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MICHEL MARTIN, host:

Finally, a few words about another major sports tournament this weekend: the Masters. If you are a golf fan, as millions of people are, then this weekend's tournament was one to watch. It had everything. The league changed hands several times, underdogs were in the hunt, including 60-year-old Tom Watson, and there was a nice-guys-finish-first result, with veteran golfer Phil Mickelson winning his third green jacket.

And, of course, there was the whole Tiger drama. The golf commentators were predictably discreet about it. But there's no point in pretending that a big part of interest in the event was anything other than finding out whether Tiger Woods - just back from his self-imposed five-month exile of shame - would be able to come back, compete effectively and even possibly win.

For those of you who've been living in exile on a small, TV-free island, Tiger has been virtually invisible since he crashed his car last November, evidently to escape the wrath of his wife Elin in response to what's quickly became known as Tiger's flagrant and ongoing involvement with other women, a story that has provided no small amount of fodder for commentators of every sort, including this one.

Well, Tiger did not disappoint athletically and as a ratings draw. He came in fourth. And although his play did disappoint him, his obvious unease and relief at the fan's eager reception made him seem vulnerable, and dare I say it, human, in a way that hisbionic golf man persona often does not.

He did show a bit of that famous Tiger peak, but commented that concern about how his personal life was affecting his play was quote "overblown." And who can really say one way or the other?

So now that we've fixated enough on how Tiger's behavior affected one woman -his wife - or even the however many women Tiger fooled around with, let's talk about how his sport and particularly the club that hosted this premier golfing event treats all women. For all the tiptoeing around about Tiger's marital problems, there was no discussion about the fact that Augusta National Golf Club, the host of the Masters, still refuses to admit women as full members.

This was a big story back in 2002 when an activist named Martha Burk, who then headed a consortium of women's advocacy groups, raised this as an issue. Martha Burk pointed out that some 15 percent of the club's members are CEOs, many of Fortune 500 companies, and that refusing to admit women as members to a club that hosts one of the sporting world's premier events sends a signal that this form of discrimination is still acceptable.

Can I just tell you? Burk had a point then, and the point still stands. As of the latest list published by Fortune magazine, some 15 women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Finally, one of them is an African-American woman, Ursula Burns of Xerox.

And while I genuinely believe that comparing our scars is a pointless and meaningless exercise, it is truly hard to imagine that a major American sporting event would be held at a venue that explicitly excluded blacks, Jews or members of any ethnic or racial group, and Augusta's refusal to allow the top tier of American businesswoman access to their hallowed membership roles tells all girls in this country that yet another door remains closed to them solely because of their gender.

Augusta's policy has been defended by all manner of people, starting with Augusta-then chairman Hootie Johnson, who defended his club's exclusionary policy by saying that his group had the legal and, quote, "moral right" to organize any way they wish and that he found Burk's public criticism quote, "offensive and coercive."

And many criticized Burk by arguing that most people have more important things on their minds than whether wealthy women get to join an exclusive country club. To this I say that people who have six hours on a sunny weekend to chase a little white ball around also have plenty of time to ponder the finer points of social equity.

And since when have the privileged and entitled responded to anything other than coercion of one sort or another? As for offensive, which is more offensive: Tiger running around on his wife, activists raising questions or a major American enterprise acting as if half the population does not exist?

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