Rory McIlroy says exiled course ‘deserves’ Open return

Back in 2016, Muirfield, one of the greatest Open Championship courses of all, lost its place in the Open rotation. The cause? A decision to continue barring women from its club. At the time, Rory McIlroy was publicly supportive of the R&A’s decision to drop Muirfield.

But ten years later, the World No. 2 has declared its time that the R&A lifts its ban and brings the Open back to the historic club.

Here’s why.

R&A drops Muirfield as Open host after member vote

Muirfield, officially known as the Honourable 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 rallied to win his first Open title and, at the time, fifth major championship. But for a while, it seemed like the 2013 Open might have been Muirfield’s last.

In 2016, Muirfield’s members voted to continue barring women from joining the membership. And the club paid a huge cost for that vote. Shortly thereafter, the R&A released a statement declaring, “The Open is one of the world’s great sporting events and going forward we will not stage the Championship at a venue that does not admit women as members.”

As a result, Muirfield lost its place in the Open rota.

One year later, the club reversed its vote and in 2019 accepted its first wave of women members. That changed everything.

At the time the vote was reversed, McIlroy had a terse reaction, saying, “In this day and age, where you’ve got women that are like the leaders of certain industries and women that are heads of state and not to be able to join a golf course? I mean, it’s obscene. Like it’s ridiculous.”

In 2020, Muirfield was awarded the 2022 Women’s Open. Fast-forward to 2026, and the R&A still has not awarded Muirfield with another men’s Open.

But McIlroy is hoping that changes soon.

McIlroy says Muirfield has ‘rectified the issues that they had’

McIlroy is making his second start of the season this week at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic. Following a third-round 71, McIlroy spoke with Evin Priest of Golf Digest.

When he was asked whether the Open should return to Muirfield, McIlroy answered in the affirmative.

“Muirfield, they obviously rectified the issues that they had,” McIlroy said, referring to the club’s decision to end its policy barring women members.

The five-time major champion called Muirfield a “wonderful golf course” and argued that it made commercial sense to bring the Open back to the course.

“It has to commercially make sense,” McIlroy continued. “I would say Muirfield, that area [of] North Berwick, that would probably be one of the more commercially viable Opens. It would be wonderful if it was.”

And while he admitted he wasn’t “privy” to 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 acknowledged in the past, the question then is when the Open could return there.

This year’s Open will be held at Royal Birkdale, followed by the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2027. The next open spot on the schedule is 2028.