Obama added pressure on Augusta to drop its restrictive policy

"His personal opinion is women needs to be admitted," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, saying he had spoken to Obama concerning the issue, as the prestigious Masters tournament got arrived in Augusta, Georgia.

In a very rare moment of agreement with Obama, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, the Democratic president's likely opponent inside the November 6 election, said if it were approximately him, "of course I'd have women in Augusta."

The question of whether women needs to be able to become members on the home in the Masters has existed for a long discount golf clubs time. However it took on added significance after Ginni Rometty became ceo of IBM, one the tournament's longtime sponsors, in January.

Carney was asked whether Obama believed the men's-only Augusta club should open its ranks to women, especially given Rometty's position.

"It is obviously approximately the club to make a decision," Carney said on the daily White House briefing. "He believes Augusta should admit women. You already know, we're type of long over enough time when women needs to be excluded from anything."

Club chairman Billy Payne was pressed around the eve with the Masters on if the club would alter its policy.

Maintaining true with all the club's secretive traditions, he refused on Wednesday use a clear answer, saying that membership issues weren't for public debate.

DILEMMA WITH IBM

IBM, our planet's largest technology services company, is often a long-standing sponsor from the Masters and it is past four CEOs are actually granted membership to Augusta National. The club now faces Taylormade R11 irons a dilemma of if you should change its policy to allow for Rometty to become listed on or spurn among its major sponsors.

Augusta's invitation-only membership continues to be steeped in secrecy considering that the conservative club opened in 1932. Women can play in the course if asked by a part but cannot become members themselves. The club resisted pressure to desegregate for years simply admitted its first black member in 1990.

The club won't reveal its full set of members, thought to be around 300, although it may be known that a number of the powerful men from industry and finance, including Bill gates and Warren Buffett, are members.

When asked whether Obama - who may have played golf regularly throughout his presidency - would ever play in a men's-only club, Carney said, "I was without that conversation with him."

Carney pushed back up against the notion that Friday's White House conference on females and the economy had electoral implications, insisting it turned out meant to promote economic initiatives.

But Obama's re-election campaign has made not a secret of the efforts to court women voters, with his fantastic Taylormade R11 driver fellow Democrats have sought to depict the Republicans' concentrate on contraception and abortion as an attack on women's rights.

With a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, Romney took care to not supply the Democrats any more ammunition.

"I'm not only a member of Augusta. I not really know basically would qualify - my golf game is certainly not good - but only were a member and if I could run Augusta, which isn't planning to happen, but of course I'd have women in Augusta. Sure," he was quoted saying.