Furious over LIV Golf splits, British Open may change entry rules

Street. Andrews, Scotland – The British Open’s organizer warned on Wednesday that it could change its entry rules for future tournaments – potentially complicating Clarett Goog’s prospects for players who have defected to the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series.

Although R&A, which operates the Open, has not made a decision on how players will be able to join the 156-man field in 2023 and beyond, the organization’s CEO, Martin Slumbers, has left open the possibility that the road to Into one of golf’s most sacred championships could soon turn.

“We will review the exemptions and our qualification criteria for the Open,” Slippers said at a news conference in St. Andrews on the eve of the Open Championship in the old tournament. “We fully reserve the right to make changes” from past years, he added.

Slimpers said, who didn’t do much to hide his contempt LIV . serieswhich he described as being “entirely driven by money” and threatening “the merit-based culture and spirit of open competition that makes golf so special”.

However, he noted that a blanket ban on players is “not on our agenda.”

Slumbers has denied that R&A is coordinating with other major golf tournament organizers to exclude potential LIV players, whose ranks include Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed. But the chief executive of the United States Golf Association, which dominates the US Open, said so in June The group will “re-evaluate” The criteria it uses to designate the field of that tournament.

The US PGA, which is in charge of the PGA Championship, has also indicated its disdain for the LIV Series, which offered millions of dollars in guaranteed money to players to join the 54-hole championships without a cut with its rifle debuts. Augusta National Golf Club, which organizes the Masters by invitation only, has so far remained silent about its intentions.

Like other tournaments, R&A publishes a long list of ways for players to qualify for the Open, which will take place next year at Royal Liverpool. This year, for example, options included a place in the top 50 in the official world golf rankings on a given date.

The group that oversees golf’s official world ranking system said on Tuesday that LIV Golf, which It attracts a lot of funding From Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, this month it requested “inclusion” and that it began reviewing the request.

This week’s British Open organizers tried aggressively to direct attention towards the 150th tournament. But the turmoil surrounding the LIV intruded time and time again. Over the weekend, R&A acknowledged that it did Greg Norman did not letLIV CEO who has won the Open Championship twice, heads to this year’s festivities in St Andrews.

And on Tuesday, Tiger Woods used a press conference to denounce LIV.

“What are these players doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice?” Woods asked. “What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You just get a lot of money up front and play some events and play 54 holes.”

Woods said players who transitioned from the PGA Tour, which came under scrutiny by the Department of Justice for its efforts to maintain the roster of golfers, to LIV Golf, “turned their backs on what allowed them to reach that position.”