Posted: 18:00, 13 July 2022 | Updated: 18:35, 13 July 2022
Defectors on the breakaway Saudi-backed tour face a possible ban from the four majors next year as golf tries to shift the cloud hanging over the 150th Open Championship, which starts on Thursday. On the eve of the first round at St Andrews, Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief executive, lambasted Greg Norman’s LIV range at his pre-tournament press conference, dismissing the start-up as “entirely driven by money”. While Slumbers said banning LIV players was “not on our agenda”, with 24 included in the field of 156 here and currently eligible for all majors, he revealed his governing body “will review the exclusions and our eligibility criteria for The Open.” As revealed by Mail+, one possibility being strongly considered under such criteria would be to disqualify any player who is banned from competition on one of golf’s traditional tours. Stars including Bryson DeChambeau (pictured) risk being banned from all four major tournaments in 2023 for defecting to the Saudi-backed LIV series, Mail+ can exclusively reveal R&A chief Martin Slumbers was critical of LIV defectors ahead of the 150th Open Based on the PGA Tour’s indefinite ban on LIV cashers, including big names Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, it would be a crushing blow to the Rebels, especially as the four majors are expected to act together. The viability of these PGA suspensions is currently under legal review, which could prevent the approach believed to have been explored by the majors, and official World Golf Ranking chairman Peter Dawson also confirmed this week that LIV has applied to be eligible for ranking points. Amidst all the political maneuvering in this saga, the absence of these ranking points remains a huge piece in the picture of whether LIV players can make it to future majors. Read the full story on Mail+ by clicking HERE.
