Disabled golfer Brendan Lawlor has spoken out against the “nasty” online comments he received after playing in a DP World Tour event in Japan.
Lawlor was targeted after the tour shared a video of him competing at the ISPS Handa Championship last month.
The Irishman, 26, has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome,a bone growth disorder that leads to shorter limbs and stature.
Posting a video on Twitter, Lawlor said he has received “real negative” abuse.
Lawlor also shared a number of the comments on his post, saying he wanted to highlight the damaging impact they could have on his fellow disability golfers and the sport in general.
Irish pop star Niall Horan, whose Modest Golf management company counts Lawlor among its stable, offered support to the golfer on Twitter.
“I got a beautiful start in Japan, had a fabulous week, and the DP World Tour shared a video which went viral,” said Lawlor, who made history in 2020 when he became the first golfer with a disability to play on the DP World Tour.
“It got some amazing feedback, real positive, but unfortunately it got some real negative.
“I just wanted to get on and highlight how bad the negative was and, if you weren’t in the frame of mind to take this negativity, of what it could do to people.
“I’m lucky enough where my condition has never affected me. I’ve grown up all my life with negative comments and I blew them off with the breeze, but I wanted to hop on and highlight these comments for other people.”
‘We’ve broken down so many barriers’
Lawlor missed the cut at the ISPS Handa Championship after carding rounds of 81 and 77 having been given a sponsor’s invite to play in Omitama.
“Disability people are putting themselves out there now on a platform, DP World Tour are sharing videos, and I don’t want these guys to get slandered online with nasty comments,” he added.
“It’s going to happen anyway, but we’ve broken down so many barriers in the world of golf and I feel this was the opportunity for me to highlight this barrier and maybe overcome this one as well.
“These guys are putting themselves out there for other people to put themselves out there and it’s a roll-on effect. We’re trying to get more disability people into sport in general and I just think the comments are damaging.
“I’m all for equality of opportunity and that’s what we’re showcasing on the DP World Tour. I hope we can go further and comments like this don’t affect our players and people in general.”
Lawlor is set to compete at the inaugural G4D Open, a 54-hole event launched by the R&A which will be contested by up to 80 players at Woburn Golf Club between 10 and 12 May.
The Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour launched in 2022 and is in its second season.
Source – BBC Sport
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