Better late than ever I suppose.

Augusta National’s announcement that it is admitting two women members certainly will get plenty of national coverage today, and it will go beyond sports. It also means next year’s news conference with Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne just got much duller.

The women question always was the proverbial elephant in the room during these annual taffy-pulls with the club chairman. You always could on the chairman to say, “We consider the club’s membership to be a private matter.”

Of course, in 2002, the issue escalated to another level thanks to Martha Burk’s campaign to shame the club into admitting women. It set up a memorable confrontation I had with then chairman Hootie Johnson.

I had been told Johnson would address the issue during his news conference, which occurs on Wednesday of tournament week. But he began with a general statement about the club’s membership policy and then said he wouldn’t take any further questions about it.

Clearly, Johnson was trying to intimidate the press. When the first question was about whether lift-clean-and-place rules would be used for the tournament, he reacted as if he won.

“Well, now we know why we are here,” Johnson said.

I was fuming. I covered the issue aggressively for the Chicago Tribune. I had been told he was going to talk. A promise is a promise.

*******

Thanks to ASAP, here’s my confrontation:

Q.  Mr. Johnson, many of us have not had a chance to question you about this issue.  If you’re comfortable and you feel, in your standing in the right position on this issue, why won’t you take any questions from us?

HOOTIE JOHNSON:  Because I — we have talked about this for 10 months, as I said.

Q.  You’ve only given —

HOOTIE JOHNSON: What question do you have?

Q.  We have lots of question.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Is the question that I won’t answer a question?  I mean, go ahead.  What is your question?

Q.  I mean we have lots  —

HOOTIE JOHNSON:  Well, what is your question?

Q.  Just people in this room have lots of questions and you’re coming in here saying that you’re not going to take any questions on this issue.  We have talked about this for 10 months.  You have not talked about this for 10 months.

HOOTIE JOHNSON:  I’ve made my statement.  We are here to have The Masters tournament.  I just told you if you have a question, I’ll answer it, but don’t lecture to me.

******

Payne, who was serving as moderator at the time, cut off the exchange. However, my good friend Christine Brennan of USA Today credits me for changing the tone of the press conference. The next person asked Johnson about the women’s issue. He wound up fielding numerous questions.

He concluded in dramatic fashion:

I do want to make one point, though.  If I drop dead, right now, our position will not change on this issue.  It’s not my issue alone.  And I promise you what I’m saying is, if I drop dead this second, our position will not change.

It took 10 years for the club to change its position. It was inevitable.

*******

There’s a postscript to the confrontation. During a rain delay in the 2006 Masters, I was told that Johnson wanted to see me. As I was escorted to his office, I couldn’t figure what I had done of late that would require a meeting with the chairman.

Johnson said he wanted to apologize for how he spoke to me during that 2002 news conference. To say I was stunned would be an understatement.

I told him I appreciated his apology, and we chatted for a few minutes. As I left his office, I still wondered about his motivation.

The answer came a few weeks later when Johnson announced he was stepping aside as chairman. I’m guessing he simply wanted to clear the decks, and I was on his list.