Masters chair Billy Payne will vote to admit women to R and A

Augusta National was a tad tardy in hopping aboard the 21st century when club chair Billy Payne announced in 2012 that the iconic home of the Masters had admitted two women members.

Fast forward 24 months and Payne, a member of the Royal and Ancient, hopes the European counterpart of golf governing board USGA will follow suit later this year.

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said in March that Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews members will vote in September on whether to let women join the old-boy’s club. He said at the time that sponsor pressure and Augusta National’s acceptance of its first two women members played no role in the R&A’s decision, though his comments seemed a bit disingenuous.

In any case, Payne opted to eschew a secret ballot when he told reporters during his annual pre-Masters press conference that he was all for shattering the R and A’s grass ceiling.

“I’m proud to be a member of the R and A and I bet you can guess how I’m going to vote,” said Payne, who declined to say whether he would use his leverage to sway the campaign.

“Other than that, I would respect their process, their requirement to conduct a vote,” Payne said. “So the process will culminate in a decision and I know where one vote is going to be case.”

As for how things are going since former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and businesswoman Darla Moore donned their green jackets, Payne pronounced himself overjoyed that the two women (and no more, as far as we know) had equal access to Augusta.

“As I’ve said before,” Payne said, “we readily and joyously welcome our lady members when that happened a couple of years ago and it remains a very good decision on our part. We are so delighted, and I know I speak for everyone, that they’re members.”