Golf is known all too well as the boring rich white boys game. Before a multi-ethnic boy burst onto the scene in the form of Tiger Woods, draining the long birdie was mere filler between baseball and basketball highlights on sport shows. After Woods' success, rules began to change allowing men of all ethnicities to play on the best golf courses. Suddenly, rich minority men were allowed to hob nob with rich white men, and the wealthy finally accepted the wisdom of Don King: It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is as long as you still have lots of green in the wallet.

A new crisis has occurred in the sport of golf, and it has nothing to do with skin color. It has to do with gender. The best woman golfer in the world, Annika Sorenstam, will play in Colonial this coming weekend. No woman has played on the men's PGA Tour for decades, and now, the grumbling returns in the form of sexism instead of racism.

One of the tour's top players, Vijay Singh, publicly stated he hoped Sorenstam would miss the cut in the up coming Colonial. After hounded by the media, Singh softened his stance, revising his words to say he hoped she wouldn't beat him. Nice try, Vijay. What's ironic about Singh's stance is that he's from Fiji (in other words, he's got brown skin), and he's spewing the same unjust venom old whitey used against guys like him for decades upon decades.

Tiger Woods said that he thinks Sorenstam should play in several tour events to give her a chance to establish a pattern. He pointed out that anyone could have things go wrong in one tournament. Of course, once you find out Woods and Sorenstam have the same agent, you can't help but think there is an ulterior motive afoot.

One thing that appears to be overshadowed in this girlie golfer debate is that Annika Sorenstam is the best woman golfer to come along ever. She has dominated the women's tour more than Woods has the men's game. She does not deserve a chance just because she is a woman. She deserves a chance because she's bar none the best damn woman golfer in the world. It's as simple as that.

All this debating and controversy is just hype. More people will tune in to watch the Colonial (who sets aside time to watch that golf tournament?) than ever before. If Annika plays well, the tournament does well. If Sorenstam bogeys, the tournament still does well. It's a no brainer for the Colonial people. Golf still comes down one simple color: green.

The rich boys will still be rich boys, and many of them don't want to play with girls. They want their own clubhouse, secret handshakes and passwords. Let us not forget that these are still mostly spoiled white boys, and even the few non-whites in the locker room cop the same attitude. They don't like the idea of being beaten at all, let alone by a girl.

If there is any sport that lends itself to both genders, it's golf. The real difference between men and women is in the long game. Men can drive the ball further down the fairway than women. That's genetics. When it comes to the short game, the hole is in the same spot for everyone. Putting is all about touch, and from my experience, women have always had the better touch.

I'm rooting for Annika in the Colonial. I don't expect her to be in the hunt for the lead, but it will be nice to put some of the rich whiners in their place. Maybe it will make some of the boys work a little harder to get their $20,000 paycheck for coming in 54th. What's wrong with being paired next to the best girlie golfer in the world anyway? You might even learn a thing or two.

Chris Jungle fails to make the cut every time.