The chief executive of the R&A has dismissed LIV Golf as “not in the best long term interests of golf as a whole”.
In his customary press conference on the eve of The 150th Open in St Andrews, Martin Slumbers delivered a withering assessment of the Saudi-funded start-up, branding it “entirely driven by money”.
Visibly irritated at having to address the subject, Slumbers also elaborated on why the R&A elected not to invite LIV Golf’s CEO, two-time Open champion Greg Norman, to this week’s milestone championship, and issued a thinly-veiled threat to those golfers who have committed to LIV over their future Open prospects.
“I firmly believe that the existing golf eco-system has successfully provided stable pathways for golfers to enter the sport and develop and realise their full potential.
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“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 with that at all.
“But there is no such thing as a free lunch. I believe the model that we’ve seen at Centurion and Pumpkin Ridge 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.
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