In 2016, Muirfield, one of the greatest Open Championship courses of them all, lost its place in the Open rotation. The cause? A decision to continue banning women from the club. At the time, Rory McIlroy publicly supported the R&A’s decision to drop Muirfield.
But ten years on, the world number 2 has declared it is time for the R&A to lift the ban and bring the Open back to the historic club.
This is why.
R&A removes Muirfield as Open host after vote by members
Muirfield, officially known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, was designed by Old Tom Morris and has hosted no fewer than 16 Open Championships.
The most recent Open held at Muirfield was in 2013, when Phil Mickelson rallied to win his first Open title and, at the time, his fifth major championship. But for a while, it looked like the 2013 Open might be Muirfield’s last.
In 2016, Muirfield members voted to continue excluding women from membership. And the club paid a huge price for that vote. Shortly afterwards, the R&A issued a statement by stating: “The Open is one of the world’s greatest sporting events and in the future we will not host the championship in a venue that does not admit women as members.”
As a result, Muirfield lost his place on the Open roster.
A year later, the club reversed its vote and accepted its first wave of female members in 2019. That changed everything.
When the vote was reversed, McIlroy responded curtly, saying, “In this day and age you have women who look like the leaders of certain industries and women who are heads of state and can’t go to a golf course? I mean, it’s obscene. Like it’s ridiculous.”
In 2020, Muirfield was awarded the 2022 Women’s Open. Fast forward to 2026, and the R&A still has not awarded Muirfield another Men’s Open.
But McIlroy hopes that will change soon.
McIlroy says Muirfield ‘fixed the problems they had’
McIlroy makes his second start of the season this week during the Dubai Desert Classic of the DP World Tour. After a third round 71, McIlroy spoke with Golf Digest’s Evin Priest.
When asked whether the Open should return to Muirfield, McIlroy replied in the affirmative.
“Muirfield, they have clearly resolved the issues they had,” McIlroy said, referring to the club’s decision to end its policy of excluding female members.
;)
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The five-time major champion called Muirfield a “beautiful golf course” and argued it made commercial sense to bring the Open back to the course.
“It has to make commercial sense,” McIlroy continued. “I’d say Muirfield, that area [of] North Berwick, that would probably be one of the most commercially viable Opens. It would be great if that were the case.”
And while he admitted he was not “in the know” of the R&A’s decision-making process, he stated: “Muirfield deserves to be back on the Open roster.”
If the R&A is willing to bring the Open back to Muirfield, as the organization has acknowledged in the past, the question is when the Open could return there.
This year’s Open will be held at Royal Birkdale, followed by the Old Course at St Andrews in 2027. The next open on the schedule is 2028.
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