R&A says LIV not good for golf

Martin Slumbers made it clear Wednesday that LIV Golf isn’t going to have an easy path to validation by the R&A.

Slumbers, the chief executive of the governing body, pointedly stressed his displeasure with the upstart organization during his annual pre-Open press conference, saying it’s not good for the growth of golf.

“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 problem with that at all,” stated Slumbers. “But there is no such thing as a free lunch. I believe the model we have seen at Centurion and at Pumpkin Ridge (sites of the first two LIV events) is not in the best long-term interest of the sport as a whole and is entirely driven by money. We believe it undermines the merit-based nature and the spirit of open competition that makes golf so special.”

Slumbers addressed what has been the hottest topic in golf in his opening remarks. It came on the heels of Tiger Woods’ harsh comments a day earlier and is easily the strongest statement made by the head of a major golf body.

There are 24 golfers aligned with Saudi-backed LIV Golf in the year’s final major. No player who had previously qualified was prevented from playing this year’s Open, but Slumbers said the R&A would not rule out changing the qualifications in future years.

“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,” Slumbers said. “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, and that is fundamental to its ethos and its unique global appeal.”

The possibility of limiting LIV golfers’ access to the Open comes on the heels of a similar stance taken by the United States Golf Association at last month’s U.S. Open. The PGA of America, organizers of the PGA Championship, has also signaled its displeasure with the LIV Golf series while Augusta National Golf Club, which runs the Masters, has yet to make any comments.

Slumbers’ stance could also point to another problem for the LIV series: world ranking points. The new outfit does not currently award points on the Official World Golf Ranking at its tournaments and players aligned with the league have seen their positions drop quickly. That list is one of the primary ways players gain entry into major championships.

Slumbers is a member of the Official World Golf Ranking board that will oversee the LIV Golf application. Other members included Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour’s CEO Keith Pelley as well as representatives from the other major golf championships.

The LIV series currently does not meet several criteria for awarding world ranking points, such as playing 72 holes and having a minimum number of golfers in the field. Still, it officially applied to allow it to award points and the review process by the world ranking committee began this week.

The R&A has worked hard to limit the amount of talk about LIV Golf and tried to keep the focus on the celebrations surrounding the 150th playing of the Open Championship, which starts on Thursday. Earlier in the week, it chose not to invite Greg Norman, head of LIV Golf, to be a part of the past champions’ celebration. Norman called that move “petty,” but Slumbers said it was to avoid the distraction.

"We are absolutely determined to ensure that this goes down in history as about the 150th Open," Slumbers said. "We decided that there would be, based on noise that I was receiving from multiple sources, that that was going to be potentially unlikely.”