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Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive Officer of the R&A, and Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club have clarified reports suggesting the Open Championship and the Masters are considering adjusting their qualification criteria to create exemptions for LIV golfers to qualify for those major championships based on their performance in LIV tournaments.

“As I’ve stated a number of times, our conditions are designed in a way to create pathways for the very best players in the world to compete for the Open Championship next year at Royal Troon,” Slumbers told reporters last week in Australia before the start of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, whose winner earns exemptions into the Open and the Masters.

“I would say, though, there has been some speculation in the media recently on the topic that you’re raising, and I would say that it is completely off the mark. I would like to make it very clear that exemptions for the Open, we do not discuss them with anyone, and nor would we at any point in time.

“I think it’s very important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that the Open is intended to be open to everybody, but you earn your place in the field and through exemptions, and that won’t change.”

*I would like to make it very clear that exemptions for the Open, we do not discuss them with anyone, and nor would we at any point in time.”

Ridley offered a similar, but slightly more open, response regarding the Masters.

“As you recall last year, there was some speculation as to whether or not we would invite LIV golfers, and we stayed true to our qualification criteria and we invited everyone who was eligible, Ridley said. “And so, while we do not at this time anticipate making any changes in 2024, we do always look at them, and we will continue to do that.

“So, I would just answer by saying that our qualifications are very much dynamic and we adjust to what we feel is the best interests of the tournament representing the best players in the world, so we always look at that”

The Masters is an invitational with its own qualifying criteria as well as special exemptions. The Open Championship provides spots through designated events on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour as well as through 36-hole qualifying tournaments.

The mess continues.

As part of the stratedic alliance between the PGA Tour (CEO Jay Monahan left) and DP World Tour (CEO Keith Pelley right) playing rights on each tour will be awarded to players from the other.

Any DP World Tour player not otherwise exempt finishing in the top 10 will be offered PGA Tour membership.

The players outside the top 125 on the PGA Tour, losing their cards next year places 126-200 will be offered a new category of membership on the DP World Tour.

If they play four or more tournaments outside the majors can qualify for the DP World Rour playoffs.

Tour pro Eddie Pepperell said on a podcast this week” I personally think it’s a disaster for the DP World Tour.

“I can’t think of any good business that tries to not retain its ‘clients’ if you like. Just give the best ones away. That makes no sense to me.

“But from the players’ perspective, who all have frankly ambitions to play on the biggest stage, which now clearly is the PGA Tour, it’s good for them.

“To me it doesn’t seem sustainable that the Tour can continue to operate successfully while giving away its best players. I’m afraid I don’t like it at all.”

What a mess this all is. The “Framework Agreement” between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV seems to have been put on hold while it is investigated by the US Congress. Now other companies are offering to buy in to the business.

From Golf Digest

The PGA Tour has rejected a private equity offer from one of the most powerful entities in sports.

It is no secret that several companies are vying to provide financial backing to the PGA Tour amid the tour’s ongoing discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, calling into question if the PIF deal will ultimately come to fruition. Endeavor, the parent company the WWE, the UFC, and sports agency IMG, and which has a market value of close to $10 billion, was one of the primary interested investors. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel confirmed his company’s bid just weeks ago. “We are in the sports business,” Emanuel said earlier in October. “I’m an avid golfer. It’s one of the great sports. I love it”.

However, Endeavour were turned down.

We’re big fans of golf, and we’ll continue to champion the PGA Tour,” Endeavor’s Mark Shapiro said, “but we’re not going to be an investor at any level.”

Other entities include the Fenway Sports Group (which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Premier League team Liverpool F.C.) and the investment firm KKR & Co.

Earlier this month the PGA Tour acknowledged these discussions in a memo to its membership. “We remain focused on reaching a Definitive Agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour, but not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors,” the PGA Tour’s Jason Gore wrote in the memo, which has been obtained by Golf Digest. “All of this activity reinforces the Tour’s strong position and our potential for growth.”

The framework between the tour and PIF calls for a new agreement to be completed by the end of the year, although both sides can agree to extend the deadline. Outside obstacles remain for the PGA Tour-PIF partnership. The U.S. Senate opened an investigation into the pending deal, citing that the alliance “raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.” The deal could be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which analyzes mergers regarding potential threats to the nation’s security. Additionally, the tour continues to be under an antitrust probe by the U.S. Department of Justice, and PIF’s investment into the tour is expected to fall under this investigation.

In this old film, three times Open Champion Henry Cotton is teaching pros at his home at Penina, Portugal about the use of the hands in the swing. He is showing his famous tyre drill.

Seve’s nephew, Ivan Ballesteros recalled today

Today, exactly around 13:30 Spanish time, 15 years ago, I was traveling with Seve to Germany to launch a range of golf clubs and accessories bearing his name alongside Irish brand MD Golf.

Unfortunately, once in Madrid, I had to take him to La Paz Hospital due to the symptoms he was experiencing. I never thought that when I informed the nurse that was attending him in the emergency room, that we needed to catch a flight, she told me that Seve had a brain tumour, and he couldn’t leave the hospital as his life was at risk. I remember that moment as if it happened a minute ago.

It’s heartwarming to see how golf fans still remember him. As evidence; last week Ryder Cup in Italy. A man who truly contributed to changing the course of this tournament to what it is today. A man who transformed European golf. A fighter, a believer. Someone who was authentic, who stood up for what he believed in even if others didn’t like what he said, without practically fearing anyone. He was brave. A man also with great sense of humour. Someone who, coming from humble beginnings, became the king of a sport that was, at that time, only accessible to very few.

The best, not because of the number of tournaments he won but because of how he won and how he influenced the game and golf fans. In those days; no equipment, no universities, no managers. As he used to say, he achieved all he did “a puro huevo” (a Spanish expression I can’t translate directly, but it’s the way he used to explain it). When he was already a super talented young golfer, he was not even allowed to play at the Real Golf de Pedreña, the only golf club in his village at that time. So he went to the beach and played at night.

A man whose last years of life taught me and millions of people what he was made of. They say you really get to know someone in the worst moments, and I did see a man who always gave it all even when the odds were against him. He left us too soon (54), but the weight of his name and legacy will endure over time in the heads and hearts of golf fans.