HOYLAKE, England — Martin Slumbers, the CEO of the Royal & Ancient, which governs the British Open, on Wednesday said he’s glad to see the recent proposed alliance between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf for the good of the game.
“We are waiting to learn more about the agreement announced by the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the [Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia] on June 6 and the implications for the wider game,’’ Slumbers said.
“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.
“We will await the outcome with interest. Until then, we intend to focus on what we can control, which 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.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced on June 6 that there was a “framework agreement’’ between LIV and the PGA and DP tours that would put an end to the antitrust litigation between them.
A week later, Monahan announced that he was dealing with an undisclosed health issue and needed to step away from his duties.
He reinstated himself this week.
Slumbers said he was sending his “very personal best wishes to Jay Monahan on his recovery, and I was particularly delighted when he messaged me to tell me that he was returning to work this week.”
PGA Tour and LIV Golf are ending a war — by joining forces.
The two golf leagues, along with the European DP World Tour, are merging into one company after a period of fierce rivalry, one where LIV Golf defectors were banned from competing on the Tour.
LIV, financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and led by legendary golfer Greg Norman, lured some of the top names in golf last year with reported nine-figure contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Other huge golf names, however, like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, stayed loyal to the Tour, despite being offered a massive amount of money.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
Norman said last year Woods turned down a payday in the range of $700 million-$800 million to stick with the PGA Tour.
With the merger, the Saudi-backed LIV and the Tour are ending an antitrust battle and agreed to end all litigation between the two sides.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model.”
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While Monahan and the PGA Tour, as well as the DP World Tour, banned players who jumped to LIV for millions, the R&A and the three other major championships did not ban them.
“We will continue to ensure that there are qualifications and exemptions available to ensure the best players in the world tee it up in this championship,’’ Slumbers said. “I think we’ve achieved that this year, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Sergio Garcia, who had played in the past 25 Open Championships, had that streak snapped this year.
That’s because he is a member of LIV, which does not earn World Ranking points, and so his world ranking slipped out of the qualification level.
Garcia tried to go through qualifying but failed to make it.
Asked if there would be an effort made on the part of the R&A to modify ways for LIV players to qualify for the Open in some sort of season-long form, Slumbers said: “That’s one of the options that we have.
“It’s not the option that is top of my list at the moment, but it would be one of the options that is available.
“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.
“And as importantly, I care about what the perception of this game is around the world. I don’t want it to be perceived as a game that isn’t available to everyone, that isn’t available to boys, girls, men, and women.
“We need to move beyond that, and that’s why we welcomed the announcement. I’m not at the table, but I am very pleased that they are sitting there and figuring it out because long-term that’s good for the sport which we all want to either work in or enjoy.’’