Report: LIV Golf In Talks With R&A Over Open Exemptions

LIV Golf is reportedly in talks with The R&A over the possibility of securing exemptions for its players at next year’s Open.

The circuit had been in a long-running battle to secure Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) eligibility, but its bid for the points was turned down earlier this month. 

That leaves the chances of many of its players appearing in future Majors greatly reduced as world ranking points are the most common criteria for eligibility. 

Since the decision to reject LIV Golf’s bid for the points, there have been calls to add new criteria that would allow its players to qualify for the tournaments. One of those came from Bryson DeChambeau, whose suggestions included qualifying for those who finish in the top 12 of the LIV Golf standings.

Per a Telegraph report, that’s something LIV Golf’s acting chief operating officer Gary Davidson agrees with, telling its golf correspondent James Corrigan: “The accuracy of the rankings now is having a knock-on effect to the Majors, which is as much a shame for them as it is for our players. We’ve spoken in the past about direct exemptions for LIV players through our end-of-season rankings into the Majors making sense. And maybe the top 12 would make sense."

To that end, the report states that LIV Golf has opened negotiations with the CEO of The R&A, Martin Slumbers, well in advance of the publication of qualifying criteria for next year’s Major at Royal Troon.

Following the decision to reject the bid for the points, LIV Golf released a statement saying: “Professional golf is now without a true ranking system.” Davidson reiterated that is an issue for the strength of the Majors given the lack of opportunities for its players to acquire the points.

He continued: “It is something that would be beneficial for us, but I think also is something that’s probably required for the Majors to make sure they retain their strength when the OWGR cannot do that.”

Intriguingly, Slumbers played with LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship earlier in October, and the report states the subject of invitations to The Open was raised. However, it also said that a more realistic number of exemptions would be four, rather than the 12 both DeChambeau and Davidson have suggested.

Davidson also said its discussions with The R&A would go beyond that issue, with the possibility of LIV Golf joining forces with it to drive global participation also on the agenda.

He explained: “I think the conversation for us with the R&A would be much broader than that. We are investing significant resources into our sustainability programmes, as are the R&A. We are going around the world with events looking to inspire people to put a club in their hands and be involved in the sport. 

“Of course, the R&A are also involved in global development. So, there’s a lot of different initiatives we can work with them on. Exemptions into the Open would be one of them.”

There are other ways for LIV Golf players to qualify for The Open. As well as being able to accumulate world ranking points on the Asian Tour, two of its tournaments offered Open places in 2023 - the World City Championship in Hong Kong, which offered four spots, and the KOLON Korea Open, which offered two. Players can also reach the Major via Final Qualifying.

The R&A is expected to confirm its qualification criteria for The Open at Royal Troon in the New Year.