Back in 2016, Muirfield, one of the greatest Open Championship courses of all, lost its spot in the Open rotation. The reason? The decision to continue to ban women from its club. At the time, Rory McIlroy publicly supported the R&A’s decision to withdraw from Muirfield.
But ten years later, World No. 2 has announced its time for the R&A to lift the ban and return the Open to the historic club.
Here is the reason.
The IR&A dropped Muirfield as an open host after a member’s 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 battled to win his first Open title and, at the time, 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 barring women from membership. And the club paid a heavy price for that vote. Shortly afterwards, the R&A issued a statement announcing, “The Open is one of the world’s greatest sporting events and going forward we will not hold the Championship in a venue that does not accept women as members.”
As a result, Muirfield lost its place on the Open rota.
A year later, the club revoked its vote and in 2019 welcomed its first wave of female members. That changed everything.
When the vote was overturned, McIlroy was adamant, saying, “In this day and age, where have you got women like heads of industry and women heads of state who can’t join the golf course? I mean, obscenely, it’s ridiculous.”
In 2020, Muirfield was awarded the 2022 Women’s Open. Flash forward to 2026, and the R&A still hasn’t awarded Muirfield a men’s Open.
But McIlroy hopes that will soon change.
McIlroy says Muirfield has ‘fixed the problems they had’
McIlroy makes 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’ve obviously fixed the issues they had,” McIlroy said, referring to the club’s decision to end the policy banning female members.
;)
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The five-time major champion called Muirfield a “great golf course” and said it made sense to bring the Open back to the course.
“It has to make commercial sense,” McIlroy continued. “I would say Muirfield, that place [of] North Berwick, that would probably be one of the best trade Opens. It would be great if that were the case.”
And while admitting he was “unfamiliar” with the R&A’s decision-making process, he declared, “Muirfield deserves to be back on the Open rota.”
If the R&A is willing to bring the Open back to Muirfield, which the organization has agreed to 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 position in the program is 2028.
