Golf Role Models?

There was once a time, not long ago, when professional atheletes were revered as great role models for young people. Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, and Cal Ripken Jr. all exhibited excellent sportsmanship and behavior on and off the playing field. Unfortunately, such individuals have now been replaced with less than savory characters. From the sexual misbehavior of Mark Chmura and Kobe Bryant, to the pugilistic propensity of Ron Artest and Latrell Sprewell, to the murder accusations of Ray Lewis and Rae Carruth, there is moral void in sports today.

Golf is no different, but on a smaller scale. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino are some of the good role models of yesteryear. Likewise, they have now been supplanted with the meglamania and whining of Tiger Woods, the greed of Phil Mickelson, and the cheating incidents of Vijay Singh.

So where are the good athelete role models today? How about in women's sports? Mia Hamm, Lisa Leslie and Annika Sorenstam are good candidates. But then there's the case of Denmark’s Mianne Bagger. She or he, is the first transsexual to play professional golf on the Ladies European Tour. On second thought, maybe we should look for role models outside of professional sports...