<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4PDtaM_0wNPNt3n00" style="display:none" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4PDtaM_0wNPNt3n00" width="400" height="400" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0VQGqE_0wNPNt3n00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0VQGqE_0wNPNt3n00" width="885" height="498" > Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson whiffed at a chance to become the first male-born player to earn a spot on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, but will still be eligible to play pro golf on the developmental tour. Davidson, 31, failed to advance after tying for 92nd&nbsp;place by <a href="https://live.lpgascoring.com/q-school/public/QSLeaderboard.aspx" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> shooting </a> an even-par 72 in the final round Friday of the LPGA Q-Series qualifying stage in Venice, Florida, carding a four-round score of 290 and missing the cut by six shots. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Forty-three players qualified for the final stage of the Q-Series next month. Although Davidson won’t be among them, the former men’s collegiate golfer earned limited status on the 2025 Epson Tour, the LPGA’s qualifying tour. Whether Davidson plays on the Epson is another question. The LPGA is conducting a “thorough review” of its Gender Policy, which permits males who identify as female to compete as long as they undergo gender-change surgery and lower their testosterone to LPGA-approved levels. An LPGA spokesperson said any rule changes would be announced&nbsp;ahead of&nbsp;the 2025 season. The Scottish-born Davidson, who played NCAA Division II and III men’s golf before transitioning to female, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBlkm5Mx8F1/?img_index=1" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> acknowledged </a> the uncertainty&nbsp;with regard to&nbsp;the Epson Tour. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> “I’ve been told I should still have good enough @epsontour status to get into a few events next year but I am not going to get ahead of myself,” Davidson said in a Saturday post on Instagram. Davidson added, "This certainly was not the week I was looking for. ... Thank you to anyone who showed support this week on and off the course, especially the security personnel I had with me at all times while at the course due to all the extreme hate and threats. I truly wouldn’t be able to hold it together without that.” More than 275 former and current professional female golfers have signed&nbsp;onto&nbsp;a <a href="https://x.com/IWF/status/1848911649454866803" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> letter </a> to the LPGA urging the tour to repeal its Gender Policy and limit eligibility to female-born players. Davidson won three times on the NXXT Tour before the Florida-based minitour announced a policy change in March restricting membership to players who are born female. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Davidson would not be the first male-born player to win Epson Tour eligibility. Transgender golfer Bobbi Lancaster earned a spot in 2013 at age 63 but didn't play in a tournament, <a href="https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2024/10/25/transgender-golfer-hailey-davidson-fails-advance-lpga-qualifying-earns-epson-tour-status/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> according </a> to Golfweek. Lancaster, now 74, says transgender players who have undergone male puberty have an unfair advantage. “I don’t think it’s fair to have transgender women like me competing against cisgender women in women’s sports,” Lancaster told Golfweek last winter. “Period, end of story.” </div></body>

Mountain View, CA

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson whiffed at a chance to become the first male-born player to earn a spot on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, but will still be eligible to play pro golf on the developmental tour.