Female reporter denied locker room access

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tara Sullivan, a columnist for the Bergen Record and veteran journalist, was denied access to the players' locker room after the final round of the Masters, having been told by a female security guard that women are not allowed in. Steve Ethun, director of communications for the Masters, Sunday apologized to Sullivan and told reporters that it had been a mistake by a security guard contracted by Augusta National Golf Club.

"She should have rightfully been allowed access to our locker room. That was a misunderstanding by that particular security guard," Ethun said. "I don't know enough facts. We'll still have to gather those. But we offer our apology. It should not have happened. That is not our policy whatsoever."

Sullivan, who has been a Giants beat reporter and featured sports reporter at the Record for a number of years after having worked for Newsday and the New York Daily News, was working on a column about Rory McIlroy, the third-round leader who had a horrific back nine. After McIlroy had given a short news conference outside the clubhouse, Sullivan said, she and several male reporters tried to follow McIlroy into the locker room to get more comments.

The locker room is open to credentialed journalists. Gender issues are sensitive ones at Augusta National, especially since 2003, when Martha Burk held a public protest over the club's policy against allowing women members.

"A security guard -- it was a female security guard -- told me I wasn't allowed. She said women aren't allowed in the locker room," Sullivan said. She added that a male security guard explained that the room is where players get changed. Sullivan said that she regularly goes into locker rooms.

"That's my job," she said, recalling the conversation.

There were no Augusta National members present at the time, Sullivan said. Members are easy to spot because during the Masters, they all wear green jackets specifically to make them easy to identify.

"When you hire this many people, miscommunication [inevitably] takes place. And while we do our best to control all of the communication through the right amount of training, this specific person misunderstood our policy," Ethun said. "It shouldn't have happened."