Golf star claims she is SEXIST after refusing to play in Australian tournament because she believes men and women should NOT compete at the same time
Australian golfer Scott Hend has rejected claims he is a ‘sexist elitist’ after he refused to compete in the dual-gender Australian Open.
Hend, 49, has decided not to feature in next month’s historic tournament, which will see women play alongside men, as he believes the two sexes should not play together in the event.
The Australian Open will be the first national open where women will compete at the same time as the men, rather than on different weeks, with the equivalent of $1.7million in prize money on offer for the respective winners .
Scott Hend insists he is not sexist after he decided not to play in this year’s Australian Open
‘I’ve been called a ‘sexist elitist’, which I’m not,’ Hend said via Fox Sports.
‘My exact words are that I believe the Australian Open is a prestigious event, the women and men deserve their own week for the event.
‘It’s nothing about being against women playing golf, it’s nothing about prizemoney being exactly the same… it’s just about the event having the history of how long the event (has been going for, that) both men and women should have their own week to become famous
‘That’s all I’ve said, and that’s what I firmly believe. So that being the case, I haven’t entered to play, I’m not going to try to pre-qualify … because I still believe that both men and women should have their own week to stand up and shine alone, not together, when men compare them against each other in a contest.
‘That’s not what the Australian Open is about.’
Hend, who is based in the United States, will compete in the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters during the week of the Australian Open.
She withdrew because the men’s and women’s events were played at the same time
Hend said playing two events at the same time takes the shine off the players
He has won the Asian Tour no less than 10 times, and says he will focus on that competition rather than the ‘political’ European Tour.
‘I’m done with Europe, I’m done with politics, I’m done with lying to players, I’m done with asking for a release when I want to play in other tournaments,’ he said.
‘For the last 25 years I have played where I want, when I want and I have never had to ask for permission to play another event.
‘Now … if you want to play somewhere else, you have to ask permission on that tour, otherwise they’ll punish you, so if that happens, I don’t want to get involved in that. .
‘I play golf because I love to play golf. I don’t want to get permission every week to play somewhere else.’
