Connect with us

Sports

Women golfers rejoice after LPGA bars post-puberty males from female competition: 'No more!'

Published

on

Women golfers rejoice after LPGA bars post-puberty males from female competition: 'No more!'

Multiple women’s golfers came forward to praise and celebrate the LPGA’s rule change on Wednesday that bars post-pubescent males from competing against females in pro competition. 

The organization said in a news release that male players who have gone through male puberty are barred from competing in the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and all other elite LPGA competitions. The new rule will go into effect for the 2025 season. 

“Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events,” the organization said. “The policies governing the LPGA’s recreational programs and non-elite events utilize different criteria to provide opportunities for participation in the broader LPGA community.”

Charley Hull, of England, watches her tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the LPGA Annika golf tournament at Pelican Golf Club, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Belleair, Fla.  (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Advertisement

The International Women’s Forum (IWF) released a press release in which several women golfers spoke in favor of the ruling later on Wednesday. These golfers include Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall, and Amy Olson.

Miller said that she and female colleagues in pro golf have said “no more” to the issues of competing against biological males with the statement.

“This announcement from the LPGA and USGA gives me hope for the future of women’s golf,” Miller said. “The movement of female professional golfers was essential and has been heard — we’ve stood up and said, ‘No more’. By acknowledging the distinctions between men and women, golf leadership is uniting with us in their desire to champion women and girls by restoring a space that prioritizes fair competition. Today, women have won.”

Olson, meanwhile, insisted that the biological differences between men and women should be acknowledged in sports. 

“This is a positive step forward, recognizing that an individual’s chromosomes affect their physical development in ways that are irreversible,” Olson said. 

Advertisement

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

Amy Olson swings club

Amy Olson of the United States hits a tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 15, 2023 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)

Fall said that Wednesday’s announcement indicates that “women do matter” in sports. 

“Today’s policy announcement is a huge win for women and girls in sports. The LPGA and USGA, the premiere bodies which dictate the rules of women’s golf, are standing up for fairness and the integrity of our sport. Today, the message sent to women is that we do matter, and they are working to return equal opportunity and protect fair sport for female athletes,” Fall said. 

Still, the announcement was not meant with unanimous praise. Liberals and trans rights activists have criticized the new rule. 

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson spoke out against the new rule, as it will likely prevent Davidson from competing in the LPGA moving forward. 

Advertisement

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and LPGA,” Davidson wrote in an Instagram Stories post. “All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.

“And somehow people are surprised the suicide rate for transgender people is around 50%. Situations just like this are part of the reason.”

Hailey Davidson swings

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson looks after shot at pre-qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)

A female golfer who competed against Davidson, Olivia Schmidt, made a plea to the LPGA to ban trans athletes like Davidson during an appearance at the Independent Women’s Forum in November. 

“The bottom line is we can fight this all we want, but the true change comes from the LPGA. They are the only ones with the power to stop it. It’s up to them to protect us,” she said. 

Advertisement

“I want my kids one day to chase their dreams and not have these distractions in their way. I’m just praying that [the policy] gets changed, and I’m praying that we can find a way to kind of find some common ground in that and hopefully for the next generation of golfers.”

Now, the LPGA has fulfilled that wish for all of its female competitors and fans. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Sports

Ranking 134 college football teams after conference title games: Boise State’s climb continues

Published

on

Ranking 134 college football teams after conference title games: Boise State’s climb continues

Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

The first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was an absolute success.

Regardless of how the bracket plays out, it has already accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. More regular-season games had more stakes. New faces made the field. The first-round games on campus will be electric. And the field appears wide open. It’s everything we wanted. Good job, everyone.

As for the bracket makeup itself, I don’t necessarily agree with every seed, but the committee got the right group. SMU was the correct decision over Alabama, at least in the current system where conference championships remain very important. Alabama’s wins were better, but its losses were worse. In the end, pulling a championship game loser out in favor of a three-loss team with bad losses would have upended the point of conference races. It was a close call. It was the right call.

Coming off conference championship weekend and ahead of the postseason, there was a shakeup at the top of this week’s penultimate edition of the Athletic 134.

Advertisement

GO DEEPER

College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Who are the national championship favorites?

1-10

My philosophy is to reward conference championship game winners and not ding the losers too much, except when they play each other. As a result, I have the same top seven as the committee. I said a week ago that a strong performance against Oregon would move Penn State above Notre Dame, and that’s what the Nittany Lions delivered in a 45-37 loss. Georgia’s second win against Texas jumped the Bulldogs up to No. 2, but I can’t drop the Longhorns much for an overtime loss.

The bottom end of the top 10 is different from the committee’s choices. Boise State and Arizona State move up to No. 8 and No. 9 with dominant championship wins against top-25 teams. SMU fell to No. 10 as a result of its loss to Clemson, but only because it was jumped by two other teams that played. While Arizona State has a blowout win against a Wyoming team that gave Boise State problems, the Sun Devils’ two regular season losses, compared to Boise State’s one last-second loss at No. 1 Oregon, keeps the Broncos ahead.

Advertisement
go-deeper

GO DEEPER

In defense of the College Football Playoff’s funky seeding format

11-25

Rank Team Record Prev

11

11-1

9

12

Advertisement

9-3

11

13

10-2

13

Advertisement

14

9-3

14

15

9-3

Advertisement

15

16

10-3

25

17

Advertisement

10-2

16

18

9-3

17

Advertisement

19

9-3

18

20

10-3

Advertisement

19

21

9-3

20

22

Advertisement

11-1

28

23

9-3

21

Advertisement

24

10-3

22

25

10-2

Advertisement

23

Like SMU, Indiana fell back two places because it was jumped by two teams that had lopsided wins against top-25 opponents. Indiana has no such wins. The Hoosiers are still in my field, but their lack of quality wins left them open to getting jumped. Alabama remains the last team out of my 12-team CFP field.

Clemson moves up to No. 16 with its last-second win against SMU, but the Tigers stay behind South Carolina because of their loss to the Gamecocks a week ago. Army jumps up to No. 22 with a 35-14 win against Tulane, and UNLV falls to No. 24, jumped by Clemson and Army.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Alabama snubbed? The Crimson Tide’s case for Playoff inclusion

26-50

Rank Team Record Prev

26

Advertisement

8-4

24

27

8-4

26

Advertisement

28

8-4

27

29

8-4

Advertisement

29

30

9-4

30

31

Advertisement

7-5

31

32

7-5

32

Advertisement

33

7-5

33

34

8-4

Advertisement

34

35

8-4

35

36

Advertisement

9-3

36

37

8-4

37

Advertisement

38

8-4

38

39

7-5

Advertisement

39

40

10-3

52

41

Advertisement

10-3

40

42

6-6

41

Advertisement

43

6-6

42

44

8-3

Advertisement

43

45

7-5

44

46

Advertisement

7-5

45

47

7-5

46

Advertisement

48

6-6

47

49

6-6

Advertisement

48

50

6-6

49

Tulane remains at No. 30 after the AAC title game loss to Army. Sun Belt champion Marshall jumps up to No. 40 after a 31-3 win against Louisiana.

Advertisement

51-75

Jacksonville State climbs to No. 60 with a 52-12 win against Western Kentucky in the CUSA title game, and Ohio moves up to No. 73 after beating Miami (Ohio) to win the MAC. The Bobcats stay behind Kentucky because of their 41-6 loss to the Wildcats in Week 4.

76-134

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)

Continue Reading

Sports

Bengals snap losing streak after Cowboys' head-scratching blunder on 'Monday Night Football'

Published

on

Bengals snap losing streak after Cowboys' head-scratching blunder on 'Monday Night Football'

The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 23-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”

The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year. 

At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game. 

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws a pass against the Dallas Cowboys in the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: (Tim Heitman-Imagn Images)

Advertisement

Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad. 

Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly. 

Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead. 

JOE BURROW PLAYS COY WHEN ASKED ABOUT $3 MILLION BATMOBILE PURCHASE: ‘DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT’

Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys’ cornerback miss, and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point. 

Advertisement

That capped another “Monday Night Football” highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night. 

CeeDee Lamb scores touchdown

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) makes a touchdown over the Cincinnati Bengals in the first quarter during Monday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington,Texas on Monday, December 9, 2024. (IMAGN)

Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss. 

CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result. 

Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.

For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season. 

Advertisement
Ja'Marr Chase celebrates touchdown

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) and wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) celebrate Chase’s touchdown in the first quarter of Dallas Cowboys during Monday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington,Texas on Monday, December 9, 2024. (IMAGN)

Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Continue Reading

Sports

Stephen Barbee resigns as football coach at Long Beach Poly

Published

on

Stephen Barbee resigns as football coach at Long Beach Poly

Stephen Barbee has resigned after seven seasons as football coach at Long Beach Poly.

That opens up a job at a school that has won 20 Southern Section championships.

It is a tougher job than in a previous era, because private schools have been taking away players and attendance boundaries play a major role.

But Poly is Poly, with lots of talent around campus.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending