Women 'to play in Open'

The Royal and Ancient, the game's governing body, has decided that a decades-old bar on women playing at the Open Championship will be removed.

The Royal and Ancient, the game's governing body, has decided that a decades-old bar on women playing at the Open Championship will be removed.

Reports last night claimed that one of the most enduring divisions in the world of professional sport is to be abolished, in a move which will polarise opinion - delighting campaigners for equality and horrifying countless blazers in clubhouses around Britain.

Peter Dawson, secretary of the R&A, says he will back a change to the Open's entry form to allow leading women golfers such as Annika Sorenstam and American prodigy Michelle Wie to take part in the world's most famous tournament.

Under current rules, the R&A only accepts applications to play in the Open from "male professional or amateur golfers".