British Open may drop ban on women

[MaineDem]

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, Feb. 16 — The British Open is considering dropping its ban on female golfers so the likes of Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie could compete if they wished.

The 145-year-old championship is organized by the Royal and Ancient Club. Current rules state that the tournament, played this year at St. Andrews, is open to ''any male professional or from a male amateur golfer whose playing handicap does not exceed scratch.''

No woman has competed at golf's four majors — the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA. The three majors in the United States have no policy barring women.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusspt/ap02-16-124239.asp?spt=glf&vts=21620051248

Are women allowed to compete in the US major tournaments? Maybe there's no policy barring them but are they allowed in? Serious questions, sports fans; I really don't know.

[CBGLuthier]

1. Yes, they are

The PGA is a group open to all golfers.

Now some tournaments are by invitation only and can invite who they want to.

But quite a few, especially those with the word open in their name are open to anyone who can qualify.

[CBGLuthier]

2. As a followup

To get in the PGA championship, you must win a PGA event during the year.

To get in the Masters, you have to place well enough on the Men's money list to get in automatically or receive an invitation. To get in the US open, you just have to go through qualifiers.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. That's not completely correct on the qualifying methods

The PGA Championship in August is open to more than a hundred players who have not won a PGA event during the year. There are numerous means to qualify, including your standing in the world rankings, the money list, recent champion, or a victory or very high finish in one of the recent majors. The field also includes PGA club professionals who go through qualifying stages, and don't compete in any other PGA tournaments all year.

Likewise, the other majors have varied ways to qualify. The Masters is the most restricted field by far, less than 100 players. Many top players don't make it in. It's not even enough to win a tournament before the Masters anymore, unless you otherwise qualify. Augusta allows past champions in, until age 65 I believe, along with high rankers on the money list, world rankings, Ryder Cup team members along with a few special invites. If you finish in the top 16 at the most recent Masters you are also allowed to play. Also the reigning United States Amateur champion and runner-up, same with the US Public Linx champ and runner-up, and I believe the British Amateur champ.

The US Open is the most grueling qualification, if you are not otherwise qualified via standards somewhat similar to ones I mentioned earlier. Even top touring pros are not necessarily qualified and must go through the final stages of qualifying. In Las Vegas, it's not unusual for sportsbooks to put up odds on a big name player to win the US Open and take bets on him, when he's not qualified to play in the first place.

[benny05]

4. As much as I like watching competition for the Green Jacket

They follow the GOLF rules for the Masters:

"Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden".

Hope the Open Championship (aka British Open) will be truly an "Open" championship. What I don't know is how it affects ladies' golf rankings if they don't make the cut.