ANNA Rawson was interviewed by the media yesterday. This not a rare thing, for she is a model and last year voted among the top 10 hottest female athletes in the world by US magazine Sports Illustrated. She was not asked about her golf, which is significant but not surprising even though it is her profession.

She is a member of the European and US tours. Her golf is not that good that she is often asked about it. Yesterday, she shot a second round two-under-par score of 70 in the Ladies Masters at Royal Pines. It is not what she shot on the course but how she shot her mouth off away from the golf that made her a person of interest.

On Adelaide radio on Wednesday night Rawson said this: "The tour has got so much better with so many young stars and great players. But the mentality, unfortunately amongst the media and the industry has not changed. They still think we are at 25 years ago, you know, when the tour was full of, you know, a lot of dykes and unattractive females. Nobody wanted to watch."

It was an offensive remark showing little respect for the women who toiled here in Australia and internationally so the likes of Rawson could make a comfortable living playing the sport professionally. A spokesman for the European tour said her comments would be considered by the tour bosses back in London as to whether they might have brought the game into disrepute.

At the very least they did nothing for Rawson, who is gaining a reputation as a self-promoter. In an interview last year in the magazine Men's Health an article on Rawson began this way: "'I have penis envy,' Anna Rawson lets slip as she sits in the corner lounge of an upscale Manhattan hotel. 'I could never be with a woman, because I'm just fascinated by what men can do with their bodies that we can't.' She says this loudly, as if she's often asked about the lesbian subculture that exists in her line of work - professional golf. Then she leans in conspiratorially, whispering, 'This interview will definitely get me in trouble'."

Confronted by an aggressive media yesterday she found herself in a bunker she could not get out of no matter how many swipes she took in her defence. The bunker just got deeper. Her comments angered officials with the Australian Ladies Professional Association, but because Rawson is not a member she cannot be disciplined by the local authority.

"I wasn't talking about my opinion at all ... That's not how I saw the tour 25 years ago because 25 years ago I was two years old," Rawson said. "I was just making a reference to how society sees women's golf as a whole, not necessarily women's golf in Australia."

Rawson said her comments were directed at the prizemoney which she said was 11-times less than available to the men and 25-times less in endorsement earnings. "It is just annoying how many great young players we have here, yet society and the media here don't really grab on to that and take advantage of that. That's what I was talking about. I wasn't talking about my opinion at all," she said.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have said that. I was just talking about what I'd heard and what people had told me. I like to focus on the fact that our tour is amazing. The ALPG has done a great job. There are so many talented young players who also happen to care about their appearance and I think that's fantastic. I think it's just grown and that's what I want to focus on."

Asked whether she needed to apologise to the women who built the tour on which she now hoped to prosper, Rawson replied: "Well, it wasn't my opinion that I was talking about so I don't know. I was just referring to what society is. It wasn't my opinion. I don't believe that. I don't even know what it was." And thus Rawson took a pick axe to her own credibility.

She blamed the remark on the fact that her interviewers asked her questions, which is a little quirky. "Radio is fast and they were asking questions," she said. Later Rawson said she normally got her questions in advance. Not a bad idea.

She belatedly apologised: "I'm sorry that I said that but I was misunderstood." As for penis envy? "They were asking my opinion on dating and things like that. I do envy men. If I was a man there would be a big difference. It was just a comment. It is silly really but I think the fact that maybe five million people read that and read about me, hopefully they focused on golf and will follow women's golf."

Rawson's remarks were odious. She is right that women's golf in Australia is growing and developing superior talent. But it is only the legacy of the very women she denigrated on radio. Time she let her clubs do her talking. Otherwise she needs a caddy for her mouth. A little help with sentence selection wouldn't go astray.

Ouch,,,,, !!!!! Anna,,,, please play golf and "Don't Talk" !!!!!

Truth hurts...had that one ready to post too

Hope she gets her next questions in "Advance" !!!!!!!!

Much ado over nothing. She never said it was her opinion (thought it probably is) but it certainly was/is the opinion of many with relation to the sexual preferences of the women on Tour, and a few have even "come out" over the years. The old term dykes on spikes didn't just pop up out of the blue!!

While I had not seen the earlier interview referenced, I am happy to know that someone as hot as she prefers...ah...men!

At that preference is a good choice

Good that she prefers,,,,, Men !!! Now,,,,, need a plan to hook her,,,

Lots of luck with that

She looks like a "Slicer" to me, don't let her near a knife. :-}

I think "Penis Envy" means she wishes she had one not being jealous of those who do. If that's the case then she's really a "Dyke on Spikes" in disguise. And would like to bang some of those young hotties as much as us old perverts would like to.

Later,

One can dream,,,,,,