R&A chief Martin Slumbers declined to rule out potential Saudi Arabian sponsorship of the Open Championship as petro dollars dramatically alter professional golf.
Speaking before last week’s Open Championship, which the R&A administered at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, Slumbers addressed the question of whether golf’s governing body worldwide beyond the U.S. and Mexico might be next after the Saudis’ recently proposed deal with the PGA and DP World tours.
“Significant increases in prize money in the men’s professional game has resulted in the long-term reassessment of the business model for professional golf,” Slumbers said. “As custodians of the game, we have to balance the prize fund at the Open with ensuring the appropriate investment in grassroots and new golf initiatives.”
The R&A has nearly doubled the prize fund for golf’s oldest major championship, to $16.5 million this year, but it still trails the money offered at the three other men’s major championships as well as that of the 12 “designated” events on the PGA Tour. READ MORE
Jon Rahm extended his endorsement deal with Topgolf Callaway Brands, and he landed a key sweetener in the process: an undisclosed equity stake in the company.
Rahm, 28, of Spain, has won four times on the PGA Tour this year, including the Masters, his second major championship.
Rahm will continue to play a full bag of Callaway and Odyssey equipment, wear Callaway and TravisMathew apparel and endorse Topgolf’s entertainment division. READ MORE
Gary Koch, a six-time PGA Tour winner and former NBC Sports golf commentator, will receive the Payne Stewart Award, the tour announced. The award, named after the late World Golf Hall of Fame member, is presented annually to a professional golfer who exemplifies the late Stewart in character, charity and sportsmanship. Koch, 70, will receive the award on August 22 in Atlanta, Georgia, before the Tour Championship. READ MORE
Add Ernie Els to the list of dissatisfied players with the state of the PGA Tour. Els, 53, a four-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member, said during the Open Championship “there’s no way” in a previous era that tour commissioner Jay Monahan would have survived the secrecy behind the recently proposed deal with the Saudis and that “the board has to change.” In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, Els added: “It’s not right. Talk to us, tell us what you’re going to do, plan on negotiating. Don’t just go rogue ....” READ MORE
ISAIAH VAZQUEZ, GETTY IMAGES
The African Amateur Championship will debut next year, with the winner earning a spot in the Open Championship, the R&A announced.
The inaugural event, a 72-player, 72-hole stroke-play format, will be held February 21-24 at Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, South Africa. A 20-player invitational event for females will be held at the same site.
Leopard Creek, a 1996 Gary Player design that borders Kruger National Park, hosts the Alfred Dunhill Championship, a co-sanctioned event on the Sunshine and DP World tours.
In recent years, the R&A has teamed with the USGA and Augusta National Golf Club in introducing amateur tournaments in the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Erica Herman, the ex-girlfriend of Tiger Woods, has dropped her $30 million lawsuit against the golf champion’s estate after she was locked out of the Florida mansion where she lived with him, the New York Post reported, citing court documents. Herman still has an unresolved appeal regarding a lawsuit that she filed in seeking to nullify a 2017 non-disclosure agreement that she signed with Woods. READ MORE
The ticket ballot for the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon ends at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 25. The application is open to members of the R&A’s One Club, which is free to join. Results of the ballot will be revealed in August and September. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon