Feb 08 2009
Rawson’s Comments Draw Ire
Anna Rawson is a golfer from Australia. After toiling several years at home and on the European Tour, Rawson qualified to play of the LPGA Tour in 2009.
Rawson is best known for her modeling work. She’s been likened to Anna Kournikova, an analogy she can expect to keep until she wins a tournament.
Rawson is in hot water with her golfing peers after an interview she did last week with an Australian radio station. During the interview, Rawson said that sponsors and fans have a mindset of women’s golf that is 25 years old, when most of the players were lesbian and/or ugly.
You can imagine the other players were mad. The press had a field day with her at this weekend’s tournament in Australia. Rawson cried during her press conference. Her management team drafted an apology for her and released it to the media.
Rawson was silly to make the comments she did but she’s right. In general, the best-known athletes are attractive. Tiger Woods. Maria Sharapova. Michael Jordan. Misty May-Treanor. Michael Phelps. Mia Hamm. Tom Brady. Serena Williams. David Beckham. They are not ugly people.
We are drawn to good-looking people in sport, just as we are drawn to them on the street, in the grocery store, at work or on the train. We recognize success but we also recognize beauty. Rawson was tactless but correct in her assessment. That said, women’s golf could have done without the PR headache.
