Hailey Davidson recently won a place in the LPGA Tour Qualifying series, after finishing at T42 in the pre-qualifying tournament. As the Qualifying Series begins this week, we will see her compete against 245 other competitors to reach the final stage scheduled for December 2024.

It won’t be easy for her to compete against such a large entry list. However, she is no stranger to overcoming a barrage of hurdles to reach her goals. Athlete Ally Ambassador Hailey Davidson once shared details about her medical struggles at a very young age. Let’s shed some light on her childhood experiences that restricted her to golf.

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Hailey Davidson’s unique medical challenges

Back in 2021, Hailey Davidson shared her life story with Athlete Ally. She talked about various topics, including her upbringing and how she was born to play golf. Moreover, she mentioned that her Scottish roots contributed to her decision to take up the sport. Davidson mentioned how Scotland is considered the home of golf: “It has always been in my blood ever since I was a child.” But her origin was not the only reason she chose the sport.

Hailey Davidson was always a sports enthusiast. But unfortunately, she didn’t have the option to play any sport that involved running. Davidson admitted, “I was born with my feet backwards,” indicating that she had clubfoot or talipes calcaneovalgus at birth.

Talipes calcaneovalgus is a condition where an individual has a flexible foot deformity. As per the National Library of Medicine, those born with this condition have a foot or feet that turn in and under, with the sole facing backward. On average, one out of every thousand babies worldwide are born with some form of clubfoot.

Hailey Davidson’s parents made her go through 34 procedures as a child to correct the position of her feet. However, the seriousness of the condition and the number of procedures made it difficult for her to pursue other sports that included a lot of running.

But that didn’t limit her from every sport. Davidson found her passion in golf when she was only 14 years old. She dreamt of being a professional golfer and started her journey towards playing among the best.

We now know she has overcome many challenges and is very close to achieving her dream. But did you know she’s not the only one born with this condition? So who else was born with this birth defect?

Other athletes who had clubfoot

Every golf fan might be aware of one famous sportsperson who was born with talipes calcaneovalgus. World no. 14 John Rahm shared his story of being born with clubfoot. Hailey Davidson can take inspiration from Rahm, considering the similarity in the struggles they face in one aspect of their life, at least the part that affects their strokeplay on the course.

Another well-known athlete who also had a clubfoot is Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard. As a sports enthusiast, we might be familiar with the kind of impact he left on the soccer field. Some other athletes you might be aware of include Paralympic medalists Jonathan Broom-Edwards and Aaron McKibbin. Both have excelled in their own categories of athletics at the highest level.

We are sure many more famous people have had to go through the limitations of talipes calcaneovalgus. Are you aware of them? Let us know in the comments section.