Australian golfer Scott Hend has opted to sit out of the upcoming Australian Open because he believes men and women should be playing separately at the event.
This year’s Australian Open will make history when it becomes the first national Open in golf where women play alongside men (at the same venue, at the same time) in a dual-gender format. Men and women will receive equal prize money at $1.7 million and will be awarded separate trophies.
“I’ve already been called a ‘sexist elitist’, which I’m not,” Hend told 9 News.
“My exact words were I believe the Australian Open is such a prestigious event, the women and the men deserve their own week for the event.
“It’s nothing about being against women playing golf, it’s nothing about prizemoney being exactly the same.
“I’m not going to play because I still believe that both men and women should have their own week to stand out and shine by themselves.”
The golfer, who represented Australia at the Rio Olympics in 2016, is back in Australia for the Queensland PGA and the Australian PGA. He will opt out of the Australian Open, due to begin next month at the Victoria and Kingston Heath clubs.
The Australia Open has been praised internationally for its steps to make the competition a more gender equal event.
Some of Australia’s best known female golfers, like Minjee Lee and Hannah Green will be competing in the event, while there will be a number of international stars too including Jennifer Kupcho and Jiyai Shin.
Minjee Lee is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, and won the US Open in June. At the event, she made history by collecting the largest winner’s prize in women’s golf history ($AUD2.5 million).