In 2016, Muirfieldone of the greatest Open Championship courses of all, lost its place in the Open rotation. The reason? A decision to continue banning women from her club. At the time, Rory McIlroy was publicly supportive of the R&A’s decision to drop Muirfield.
But ten years later, World number 2 has declared its time for the R&A to lift the ban and return the Open to the historic club.
Here’s why.
The R&A axes Muirfield as Open host following members’ vote
Muirfield, officially known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, was designed by Old Tom Morris and has hosted an incredible 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.
;)
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In 2016, Muirfield members voted to continue banning women from joining the membership. And the club paid a heavy price for that vote. Immediately after that, The R&A released a statement stating, “The Open is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and going forward we will not host the championship in a country where women are not accepted as members.”
As a result, Muirfield lost her spot in the Rota Open.
A year later, the club changed its vote and in 2019 it accepted its first wave of women members. That changed everything.
At the time the vote was reversed, McIlroy had a backlash, saying: “In this day and age, where do you have women who are like heads of certain industries and women who are heads of state and can’t walk on a golf course? I mean, it’s embarrassing. How ridiculous.”
In 2020, Muirfield was won the 2022 Women’s Open. Fast forward to 2026, and the R&A has yet to award Muirfield another Men’s Open.
But McIlroy hopes that will change soon.
McIlroy says Muirfield ‘corrected the issues they had’
McIlroy is making his second start of the season this week at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. After a third-round 71, McIlroy spoke with Golf Digest’s Evin Priest.
When asked if the Open should return to Muirfield, McIlroy responded in the affirmative.
“Muirfield, they definitely corrected the issues they had,” McIlroy said, referring to the club’s decision to end its policy barring women members.
;)
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The five-time major champion called Muirfield a “wonderful 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 would say Muirfield, that area (of) North Berwick, that would probably be one of the most commercially viable Opens. It would be great if it was.”
And while he admitted he was “not privy” to the R&A’s decision-making process, he declared, “Muirfield deserves to be back in the Rota Open.”
If the R&A is willing to bring the Open back to Muirfield, which the organization has accepted in the past, then the question is when The Open can go back there.
This year’s Open will be held at Royal Birkdale, followed by the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2027. The next open slot on the schedule is 2028.
