McIlroy not ready to forgive and forget Muirfield ban

ORLANDO, Florida: Muirfield golf club may have scrapped its all-male policy and been welcomed back into the British Open rotation but world number three Rory McIlroy said on Wednesday he is not ready to toast a new era.

The Northern Irishman, speaking a day after Muirfield voted to admit women members, remained critical of the years women were denied membership and did not sound like he would be changing his opinion anytime soon.

“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 afterwards,” McIlroy, 27, said.

Muirfield had a male-only membership policy since the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which controls the course, was founded in 1744. Women are allowed to play there, but an initial ballot to allow women members failed in May last year when only 64 percent voted in favor.

But centuries of discrimination ended when the necessary two-thirds majority had been reached, with 80.2 percent of members voting in favor of change on Tuesday.

The R&A, the body that organizes The Open, then declared Muirfield back on its list of eligible courses, having said last year it would not stage the tournament at a venue that did not admit female members.