Open chief Martin Slumbers backed Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy by insisting there are no free lunches in golf. And the Royal and Ancient boss has warned LIV rebels they may face changes in qualification criteria to get into future stagings of the Championships.
Slumbers made his strong statement as the 150th Open gets underway today at St Andrews. The historic event gets going at the Home of Golf amid a backdrop of controversy in the game surrounding the controversial Saudi-backed series. Woods and McIlroy are both staunch supporters of the current PGA and DP World Tour ecosystems with the American superstar having questioned the motivations for LIV players against his days of grafting up the ladder and “doing it in the dirt.”
Slumbers took a similar stance and said: “There is no such thing as a free lunch. I believe the model we’ve seen (LIV events) is not in the best long-term interests of the sport as a whole and is entirely driven by money. We believe it undermines the merit-based culture and the spirit of open competition that makes golf so special.”
Slumbers insists there will never be a situation where any player is banned from The Open. But he did hint at possible alterations to the qualifying system for future Championships.
Slumbers said: “Because this is men’s golf we’re talking about at this point, I can look in the eye of any boy or any parent of that boy and know that, if he comes into the game and wants to get to the top, there is a pathway totally based on ability and willingness to work hard. That has been fought for by our sport for 100 years, I think it’s worth fighting for. And that pathway is the biggest piece of the ecosystem for me.
“Professional golfers are entitled to choose where they want to play and to accept the prize money that’s offered to them. I have absolutely no issue with that at all. Looking ahead to The Open next year, we have been asked quite frequently about banning players.
“Let me be very clear. That’s not on our agenda. But what is on our agenda is that we will review our exemptions and qualifications criteria for The Open.
“And, whilst we do that every year, we absolutely reserve the right to make changes as our Open Championships Committee deems appropriate. Players have to earn their place in The Open. That is fundamental to its ethos and its unique global appeal. We will hold totally true to The Open being open to anybody.
“But we may well look at how you get into that, whether it’s an exemption or a need to qualify through our qualifying process. And when we will look at exemptions and qualifications, we will do so in the context of what is going on in the men’s professional game, how is the men’s professional game being structured, and how do we create the right balance of exemptions and qualifications to enable the best players in the world to be teeing it up next year at Hoylake.”
Key to the future could be the outcome of LIV Golf’s application for their events to be recognised in terms of Official World Golf Rankings. Slumbers is on the OWGR board, but said: “I’m here as the CEO of the R&A. That question will need to be addressed to the chairman of the OWGR.”
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