USA Today sportswriter and Trump hater Christine Brennan blasted Hall of Fame golf legend Annika Sorenstam and much of the golf world Wednesday for refusing to trash former President Donald Trump. Sorenstam has sold her soul for the outgoing president and blew it by not repudiating him, Brennan wrote.
On Jan. 7, Sorenstam received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump “less than 24 hours after he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” Brennan incorrectly alleges. She had a chance Tuesday to repudiate Trump, apologize for her actions and admit she made a mistake.
“She did none of that,” Brennan raged. “Failing miserably to comprehend the gravity of her association with one of the darkest days in American history, she instead fell back on embarrassing, insipid clichés.”
Sorenstam said she’s not looking back and not second guessing. Not exactly what the USA Today Trump hater extraordinaire wanted to hear. Golf has not even entered the 21st century, Brennan asserts. For golf is …
“A Trump-loving, rich white man’s game, mostly; a sport almost completely out of touch with what’s happening in this diverse land outside the walls of its exclusive country clubs and the windows of its private jets.”
The tirade by Brennan (in photo) continued. As Trump departed the White House “in disgrace, his presidency in shambles … there will be many in golf who will maintain an allegiance to Trump no matter what, including corporate leaders who run the game, and the men’s and women’s Tour players who have strongly and openly supported him.”
It doesn’t have to be this way, and golf could change if it really wanted to, Brennan continued. Sorenstam had an opportunity “to right a wrong, to correct the record, to make her break from Trump. She’s a trailblazing women’s sports icon, a description rarely attached to a Trump fan. This was her moment.”
Sorenstam’s word matters because she is the new president of the International Golf Federation, and she’s a role model for girls. But, to Brennan, she and other golfing figures are blowing opportunities to cancel Trump:
“Silence has gripped all kinds of people who should have an opinion on a golf superstar's visit with the man who incited the deadly assault on our democracy. LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan never replied to a Jan. 7 text message seeking comment on the issue, while U.S. Golf Association president J. Stuart Francis replied to an email saying, ‘On the topic you asked about, I am not in a position to comment on it.’ ”
Angered over a sport that, while it has removed a prestigious 2022 tournament from Trump, refuses to condemn the former president, Brennan fumes that the game should be bigger and better than him.
“Isn't golf supposed to be about honor and ethics and decency? What in the world are these people so afraid of?” asks Brennan. Who herself raises the question: aren’t media supposed to be fair-minded and set biases aside?
