her head high and go on to her first endeavor.
(continued)
Annika Sorenstam at the PGA Tour’s 2003 Bank of America Colonial at the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas. (Photo: Dave Martin/Associated Press)
SW: Annika and I talked about this for the first time ever this year in a CBS special when we sat down in Augusta to have a conversation about the event. Annika mentioned in that interview that she was doing it to push herself to the next level.
I wasn’t doing it for that. I was doing it for my daughters. I was doing it to showcase to the world that PGA of America wants to grow the game, they want to get people around the world playing the game. If I can have the guts to step out on this golf course, I would hope that would inspire somebody to step out on any golf course.
GW: How did that experience help you to eventually lead the PGA of America? Because that did thicken your skin to an extent I can imagine.
PGA of America President Suzy Whaley speaks with the media prior to announcing Steve Stricker as the United States Ryder Cup Captain for 2020 on February 20, 2019, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
SW: It definitely thickens your skin, and I think you also leave with more confidence. You leave understanding that some of the things you didn’t think you could do you actually can do. For me, when I chose to get in governance for the PGA of America, it wasn’t because I played GHO (Greater Hartford Open), it was because I enjoyed learning from the people I was surrounded by within governance from the amazing PGA professionals who had my same passion for the game.
But when it took an effort to stand up and try to be elected for an association of 29,000 where 5 percent are female, I wasn’t afraid of that because I ran as somebody who thought I was qualified, not because I was a female.
For me, certainly anytime you step outside of your comfort zone and do something that you feel is something you would never have done but do it, you certainly have another platform to take another step up the railing and say, ‘I did that, I can try this. I can manage this. I can fail at this, and it’s going to be OK. I wouldn’t like it, but I would live through it.’
GW: There’s no question that this has been Lexi’s worst year on the LPGA performance-wise. She is trending in a good direction, but it’s been a really tough year. What if she does out there next week and has a really tough week, performance-wise? Do you think that can damage the brand of women’s golf?
Lexi Thompson walks the 4th fairway during the first round of the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports
SW: Yesterday I was listening to tons of programming in regard to this. I don’t know about Annika, but they certainly put that on my heels too, that enormous weight of women’s sport. Oh, if she fails, all of women’s sport will get a black eye. Who gets to say that?
People in the arena are the only ones who get to decide what their performance does or doesn’t do in the landscape of sport. Not the people outside the arena. People can have their opinions, and you have to be OK with that. Lexi, certainly if she plays poorly, I‘m sure she’ll have to find a way to navigate that and talk about it and be open about it and move on from it.
But if she plays great she’s going to do the same thing. Does it condemn women’s golf and women’s sport? Oh my gosh, the history of women’s sports and women’s golf is far bigger and greater than one person playing a golf tournament in one moment in time.
I would certainly hope that the golf industry could take that wholeheartedly and say ok, yeah, can you critique her if she has a bad week? Of course. Can you condemn women’s sports and women’s golf if she has a bad week? That’s just absurd.
GW: The next tough question that you hear a lot is criticism that she’s taking a spot. With the way the tour is structured, this is a field full of guys who haven’t had as many opportunities and really trying to earn their place for next year. How would you respond to people who say she’s taking a spot from people who are trying to build their career?
Fans watch the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
SW: We heard that 20 years ago. Annika and I heard the same thing. It’s a fact, for sure. There’s a spot in the field and Lexi has one of them that was given to her by the sponsor of the event.
For Lexi, in that moment and time, if you’re asked by the sponsor and you say yes, you’re going to go play in that event. Did she take a spot? Yes, she did. But at the same time, she was given that by the sponsor.
GW: When you look back, what’s your favorite moment from the week? Where does your mind go most often?
Suzy Whaley stands with her daughter Jennifer before she tees off at the start of the second round of the Greater Hartford Open on July 25, 2003 at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SW: I think walking with my kids to the first tee, which is super cliché. It really was. I didn’t have a week to wait – I had nine months to think about it. Every single day, every single night. Going to my mailbox every single day. The anticipation of it was far longer than a week. Talking about it was every day. And so for me, finally having it be in the moment, I just wanted so much to take it in and to be present.
My daughters, who were 8 and 6 at the time, made me do that because they were asking me questions at the time that had nothing to do with the golf. Whatever happens today, this is my life. It took a little of the strain off it for me. Because I knew they were going to ask me the same questions when I got off the golf course, didn’t matter what I shot or what TV show I was on or what I said. My girls were going to say, ‘mom, what’s for dinner?’
GW: How did you feel about your game going into that week?
Suzy Whaley is congratulated by her caddie Jim “Buck” McGann after the second round of the Greater Hartford Open on July 25, 2003, at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Whaley did not make the cut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SW: I was working full time, I was a head golf professional at the time. Again, two daughters, very young. My husband was working full time as the general manager at the club, so obviously I had family and friends that were taking on a ton of my responsibilities, inclusive of at work.
The golf professionals that I worked on a team with were taking some of my responsibilities so I could practice and play. I worked out three hours a day every day, didn’t miss a day at 4:30 a.m. For me, when I said yes, I was going to do everything in my power to play the best golf I possibly could play.
I worked with Dr. Coop who was a psychologist, Bucky McGann was on my bag, Michelle’s dad, who was a dear family friend but an unbelievable caddie. I did everything possible to play well and be prepared and I went into that event stronger and as prepared as I have ever been for a golf tournament.
GW: Did you hear any negativity from any of the men in the field that week?
Peter Jacobsen celebrates after his birdie putt on the fourth green during the final round of the Greater Hartford Open on July 27, 2003 at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SW: Not that week of, but certainly in the press. Again, you’d be naïve to think there weren’t people who didn’t agree with it. … I tried to go in with a realistic attitude. But on the other hand, I had unbelievable support.
For me, looking back on it, Peter Jacobsen was one of my biggest advocates, my biggest support system leading up to the GHO, playing a practice round with me, at now the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, and he won the golf tournament. It was literally this moment in time where you thought wow, karma is pretty cool.
GW: Can more ground still be broken in this regard in terms of helping the women’s game?
Suzy Whaley celebrates sinking a putt during the first round of the Greater Hartford Open on July 24, 2003, at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The birdie putt was her only one of the day. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
That’s a whole other interview because I think there are so many things that can help the women’s game. This is just a small part of that. If it creates media attention on women’s golf or on women’s sport, I’m a huge advocate, even if it’s negative attention, because any press is good press. And the LPGA needs a heckuva a lot more press than they receive for the talent that’s on that tour.
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