TROON, Scotland (AP) — The British Open raised its purse by $500,000 to $17 million, which R&A chief Martin Slumbers attributed more to inflation than trying to keep pace with the other majors. He offered no apologies for that on Wednesday.
The other three majors have higher purses. The PGA Tour has 11 tournaments with a higher purse, while LIV Golf has 13 individual tournaments at $20 million each.
That puts the British Open at No. 28 among prize funds in golf.
“A, I didn’t know 28. And B, I don’t care,” Slumbers said in his final British Open press conference before he retires. “That’s not what this is about.”
Slumbers has been outspoken about the rising purses in golf and whether it’s a sustainable model. The CEO says the R&A has a greater role than running championships,
He said golf was “riding on the crest of a wave” with increased participation in the last several years, citing figures of 62.3 million people playing golf in the countries the R&A oversees, which is all of them except the United States and Mexico.
“These are very encouraging figures, but we have to maintain this momentum,” Slumbers said. “To do that, we must have a sustainable business model in the long term. If you look at golf as a pyramid, however strong the pyramid is at the top, it can only be sustained in the long term if the pyramid is equally strong at the base.
“We see that as our responsibility, and that is why we invest all of the proceeds from The Open back into the sport.”
He said the goal was to make sure the recreational game is thriving and the best young players have a path to get to the elite level “so the professional game of tomorrow flourishes.”
“While we will always offer a very competitive prize fund for The Open, our wider focus is on increasing participation and improving pathways in golf,” he said. “We have to make choices about how we allocate resources and make the resources we have go as far as they can.”
Open debut
English amateur Dominic Clemons sees his debut British Open like a horse race.
“I’ll see where I’m at halfway and then hopefully I can make a move at the weekend, if I’m to make the cut,” he said Wednesday after a practice round on the front nine at Royal Troon.
The 22-year-old Clemons, who is transferring to Alabama after a year at Stetson University in Florida, was one of the final qualifiers. He and Justin Rose shared the top spot in the 36-hole qualifying tournament at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in southwest England two weeks ago.
When asked what success looks like this weekend, Clemons doesn’t hesitate: Finish first.
“I’ve got a lot of self-belief. I don’t see there’s any reason to put a limit on myself,” he said.
Time will tell if he can keep up with the thoroughbreds.
“It feels good just to compete against the best. It’s my first major. You never quite know, do you, where your game is at,” he said. “So this will be a good week to see where it’s at. And as I said, it’s golf at the end of the day, anything can happen.”
Clemons will have his dad on the bag when he tees off Thursday morning with 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink and Chris Kirk.
British drought
Tommy Fleetwood doesn’t have any explanation for no British winners of the British Open since Paul Lawrie at Carnoustie in 1999.
Fleetwood in 2019, Justin Rose in 2018 and Lee Westwood in 2010 all have been runner-up, without a serious chance of winning. Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke from Northern Ireland have won the claret jug.
“We’ve had a lot of good players, and it just doesn’t seem to happen,” Fleetwood said. “Who knows if one breaks through and then there comes a flood of British winners. I think you look at tournaments that didn’t quite go the way of some British players in the past. I think there’s definitely guys that have done enough and it just didn’t happen.
“It’s just one of those strange runs, I feel like, that hopefully finishes sooner rather than later.”
Fleetwood also pointed out it’s just one tournament a year and it’s not easy. Danny Willett of England won the Masters in 2016 and Matt Fitzpatrick of England won the U.S. Open in 2022. Then again, the last British-born winner of the PGA Championship was Tommy Armour in 1930.
Muirfield on the horizon
Muirfield has the reputation of being the purest links on the British Open. It has hosted the Open 16 times dating to 1892 and has never gone more than 11 years between Opens except for gaps brought on by two World Wars.
But it last hosted the British Open in 2013, and the next opening is not until 2027.
Muirfield was threatened to go off the rotation until it voted to accept female members. And then it hosted a Women’s British Open. There’s also the issue of the Scottish Open finding a home at The Renaissance Club, which is next door to Muirfield.
It would be tough for a tiny East Lothian town to have two championships in consecutive weeks.
“Absolutely, we’re going back to Muirfield. It’s a brilliant golf course,” R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said. “I’ll have a little conversation with Mr. Kinnings about maybe moving the Scottish Open from the Renaissance.”
He was referring to Guy Kinnings, the new CEO of the European tour.
Slumbers also said Portmarnock in Ireland remains in the mix for its first Open. The R&A has only taken the Open to Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush.
He said Portmarnock has asked the Irish government for support of a business plan, “and we are fully supportive of the club doing that.”
