Top Female Trips Into The Male Sports World

From Danica's driving to Michelle Wie's putting, check out some of the top female attempts at entering the men's sports world.

The Battle Of The Sexes

Long before Michelle Wie was entering men's golf tournaments, female tennis star Billie Jean King played Bobby Riggs in The Battle of the Sexes. In September 1973, the 29 year-old King played 55 year-old Bobby Riggs and easily defeated the much older Riggs in three straight sets. King's victory was a huge triumph for women's sports at the time and opened the door for other female athletes to compete against men.

Michelle Wie Hits The PGA Tour

In January 2004, teenage golf star, Michelle Wie, became the youngest person, and just the fourth female to play in a PGA tour event, when she teed off at the Sony Open. Wie missed the 36-hole cut by just one stroke but had a higher score than 47 grown men and her average drive was over 270 yards. As Wie's golf game improves, you can expect to see her playing against the top male golfers in the world for years to come.

Danica Drives Indy Cars

Danica Patrick isn't the first woman to drive on the Indy Car circuit, but she's the first female to be competitive at each race. Patrick finished fourth at the 2005 Indy 500, has had several top ten finishes on the tour and has proved she's more than just a good looking girl with a nice set of tires. Danica Patrick has also created plenty of buzz for Indy Car racing and is determined to become the first female driver to win a major race.

The Black Widow Eats Her Competition

Sonya Thomas, also known as The Black Widow, has been been eating up her male opponents on the competitive eating circuit since 2003. The pint-sized Thomas weighs just over 100 pounds but has loomed large in eating contests by setting world records for eating hard-boiled eggs, cheesecake, oysters and several other foods. She is the third-ranked competitive eater in the world and the first female athlete to regularly compete and win against men in any sport.

The Fabulous Fabiola

Fabiola Da Silva has won more medals at the X Games than any other female and opened the door for other girls to compete in action sports. In 2000, her inline skating skills led the Aggressive Skating Association to introduce the "Fabiola Rule", which allows women to qualify into the men's vert finals of competitions. Since then, Fabiola has placed several times in the men's top 10 and she was the only girl competing against a field of male inline skaters at the 2004 X Games.

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