The outgoing US President Donald Trump awarded golfers Annika Sörenstam and South African Gary Player the Medal of Freedom as early as March last year.
Due to the corona pandemic, the distribution of medals was postponed.
Then Babe Didrikson Zaharias also posthumously received the Medal of Freedom.
"She is a proud American and feels honored," Sörenstam's husband Mike McGee wrote to Dagens Nyheter after the award ceremony.
But the award ceremony had an awful timing as the Capitol in Washington was stormed by Trump supporters on Wednesday and in the aftermath, votes were raised to oust Trump immediately.
Christine Brennan is not late with the criticism of Sörenstam and Player:
"They did not care about the seriousness of the situation and the calls from political leaders that Trump should be ousted and prosecuted.
No, they willingly chose to accept an award from Trump and to be seen with him the day after his words and actions led to one of the most shameful incidents in US history, "she writes.
"Sörenstam and Player will now forever be linked to Trump and this horrific event in our history."
Represents the sport
Brennan believes that golfers do not just represent themselves.
"They represent golf, the most lily-white sport that has fought for decades to attract women and people of color - while Trump has humiliated the same people."
Trump has built several golf courses and he has played several rounds of golf together with Annika Sörenstam.
But what Christine Brennan has a hard time understanding - she writes that Sörenstam's contact with Trump is confusing - is how Sörenstam shows his support for Trump (through a retweet before the presidential election) while she has shaped her career around issues such as women being treated fairly and with respect.
Brennan mentions that Sörenstam was a pioneer by competing against men.
Has not received an answer
Brennan has tried to get in touch with the golf star to ask just that question, without getting an answer.
Even after the medal ceremony, Brennan sent a question to the Swede, without receiving an answer.
USA Todays sports columnist Christine Brennan is also a sports commentator on television and a writer.
She has been awarded a prize for her fight for equality in sports journalism.