New LPGA gender policy bars golfers who have gone through male puberty

FLORIDA – The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and United States Golf Association (USGA) updated their gender policy on Dec 4, and players classified male at birth and who have gone through male puberty will not be eligible to compete.

The new policy comes into effect in the 2025 season, and covers the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and all other elite LPGA competitions, where only athletes who are born female are eligible to compete.

“Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” outgoing LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a statement.

“The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organisation, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.”

The policy was informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law, the LPGA said.

This working group advised that the effects of male puberty give competitive advantages in golf performance compared to players who have not undergone male puberty.

A player whose sex assigned at birth is male must satisfy an expert panel that they have not experienced any part of male puberty, and since receiving gender reassignment treatment, the concentration of testosterone in their serum must remain below a set limit.

Scotland-born transgender golfer Hailey Davidson, who came up short in an LPGA qualifying event in October, had hoped to get into a few Epson Tour events in 2025 but said on Dec 4 that she was “banned” from both circuits.

“All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing,” the 32-year-old wrote on Instagram. “This happened because of all your silence.”

USGA CEO Mike Whan said the updated policy is similar to those used in swimming, track and field, and other sports.

“It starts with competitive fairness as the North Star,” Whan told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. “We tried not to get into politics... We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody – at least medically today – where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line.”

Several sports governing bodies moved to limit transgender athletes’ access to elite competition in recent years, and the England and Wales Cricket Board said in October it will bar transgender women from the top level of the women’s sport.

Meanwhile, on the men’s tour, Tony Finau cleared the air on Dec 4 amid rumours that he was leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, Golfweek reported.

The American withdrew from the Dec 5-8 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and was not yet registered to play at The Sentry, the 2025 season-opening event at Maui in January. That fuelled speculation that the world No. 26 was leaving the PGA Tour.

In an interview with Golfweek, Finau said that his absence in the Bahamas is due to a recent “standard” clean-up procedure to repair a torn meniscus and remove cartilage in his left knee. He previously had a similar issue with his right knee.

The additional recovery time will indeed allow the 35-year-old to be ready for The Sentry from Jan 2 to 5 at Kapalua, Hawaii.

“I’m more than happy where I’m at on the PGA Tour and looking forward to 2025,” he told Golfweek. “When I tee it up in Maui, (the rumours) will all go away, so I don’t worry about it one bit.”

In 22 events in 2024, Finau did not record a tournament victory but he had one runner-up spot and four other top-10 finishes. He ended the season No. 23 in the FedExCup standings.

Since joining the PGA Tour in 2015, he has six tournament victories, with 11 runner-up finishes while earning US$43.1 million (S$57.8 million). Finau has not won a Major tournament but has a top-five finish in all four Majors, including third placings in the 2024 US Open and the 2019 British Open. REUTERS, AFP