Royal & Ancient Bosses Call Off Monday Press Conference, Dodge Questions

Under-fire Royal & Ancient bosses went into hiding on Monday "to dodge controversial questions on men-only membership and Muirfield’s falling Open attendance," according to McDermott & McLean of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. Championship organizers canceled their "traditional Monday morning press conference." One of the questions R&A CEO Peter Dawson would have faced is "over ticket pricing as attendance figures plummeted by 18,559 compared to the last time Muirfield staged The Open" in '02. But it’s "the contentious issue of the single-sex membership policy that prevents women from becoming members of the R&A and Muirfield’s Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers that is understood to be the main reason for dodging the conference" (DAILY RECORD, 7/23).