By Ed Osmond
HOYLAKE, England (Reuters) – The R&A welcomes the partnership agreement between the PGA and DP Tours and LIV Golf and is waiting to see how the situation unfolds, the ruling body’s Chief Executive Martin Slumbers said on Wednesday.
A merger of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV into one unified commercial entity was announced last month to end a bitter year-long feud that split the sport.
“As I’m sure you are, we are waiting to learn more about the agreement announced by the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the LIV on June 6 and the implications for the wider game,” Slumbers told a press conference.
“To be clear, we’re not party to the agreement, and while we absolutely welcome an end to the disruption in the men’s professional game, there is a lot still to be understood.”
The R&A, which organises the British Open, is one of golf’s two governing bodies along with the United States Golf Association (USGA), sharing responsibility for matters including the rules of the sport but operating independently of the professional Tours.
Slumbers said the R&A was awaiting further developments regarding the merger with interest but would be focusing on things that it can control.
“That is staging our championship successfully, governing with the best interests of the game at heart and doing all we can to get more people playing golf,” he added.
BAD ATMOSPHERE
Slumbers said the atmosphere before last year’s 150th Open at St Andrews had been unpleasant.
“I think where we were last year in this room was extremely tense and it’s disappointing that for our game, the first championship to get to 150th, two thirds of this meeting were focused on the topic which had nothing to do with the 150th,” Slumbers said.
“The disruption being caused by the game is not good for the sport. It’s tearing the sport apart.
“This constant discussion about money was in my opinion damaging the perception of our sport worldwide. We need to move beyond that, and that’s why we welcomed the announcement.”
Slumbers was asked whether he was concerned about “Just Stop Oil” protesters disrupting the Open as they have other major sporting events in England this year including the Wimbledon tennis Championships and Lord’s Ashes cricket test.
“I will answer your question but I’m going to be very cautious and I’ll explain why,” Slumbers said.
“We’ve had no direct intelligence. I think you’re aware that there was direct intelligence last year, and most people in this room don’t know that The Open was targeted last year,” he added.
“We have significant security procedures in place. We work clearly with the law enforcement agencies, and we’ll wait and see what happens.”
Organisers have told the players not to get involved in any incidents.
“You will have seen that we advised the players please don’t get involved and I stand by that,” Slumbers said. “We have enough things in place to be able to deal with it.”
The 151st British Open at Hoylake starts on Thursday.
(Reporting by Ed Osmond, editing by Christian Radnedge)
