Furious Over LIV Golf, British Open Could Change Entry Rules

The P.G.A. of America, which is in charge of the P.G.A. Championship, has signaled its disdain for the LIV series, which just recently started to stage 54-hole, no-cut tournaments with shotgun starts. In June, the chief executive of the United States Golf Association, which controls the U.S. Open, said that the group would “re-evaluate” the criteria it uses to set that tournament’s roster.

Augusta National Golf Club, which administers the invitation-only Masters Tournament, has so far remained silent about its intentions.

The group that oversees the Official World Golf Ranking system, which factors in results from nearly two dozen tours worldwide, could do much to settle the debate, or at least drive it in one direction or another. On Tuesday, it said that LIV Golf, which draws much of its financing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, had asked this month for “inclusion” and that it was beginning to review the application. It did not say when it expected that process to conclude.

Although some of golf’s most prominent figures have defected from the PGA Tour, which has drawn Justice Department scrutiny for its efforts to keep its membership intact, to LIV, the longstanding order has maintained a deep well of public support from top players. Tiger Woods used part of a news conference on Tuesday to denounce LIV, and he joined Rory McIlroy, another Open winner, in endorsing the decision to banish Norman from St. Andrews this week.

Norman has attacked the RA’s move as “petty.” On Wednesday, when the RA welcomed Princess Anne to the Old Course, Slumbers said the choice was made “to protect the integrity of the week.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/sports/golf/liv-british-open-entry.html