The Open stars in safety scare as golf chief reveals ‘senior’ participant focused

Open Championship organisers stay hopeful that Royal Liverpool will keep away from disruption from Just Stop Oil.  The environmental activists have focused a sequence of high-profile sports activities occasions this summer time and gamers had been warned at the beginning of the week to not intervene in the event that they accomplish that once more at Hoylake.

However R and A chief government Martin Slumbers reported yesterday that whereas an enormous safety operation is in place to go off the menace there was no indication that The Open will likely be hit by protestors. 

“We’ve had no direct intelligence this year,” stated Slumbers. “We have significant security procedures in place. We work clearly with the law enforcement agencies and we’ll wait and see what happens. We advised the players, please don’t get involved, and I stand by that. We have enough things in place to be able to deal with it.”

There has been a extremely seen police presence across the course in the course of the observe days and that’s anticipated to be maintained in the course of the championship itself. Slumbers revealed that the safety operation at St Andrews final yr had thwarted a possible assault by an environmental motion group.

“There was direct intelligence last year. The Open was targeted. We had a very credible threat that was reported to us through a journalist who very kindly and responsibly informed us that one of the most senior players in the field was going to be targeted by an environmental activist,” stated Slumbers.

The Open is in the meantime courting sponsorship from Saudi Arabia after the peace deal between LIV and the PGA Tour. Slumbers on Wednesday left the door open to a take care of the dominion’s multi-billion greenback Public Investment Fund.

“I think the world has changed in the last year. It’s not just golf. You’re seeing it in football. You’re seeing it in F1. You’re seeing it in cricket. I’m sure tennis won’t be that far behind,” stated Slumbers. “The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis. We will be considering within all the parameters that we look at all the options that we have.“If I’m very open we continue to talk to various potential sponsors.”

The Open is not going to have a title sponsor however it wants help from company backers to assist it hold tempo with the prize cash tendencies in males’s golf.

 The R and A have elevated the payout this yr by 18 per cent however the $3m winners’ cheque remains to be the smallest of all of the Majors.

“We had expected prize money to rise over a five-year period and it’s probably risen three years earlier than we expected it to, so there is a significant change,” stated Slumbers.

“I think you’re seeing the change in the entire business model of men’s professional golf and that’s a significant challenge for us when you take into account our desire to keep growing the game and investing all the proceeds we make into the game.”