19 July 2023 , 18:46
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Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, has opened up on possible future involvement of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
PIF are already the financial backers of LIV Golf, which attracted several of the sport’s biggest stars of the breakaway league. Players such as Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia made the decision to leave the PGA Tour and compete for the Saudi-funded league.
On June 6 it was announced that the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour would be merging with LIV Golf following a 12-month-long feud. While the exact details are yet to be determined, some early indications have emerged at the US Senate.
Tour officials appeared in front of the US Senate to discuss their agreement with the Saudi-funded golf league. A 276-page document provided some indication of potential plans with the merger, in which there was also no mention of LIV Golf chief Greg Norman.
The Open Championship is taking place this week at Royal Liverpool, where a host of players are looking to win the Claret Jug. Smith is the defending champion, while Rory McIlroy goes into the tournament after winning the Scottish Open.
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Slumbers has insisted that, despite the increased involvement of PIF in world sport, there will be no change to the name of ‘The Open’ via sponsorship. However, the R&A chief admitted that the change in the sporting landscape has forced him to think about what could happen next.
"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," said Slumbers during his pre-tournament press conference, when asked about the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
"We will await the outcome with interest. We are continuing to talk to various potential sponsors.
R&A chief Martin Slumbers has spoken about the possibility of the involvement of PIF (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)“We're not changing from ‘The Open’. We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen.
"I think the world has changed in the last year. It's not just golf. You're seeing it in football. You're seeing it in F1. You're seeing it in cricket. I'm sure tennis won't be that far behind.
“The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis.
“We will be considering, within all the parameters that we look at, all the options that we have.”