There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the notion of a women’s major championship at Muirfield would have caused cardiac arrest among the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. It took until 2017, and only at the second time of asking, for Muirfield to decide that admitting female members was appropriate. The R&A had removed Muirfield from its pool of Open venues due to the male-only stance.
The Open has not returned to East Lothian but the Women’s Open takes centre stage at Muirfield this week. The R&A presides over this major, which has been elevated to the point where $7.3m (£6m) will be distributed on Sunday. The bigger picture relates to the landmark staging of such a significant women’s competition at a course once infamous for its gender policy.
