1. Less than 'Honourable''

Muirfield, the 16-time host of The Open, is not the name of the club, but simply the place where that club is located. That club would be the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

That "Honourable'' group of golfers built its own course near the Firth of Forth in Gullane, Scotland, in 1891, named it Muirfield and has called it home ever since. The group that wrote the first 13 rules of golf in 1744 has never had female members, and its decision last week not to change that policy means Muirfield will not host its 17th Open anytime soon.

Such was the swift reaction last week from the R&A when the HCEG did not get enough votes to change its membership criteria.

The Honourable Company is perfectly within its rights to set up its membership in whatever way it chooses.

Of course, when you host a very public golf event like The Open, the standards are different, as has often been discussed. Both the Masters and the R&A saw in recent years that having women members was important if they were going to have such a big role in the game.

Even though the R&A took Muirfield's name out of the rotation to host golf's oldest major championship, it likely wouldn't have even been considered to host the event prior to 2022, with or without female members. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The folks who play and congregate at Muirfield did not see this way, and among the reasons for not doing so presented by a group of 33 members in a letter to the rest of the organization was an almost comical fear of slow play.

"Our foursomes [alternate shot] and speedy play would be endangered,'' said the letter, under the heading "The Fears,'' as first reported by the Scotsman newspaper. The letter went on:

"The introduction of lady members is bound to create difficulties. Regardless of the conventions when they first join they are likely over time to question our foursomes play, our match system, the uncompromising challenge our fine links present, our lunch arrangements. It will take a very special lady golfer to be able to do all the things that are expected of them in the template which is suggested and the ladies' membership as a whole may not meet this standard.''

If a woman -- or anyone -- wanted to join, why would they object to a style of play often used at the club? Is slow play in golf determined by gender?

Better yet, why would any woman want to join such a place?

2. Reconsider?

It should be stressed that the "no'' vote on women membership at Muirfield was not a majority. In fact, a majority voted in favor of asking women to join; the vote simply did not meet the club's two-thirds criteria. It is possible that can change.

The Scotsman reported that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers has scheduled an emergency meeting for late this month to discuss the current plight. Undoubtedly there are many in the group who are troubled by the backlash -- and maybe want to see their course host future Opens.

Muirfield was not due to get The Open anytime soon. It was looking at 2022 at the earliest, and a change in philosophy could mean getting back into the rotation around the same time the course would have been picked anyway.

3. The BMW PGA's woes

Imagine if Jordan Spieth skipped the Players Championship. Or Rickie Fowler. Or, when healthy, Tiger Woods. Or all of them.

That is currently the plight of the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour's flagship event played outside of London. Like the Players, the BMW PGA is played at tour headquarters, in this case, Wentworth. It is billed as the next best thing outside of a major championship, and in Europe second only to The Open.

But this year the tournament is without a slew of big names. Rory McIlroy, who won it two years ago, is skipping. So is Henrik Stenson. And Sergio Garcia. And Justin Rose, who called in sick due to a lingering back issue. Ian Poulter is not at Wentworth, nor is Ernie Els, who redesigned the course.

It is a stunning loss of firepower, meaning the event has just 13 of the top 50 in the world.

There have been some calls to make this tournament a World Golf Championship event, an interesting idea that would help take care of the field issues while also bringing "World'' more in line with the WGC concept. Making the scheduling adjustments on the PGA Tour -- and getting the PGA Tour on board -- would clearly be the biggest impediments.

4. A shot to remember

McIlroy won his home Open, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at the K Club, and in doing so eagled two of the last three holes, including a near-gimme at the 18th hole, where his approach from 253 yards stopped a few feet away. The European Tour's Twitter account summed it up well.

253 yards.



The shot of a champion. https://t.co/7EpcJKAbWH — The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 22, 2016

5. Chasing Tiger -- in charitable giving?

McIlroy's victory at the Irish Open meant a winner's check of approximately $750,000 -- which he immediately said he would be donating to his foundation, the beneficiary and organizer of the tournament. It was an impressive gesture, one that has been understandably lauded.

McIlroy will need some time to catch up to Tiger Woods in this regard. Woods made it his policy from the start of his own charitable event, the World Challenge, in 1999, to donate his prize money from the event to the Tiger Woods Foundation. When the Deutsche Bank Championship was started in 2003 with Woods' foundation as the beneficiary, he again pledged his winnings. Same with the Quicken Loans National, which began in 2007.

Among all three tournaments, Woods has given $15,079,401 to his foundation -- his earnings in 29 appearances across those three tournaments. It helps that he has combined to win them eight times.

Although the World Challenge is considered unofficial -- neither the victories nor the prize money counts on Woods' official record -- the money he has earned at those three events alone would put him 97th on the PGA Tour's career money list.

6. Too soon to panic?

The Ryder Cup is still four months away, with three major championships and a World Golf Championship event still on the schedule to help determine the makeup of the U.S. team.

But while McIlroy and Garcia were winning on the same day, it is interesting to note that no American player ranked inside the top 50 in the world has won since Bubba Watson did at the Northern Trust Open in late February.

7. G-Mac's day to forget

Graeme McDowell's 76 during the third round of the Irish Open was just part of a bad day for the former U.S. Open champion, as his tweet Saturday suggested. McDowell noted that most of the advice centered around Guinness. It didn't seem to help, as McDowell closed with 80 in the final round.

Day began with dead phone, dropped it down the toilet an hour later, 3 putts everywhere, then helped a waiter spill tray of champagne #myday — Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) May 21, 2016

8. A Hall of Fame list

One of the disappointing aspects of the possibility of The Open never returning to Muirfield is the great list of champions the course has produced over the years.

The 16 winners: Harold Hilton (1892), Harry Vardon (1896), James Braid (1901), Braid (1906), Ted Ray (1912), Walter Hagen (1929), Alf Perry (1935), Henry Cotton (1948), Gary Player (1959), Jack Nicklaus (1966), Lee Trevino (1972), Tom Watson (1980), Nick Faldo (1987), Faldo (1992), Els (2002), Phil Mickelson (2013). Only Perry is not a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

9. Well, there are those Senior majors

A good bit has been made over Donald Trump's tweet to Colin Montgomerie welcoming him to his links course in Scotland -- and commending him on his ability to win major championships. Of course, Monty didn't win any majors. The winner of 31 European Tour titles, Montgomerie was a runner-up five times in major championships, including two playoff defeats. But he has won three majors since joining the Champions Tour and has another opportunity this week at the Senior PGA Championship.