Well, who’d have guessed it? The R&A, who usually make a habit of ignoring anything awkward hoping it goes away, broke the ranks that really matter on LIV Golf.
The four majors are also crucial stakeholders in golf’s world rankings. These are the two elements of the sport where LIV has to be accepted or risk becoming completely isolated. The majors had previously declined to lean either way in golf’s civil wars.
But it couldn’t stay like that, and the R&A were not going to “stand above it” as Greg Norman clearly hoped they would.
‘There is no such thing as a free lunch’
24 hours on from and at the same desk where Tiger Woods had given the new Saudi-backed tour both barrels, the R&A’s amenable chief Martin Slumbers joined him on the barricade.
“I firmly believe that the existing golf ecosystem has successfully provided stable pathways for golfers to enter the sport and develop and realize their full potential,” he said in a carefully worded, pre-prepared statement.
“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.
“But there is no such thing as a free lunch. I believe the model we’ve seen at Centurion and Pumpkin Ridge (the first two venues of 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.”
Not happy with that, Slumbers weighed in on LIV’s claim that it was “growing the game”, a phrase that the R&A once coined but is now in terminal disrepute.
“In my opinion the continued commentary that this is about growing the game is just not credible,” he said. “if anything, it is harming the perception of our sport which we are working so hard to improve.
“The game needs to focus on increasing participation, achieving greater diversity, and making sure that golf is truly open to all, rather than this narrow debate involving a small number of players.”
No bans, but other ways to shut LIV players out
Statement from Official World Golf Ranking Chairman Peter Dawson #OWGR#OfficialWorldGolfRanking pic.twitter.com/2gl14dKS01
— OWGR (@OWGRltd) July 12, 2022
The Open is not going to ban its champions or anyone else. If the champion golfer on Sunday is a LIV player, their “name will be carved in history,” said Slumbers.
But it’s clear, despite Slumbers’ unwillingness to add to the bland Official World Golf Rankings board statement from Tuesday night, that there is where LIV players will be shut out.
Unable to gain points, players confined to LIV will plummet from the rankings. Their only route to The Open will be through Regional and Local Final Qualifying.
“What is on our agenda is that we will review our exemptions and qualifications criteria for The Open,” said Slumbers. “Players have to earn their place in The Open. That is fundamental to its ethos and its unique global appeal.”
While Slumbers said the four majors act to their own agendas. But it’s surely unthinkable that Augusta, the USGA and the PGA of America aren’t going to be in lockstep on this.
So what now? The OWGR board announced they will consider LIV’s application for status. Even if it was approved – which seems unlikely – it could take months to do. They’d also have to operate on the terms of admission for a year before rankings were applied.
The courts? That could take years. And anyway, the majors have the right to decide who they let compete.