Tadd Fujikawa may be the first professional golfer to become gay

Professional Golfer Tadd Fujikawa just did the story for the second time.

The 27-year-old from Hawaii, who became the youngest golfer to qualify for the US Open in 2006, talked about his sexuality in an emotional article on Instagram earlier this week. Fujikawa is identified as gay and noted that he was writing on World Suicide Prevention Day (10 September).

"I spent too much time pretending, hiding and hating who I was," he wrote. "I've always been afraid of what others would think / say. I have suffered from my mental health for many years because of this and it has put me in a very bad place. Now, I defend myself and the rest of the LGBTQ community in the hope of being a source of inspiration and making a difference in someone's life.

The announcement would make Fujikawa, a Japanese American, the first male professional golfer to publicly identify himself as LGBTQ.

Two days after his posting on Instagram, he told Outsports that he knew for the first time that he was gay in his teens, but that he had "tried to convince himself of Be right for a long time. " it was aimed at all golf professionals and so far, "love and support have been incredible".

"I'm so happy that I'm out," he said. "I can finally be the best version of me."

Fujikawa was only 15 years old when he qualified for the US Open in 2006 as an amateur. At the time, this made him the youngest player to qualify; he is now behind Andy Zhang, who was 14 when he qualified in 2012. Fujikawa became a professional in 2007.

Last December, he won the Hawaii State Open, his first title in seven years.

Over the last few months, Fujikawa has been increasingly voiced on his anxiety and depression issues during interviews and on social networks.

"What I've experienced may not seem as bad or damaging as other people," he wrote on Instagram in October 2017. "But no matter, we all have our problems and problems. , in different ways. It's the way we treat these problems and learn to overcome them, which makes us stronger and more beautiful in the end. "