If golf didn't have Peter Alliss, it would find it necessary to invent him. The Beeb's notorious commentator is now 86, but is back at Augusta National for another year, and has marked the occasion by giving a lengthy interview to Newsweek. In this potentially valedictory address, we learned more of Peter Alliss' views on women, along with the fact that this may be his final Masters.
Alliss described his views as "traditional", and claimed he was "no dinosaur". To prove he is no dinosaur, Alliss then gave his thoughts on equality, and once again defended Muirfield's decision not to allow women members in a vote in 2015, reversed last month when the golf club were taken off the Open rota.
Alliss' response to that news was that any women who wished to be a member at Muirfield should marry a male member, and supported the decision.
While Muirfield have now altered their stance, Alliss has not changed his. Rory McIlroy's comments that the Muirfield decision in 2015 have "left a bad taste" ahead of his next trip to Muirfield in his mouth was derided by Alliss:
What a stupid thing for a bright lad to say. Better say nothing: ‘Oh, well I’m pleased for them, whatever they want’ and just walk away. I can get into arguments now because I’m eighty-bloody-six.
And then Alliss expanded on his opinion of gender equality.
No matter how you wrap it up, women will never be able to do things that men can do. If we want to be equal, are you going to get a woman fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world [in] boxing? Are you? Could you? If you want perfect equality. I don’t like to see women punching each other in the chest.
I don’t like it. I think it will cause irreparable damage. They talk about footballers heading balls but punching each other in the breasts for six minutes doesn’t seem a sensible thing to do. There’s certain things that women do that we can’t do, as far as I’m concerned.
Alliss' evidence for all of this? Popular TV show Ice Road Truckers, in which Alliss claims he saw presenter Lisa Kelly struggle to control the load on her truck when it becomes loose.
She can’t do it totally on her own. She’s a wonderful driver but you’ve got to accept there are certain things...
He ends with an affirmation of his views:
Those are my views. I think women are more delicate than men. I like holding chairs for women. I enjoy the company of women. I don’t want to be bullied by them. I don’t care for macho women.
You can read the entire interview on Newsweek. It's quite something.
See Also: Watch: Emotional Scenes At The Masters As Tribute Paid To Arnold Palmer
