Women at Augusta: Did Masters press conference finally get Payne to change mind?

Charlie Hanger, executive editor of Golf.com, had this observation on Golf.com’s PGA Tour Confidential:

My first thought was, finally. Payne seemed genuinely flustered with the  harsh questioning this year, and I wonder if behind closed doors that led him to  push for the change. The issue was clearly not going away, so they really didn’t  have much of a choice.

I went to ASAPsports.com and reviewed the press conference Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne conducted on the Wednesday of tournament week. Indeed, he was pressed as hard on the women’s issue as he had been in years.

Here are some of the exchanges. The first mention came on the third question.

Q.  You began talking about a number of the changes that happened here at the course.  Since you’ve been Chairman, all of those changes have been well‑documented.  One of the changes that has not happened to the Club is the all‑male Membership.  Wonder if you ever foresee that changing, and why or why not.

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Well, as has been the case, whenever that question is asked, all issues of Membership are now and have been historically subject to the private deliberations of the Members, and that statement remains accurate and remains my statement.

That always has been the Augusta chairman’s standard statement. But it didn’t stop there.

Is it possible to elaborate further on why Membership for (IBM CEO Virginia) Rometty wouldn’t be considered, just to give us a little more spiel on that.

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  I guess two reasons:  One, we don’t talk about our private deliberations.  No. 2, we especially don’t talk about it when a named candidate is a part of the question.

Here’s where it starts to get interesting. Payne starts to feel the heat a few moments later:

Q.  Mr.Chairman, I note your concerns about the growth of golf around the world, and I also note that Augusta National is a very famous golf club.  Don’t you think it would send a wonderful message to young girls around the world if they knew that one day they could join this very famous golf club?

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Once again, that deals with a Membership issue, and I’m not going to answer it.

Q.  No, it doesn’t.

Q.  Seems like a mixed message, Billy, is what he’s saying.  You’re throwing a lot of money into growing the game, and yet there’s still a perception that certain people are excluded.

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  That is a Membership issue that I’m not going to‑‑ thank you for your‑‑

Q.  It sends‑‑

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Thank you.

Q.  It sends a wonderful message to girls around the world that they could join this emblematic golf club; it’s not a Membership question.

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Thank you for your question, sir.

Q.  Mr.Chairman, as a grandfather, what would you say to granddaughters?  How would you explain leading a club that does not include female membership?

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Once again, though expressed quite artfully, I think that’s a question that deals with Membership, and‑‑

Q.  It’s a kitchen‑table, personal question.

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  Well, my conversations with my granddaughters are also personal.  (Laughter.)

Q.  Billy, kind of on that note, you talked about what a great Masters it was last year and how much anticipation there is coming into this year’s Masters.  I’m curious how you felt when this issue comes up again on the eve of the Masters, and do you feel it reflects negatively on either the Club or the Tournament?

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  I think there’s certainly a difference of opinion on that, and I don’t think I have formed an opinion on that, Doug.  But certainly there’s ‑‑ people have different opinions on that subject.

Ah, the old grandfather end-run ploy. Even Payne appreciated that tactic.

Finally, Payne and the moderator Craig Heatley had enough.

Q.  You said your conversations with your granddaughters are private.  What would you suggest I tell my daughters?

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  I don’t know your daughters.

Q.  What without them, that the most prestigious golf club in the country, they are not‑‑

CHAIRMAN PAYNE:  I have no advice for you there, sir.

CRAIG HEATLEY:  Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

Now it would be foolish to think Payne made this decision simply because of tough questioning. However, I do believe the press conference had an impact.

I think Payne has wanted to make this move for quite some time only to be rebuffed by the hardliners at the club. Perhaps, he got tired of having to be on the firing line for an issue he didn’t support. Who knows? Maybe the grandfather questions did finally get to him. Indeed, what kind of message was he sending to his granddaughters?

Whatever the reason, Payne likely will be thrilled not to face another Masters press conference where he has to be battered about the women issue.