Trans golfer Hailey Davidson says she doesn't hit 'as far as people think', thanks Caitlyn Jenner for support
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson expressed her happiness to know Caitlyn Jenner defended her this week but also said she wished to "clear up some assumptions" about her game. "I appreciate the love and support, but definitely to clear up some assumptions would be awesome," she told TMZ. "I definitely don't hit it as far as people say. Like, nowhere close."
Jenner, who has constantly criticized transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and her effort to reach the Olympics, has now defended Davidson and her bid to become the first transgender athlete to compete on the LPGA tour. Davidson's attempt has come under scrutiny but Jenner has surprisingly offered support.
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Jenner has claimed that golf and swimming are different sports considering the skills needed to succeed. "I’ve been very consistent with how I’ve tried to approach these transgender athletes. It really depends on the sport. Every sport is different," Jenner said, according to Fox News. "Obviously, we saw with Lia Thomas, she had gone through male puberty, bigger cardiovascular system, it just wasn’t fair. And fortunately, we won that one." "She’s playing within the rules," Jenner said. "Golf is totally different game. It is a game of touch and feel."
Jenner made the "touch and feel" remark but did not explicitly refer to Davidson's swinging power. "I hit it a lot shorter, needless to say, than I thought I ever would," Davidson said. "The amount of yardage I lost during - you know, I've been on hormones for what, seven years. I've transitioned I feel like a lot longer than a lot of the athletes you're probably seeing in the media today."
"I would love to talk to her in regards to more about how we are athletes and her experience may not be everyone's experience," Davidson said, according to the Daily Mail. "Everyone's experiences are different and everyone's built different. With what she was training to do, yeah, I'm pretty sure she's pretty big and strong."
Davidson claimed even her opponents think she can hit the ball further than she really can. She said that her average drive is 250-255 yards, which puts her outside of the top 80 (at least) in the LPGA. Davidson said she believes there needs to be more consistency while judging trans athletes, regardless of the numbers.
"While sports are different, it needs to be treated on more of a human basis. Rather than - there's a lot of hypocrisy between what a trans person can be, and what a cis female can be like," she said. "I feel like it's almost wrong for a trans person to hit it as far as I do, but yet, my [cisgender] counterpart, it's like, 'oh yeah it's great, good for them!' I feel like we just need to put the same standards on, kind of everyone. Like, I'm a female, she's a female, we should have the same standards."
Although Jenner extended her support to Davidson, she earlier opened up about why she thinks Lia Thomas has an unfair advantage earlier this month. "She has a tremendous advantage over the girls, she’s taller, has bigger hands, her cardiovascular system is bigger, she went through male puberty – all of those things, and it’s just not fair," Jenner said, according to the Daily Mail. "It makes the trans community look selfish and self-absorbed. Lia Thomas even said if you accept me as a woman, you accept me as woman athlete but no, we do not have to accept that." Earlier this year, FINA, the governing body of swimming, barred transgender women athletes from competing in women's sports if they failed to transition before the age of 12.