Muirfield is back in The Open Championship rota as of this week, thanks to a revote on allowing women members. However, some folks aren’t pleased it took this long to make things right, including four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.
Last May, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers held a vote to change the 273-year-old club’s policy and needed a two-thirds majority, but only got 64 percent. The R&A took swift action and removed the club from consideration as it pertained to hosting golf’s oldest major.
After this latest count, the motion passed with 80.2 percent of the members voting to permit female members.
On Wednesday, McIlroy was candid as usual speaking with the media at his Arnold Palmer Invitational presser when he was asked about the situation.
“Every time I go to Muirfield now I won’t have a great taste in my mouth.” @McIlroyRory did NOT hold back today: https://t.co/x7VkHWfGdv pic.twitter.com/pcQN14UNwu
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 15, 2017
“In this day and age, where you’ve got women that are like the leaders of certain industries and women that are heads of state and not to be able to join a golf course? I mean, it’s obscene. Like, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “We’ll go back and we’ll play The Open Championship, because they will let women members in, but every time I go to Muirfield now I won’t have a great taste in my mouth.”
While McIlroy isn’t exactly too fond of the course after he missed the cut there in 2013, or apparently the 19.8 percent of their members who still oppose female members, he understands The Open will eventually go back to the Scottish links course.
“I still think that it got to the stage, this stage, is horrendous,” he said. “Look, we’ll go back there for The Open Championship at some point, and I won’t be having many cups of tea with the members afterward.”
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