The Royal and Ancient, the all-male club that runs the British Open Championship, admitted yesterday for the first time that a woman could play in its flagship event.

At Royal Troon, another all-male club where this year's championship will be held, Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A said: "If someone like Michelle Wie qualified for the Open we would have a difficulty, but the championship committee would have to take it seriously."

The British Open conditions of entry currently exclude women. The relevant regulation reads: "An entry will be accepted from any male professional golfer, or from a male amateur golfer. . ." going on to specify certain handicap limits.

But the regulations also provide exemptions for players who do well in certain tournaments. The current champion, Ben Curtis, for instance, got into last year's field at Sandwich by virtue of having finished tied for 13th place in the United States tour event, the Western Open.

That category reads: "The leading player, not otherwise exempt, in the 2004 Western Open will qualify. . .", a condition that also applies to the John Deere Classic in the US, the Smurfit European Open in Ireland and the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

"This women versus men thing," said Dawson, "has taken on a life of its own. Sport in general does not have equal competition between men and women and in the 35 Olympic sports, for instance, it only happens in equestrianism.

"There are no women in golf's world rankings and if Michelle Wie was a man, nothing she has done so far would have qualified her for the British Open. I think the likelihood of a woman competing in the British Open is probably a long way off, but you can never say never.

"Let's be clear, though. There is a difference in physique and strength between men and women and I'm not sure why golf should be different."

Wie is only one possibility for the future. The women's tour in the US has a number of players who have shown they can compete against men, with Annika Sorenstam almost making the cut in the Colonial Invitational - and more recently getting round Augusta National from the championship tees in 73. Her principal ambition is to play in the Masters.

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have been appointed Presidents Cup captains for the second time running.

The 2005 match at the Robert Trent Jones Club in Virginia will allow the pair to settle unfinished business after Nicklaus's US team tied with Player's Internationals last year in George, South Africa.

A play-off between American Tiger Woods and Ernie Els of South Africa to settle the match was abandoned because of fading light.