Augusta National chairman says he won't be pressured into admitting a woman as a member

Monday, November 11th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) _ Defiant as ever, Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson declared that the Masters will be played next year, no matter what, and that there is no chance a woman will be a member of the golf club by then.

``The majority of Americans are with us on this issue,'' the 71-year-old club chairman said.

His comments _ made Nov. 4 in an interview with The Associated Press _ were the first on the subject since last summer, when he fueled the debate over Augusta National's all-male membership by criticizing Martha Burk and the National Council of Women's Organizations for trying to force change.

The club has never had a female member in its 69-year history, and Johnson did not sound as if he was in any hurry to change that.

``We have no timetable on the woman member,'' he said in the interview. ``Our club has enjoyed a camaraderie and a closeness that's served us well for so long, that it makes it difficult for us to consider change. A woman may be a member of this club one day, but that is out in the future.''

In a three-page statement issued in July in response to Burk's demands, Johnson said that Augusta National might someday admit a woman, but ``not at the point of a bayonet.''

``This woman portrays us as being discriminatory and being bigots. And we're not,'' Johnson said in the interview. ``We're a private club. And private organizations are good. The Boy Scouts. The Girl Scouts. Junior League. Sororities. Fraternities. Are these immoral? See, we are in good company as a single-gender organization.''

Tiger Woods will be going after a record third straight Masters title in April when he competes in the most famous of golf's four major championships.

Johnson, a retired banker, was invited to join Augusta National in 1968 and was elected chairman 30 years later. He is said to have worked behind the scenes to get the first black admitted to the club in 1990.

Augusta National allows women to play its golf course without restrictions. Women played more than 1,000 rounds last year, and Johnson invited the University of South Carolina women's golf team as his guest.

So, what's wrong with having one as a member?

``We just don't choose to do that at this time,'' he said.

Johnson dismissed the only TV sponsors of the Masters _ Citigroup, Coca-Cola and IBM _ after Burk challenged them to live up to their own policies against sex discrimination. That will make next year's Masters the first commercial-free sporting event on network television.

Can the Masters survive financially without sponsors for more than one year?

``We could go indefinitely,'' Johnson said. ``But I don't think we'll have to. We'll have our sponsors back. I just believe that we're right on this issue, and that they'll be comfortable in sponsoring the Masters Tournament.''