Suzy News

Why I'm playing

A first-person account from the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event

I was certainly happy to win the PGA of America's Connecticut Section Championship. It is one of the biggest local events of the year, but I had no idea how big a deal it would become. The first indication was a phone call, which came right after I signed my scorecard to make it official. I thought it would be my husband, Bill. But it was Bob Combs of the PGA Tour, who congratulated me on my victory, then asked, "Are you going to play the GHO?"

The sectional winner receives an exemption into the Greater Hartford Open at the TPC at River Highlands. Usually, it's a given that the winner plays, but as the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event, I have been considering the answer to Bob's question for two months. I know that he, along with the rest of the world, has been awaiting my decision patiently.

So here it is: I'm playing.

It may seem like a no-brainer that I would grab the opportunity to be the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event, but there were many pros and cons to weigh. During that time, everyone wanted to know more about me, wanted to know what I was going to do, or wanted to tell me what I should do. There were 41 PGA of America sectional champions in 2002, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who appeared on the "CBS Evening News."

Now that I've made my decision, I want people to know why I am going to play. First of all, I have two daughters -- Jennifer, 8, and Kelly, 5 -- so I had to look at what this means for them and for women

In general. One night -- during the whirlwind just after I won -- Jennifer asked Bill what was going on. After he explained, she said, "What's the problem? Mommy always plays against the boys." How do you explain that, well, these are the best boys? My daughters want me to play, and I've gotten letters from people saying, "If you don't do this for your girls, do it for mine." How's that for pressure?

Of course, I do feel an obligation to other women. But I had a few concerns. This course is going to be 500 yards longer than the longest courses I've played in tournaments. What if I go out and shoot 85 or 90? That wouldn't exactly help the cause. On the other hand, I've also gotten nice notes from LPGA players -- Michelle McGann, who I used to travel with on Tour, Rosie Jones, Pat Bradley -- saying go for it. I ran into Val Skinner at a dinner for the Women's Sports Foundation. She was great, very supportive. Sometimes, though, I think they're all going, "Whew, glad it's not me!"

No doubt, my exemption is getting so much more attention than it otherwise might have because it came on the heels of the Augusta issue, which came up in every interview I did. The angle was: "Here's another female trying to break the glass ceiling." In fact, Martha Burk left a message congratulating me and saying she wasn't going to use me as a flag bearer. I was thankful for her call, but chose not to phone her back because I didn't want the media to misconstrue my intentions.

I also was worried about taking a spot from a man who was trying to earn a living. I've been there. I was non-exempt on the LPGA Tour in 1990 and '93. As an alternate, I've gone to tournaments where all I did was sit in the locker room because I couldn't get into the field. I've traveled to sites, but wasn't able to pay my caddie. Such is the life of Tour pros. I'm a club pro; I have a steady job, bring home a paycheck every week, and don't have to worry about that, so it concerned me very much.

During the past couple of months, I've talked to GOLF Magazine Mental Game Consultant Dr. Richard Coop, whom I've worked with since college, about these issues. He said, "Suzy, do the guys who win the sectional ever question taking the spot?" Never. And as for shooting in the 80s or 90s, I checked the record books and there have been plenty of those scores, so I wouldn't be the first.

And there was one more factor. After Canon pulled out as title sponsor of the GHO, local businesses needed to raise enough money to keep the event alive -- which they did. The GHO is the second most attended PGA Tour event and has also raised millions for charity. The community completely embraces it -- these people are golfers around here. I thought finding a new sponsor would be a given.

But it wasn't, which complicated matters and placed even more attention on me. Even though my husband and I were completely out of the loop (my husband is the general manager at River Highlands, but the Jaycees run the event), I kept hearing things third-hand, like, this company will do it if you play.

But I never got any calls. Some local columnists lightheartedly tried to prod me. They wrote things like, "Suzy, what is your problem? You need to step up to the plate." It definitely was more pressure, but overall, people tried to let me make the decision on my own.

Now that I've decided to play, I suppose people want to know what my plan is and how I expect to do. I know I'm not going to be Phil Mickelson. I have to set my own goals for the tournament with my own reasons for being out there. I'll say this is my par on the course, and this is what I'm trying to do. I have to devise a strategy -- with the help of Dr. Coop -- where my par wouldn't be 70.

I would never say my goal is to make the cut because it's usually around even par -- not feasible for me. If I'm lucky, the course will be dry and there will be no wind. Then, I feel I can shoot 75-75. That would be huge. The worst case scenario, besides hitting in the rough on every hole, would be that I don't even make contact on the first tee. But Dr. Coop jokes, "Suzy, the first hole is downhill -- if you just tap it, it'll go somewhere."

The one thing I haven't thought too much about is whom I'll be playing with. People have compared me to Corey Pavin, whose driving distance average last year was 258 yards. I'd love to play with him; at least I'll have someone to talk to. I certainly wouldn't want to play with someone like Scott McCarron, who hits it 300 yards in the air.

But no matter whom I play with, I think all the guys understand where I'm coming from. No one on Tour has said I shouldn't play. They know I didn't go trying to do this; I didn't go to a Monday qualifier and say, "I'm going on the PGA Tour!" They know I'm not taking any money out of their pockets. Realistically, it's just, "C'mon, let's go have some fun."

In the next six months, I'll be practicing my short game and training hard to increase my upper body strength and stamina. Also, I'll be playing much more competitive golf. Winning the 2002 LPGA Teaching and Club Pro Championship got me into a major -- the McDonald's LPGA Championship. And I'm going to try to get sponsors' exemptions for other LPGA tournaments.

It would be great if I play well, but the bottom line is that I'm not a Tour player. I used to be and wasn't too successful at it. While I'm much more focused as a competitor these days, I'm really a club pro. I check people in, sit behind the counter, give lessons, and worry about the same things every mom worries about: Am I going to make it to the PTA meeting? What time is soccer practice? What should I make for dinner? I'm just a working mom who happens to play pretty good golf on occasion.

No matter what happens, I've already had a great time. I've been on ESPN's "Outside the Lines," CBS's "The Early Show," and in magazines like Sports Illustrated, Time, and US News & World Report. There was even one completely surreal moment when, linked via satellite to CNN, I was listening to Yasser Arafat live in my ear. He was in his compound, being shot at, and I thought, something's wrong with this picture... "And now to golfer Suzy Whaley in Connecticut!"

I have a chance to make history -- that's huge. Any time someone can be the first at something it's special. But my main goal -- besides having a little fun -- is to inspire young women to play anywhere they want to, to try out for any team they want to be on, whether it's a boys' or girls' team. I want to inspire women to stay on the golf course. If one girl says, "I can play," or "Look at that -- she knows she can't win but at least she's trying," it'll be a great message to send.

Cortesy of Golf Magazine