Transgender woman wins mini tour event to keep LPGA Tour dream alive
Hailey Davidson wins first tournament in two and half years as she edges closer to LPGA Tour dream.
Transgender woman Hailey Davidson won the NXXT Women's Classic earlier this week to race clear at the top of the Florida mini tour's standings and keep her LPGA Tour dream alive.
Davidson, 30, clawed her way into a playoff having been three strokes down with two holes to play at Mission Inn Resort and Club.
The Scottish native, who resides in Florida, then came through the playoff with a par on the second extra hole.
Davidson took to her Instagram page with a celebratory post after winning her first tournament in two and half years.
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson wants to ‘make Scotland proud’#TelegraphSport
— Telegraph Sport (@TelegraphSport) January 21, 2024
The victory moves Davidson clear at the top of the standings where the top five players will earn two Epson Tour exemptions each.
The Epson Tour is the development feeder tour for the LPGA, so it is the equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour and Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour.
Davidson wrote on Instagram:
She added:
Davidson's latest victory vaults her up to 1,320 points in the standings, which is 150 points clear of second.
However, according to Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols, it could be a case that nobody earns any exemptions to the Epson Tour this season due to the fact the NXXT must have minimum of 10 tournaments with an average of 40 players.
Davidson's victory at the NXXT Women's Classic came in a 25-player field.
NXXT fields will therefore need to increase quickly over the coming weeks, especially with the season concluding in March.
In order for Davidson to earn full status on the Epson Tour, she would need to win a tournament on the circuit.
A top-10 finish in an Epson Tour appearance would secure her playing rights in the next Epson Tour event.
Davidson hits back at her haters
With Davidson's name very much back in the headlines following her latest win, she took to Instagram to hit back at her critics.
Davidson posted a video of her hitting a golf shot with the caption:
Davidson came closest to fulfilling her LPGA Tour dream in 2022 when she became the second transgender player to compete in an LPGA Q-School tournament.
But she failed to make the cut.
According to reports, the first transgender player to compete in a qualifier was Bobbi Lancaster, who was 63 at the time.
Davidson's first victory came on the National Women's Golf Association (NWGA) in 2021 when she took down a number of standout LPGA Tour players such as Paula Creamer.
She first underwent hormone treatments on 24 September 2015, and she then underwent gender reassignment surgery, which is a six-hour procedure required under the LPGA Tour's Gender Policy, in January 2021.
What do you make of Davidson's latest win? Do you think she will achieve her dream of competing on the LPGA Tour one day? Share your thoughts over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
