Augusta chairman refuses to take questions on allowing women in

Augusta: The row over Augusta National's lack of female members escalated on Wednesday last night as chairman Billy Payne repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether the club would invite Virginia Rometty, chief executive of long-time Masters sponsor IBM, to join its ranks.

In a heated press conference on the eve of the Masters, Payne swatted away all mentions of the subject by arguing, "All issues of membership are now, and have been historically, subject to the private deliberations of the members. That statement remains accurate".

The issue of female exclusion is always a vexed one here at Augusta, but it has acquired added sensitivity this year after IBM appointed Rometty, 53, and an infrequent golfer, as its first woman chief executive last October. The previous four IBM CEOs, all male, were admitted as members.

Under intense pressure, Payne gave no indication that Augusta would keep the precedent in light of Rometty's elevation.

‘Private deliberations'

"We don't talk about our private deliberations," he said.

"We especially don't talk about it when a named candidate is a part of the question."

Augusta National has no stated policy against female members but it has still neglected to admit a single one in its 79 years of existence.

In tense exchanges, Payne, who did not identify Rometty as "the named candidate", was accused of hypocrisy when his promises to grow the game were set against his club's continued all-male membership.

Payne's predecessor as chairman, Hootie Johnson, once famously asserted that the club would determine female admittance on its own timetable and "not at the point of a bayonet".

In this latest inquisition Payne, formerly in charge of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, received the full bayonet treatment and yet would not yield an inch.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2012