The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Muirfield’s return to Open rota thrills Willett
GOLF: Rule change allows East Lothian venue to host again
Masters champion Danny Willett has welcomed the decision to restore Muirfield to the Open Championship rota after the club voted to admit women members (see page 5).
The East Lothian course was removed from the rota after a first vote narrowly failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required in May last year.
However, Henry Fairweather, the captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, announced yesterday that the rule change had been passed after a second ballot.
That decision was swiftly followed by one from the R&A which means Muirfield, which has hosted the Open 16 times, will again be eligible to stage the sport’s oldest major championship.
Willett, 15th at Muirfield when Phil Mickelson won in 2013, said: “I think it’s a great thing that they’ve done.
“I was fortunate to play in the Open at Muirfield and in my opinion, how they had the golf course that week and with the eventual champion in Phil, it was an awesome week.
“When the vote was passed that females weren’t going to be allowed and they were going to be taken off the Open rota, it was not only a blow for a lot of other things, but it was a blow for us golfers who think that that golf course is one of the best Open courses we play.
“For women to now be allowed to be members is a good thing, it shows change in what is ordinarily an incredibly old golf club and I think that’s great. It shows how times have changed, it shows how golf has changed.
“It’s back in the Open rota and from a selfish point of view I’m looking forward to when it eventually gets back there.”
The earliest Muirfield could stage the Open is 2022.