Organizers of the Masters and Open Championship downplayed Thursday the suggestion that they will carve out automatic major exemptions for LIV players next year.
Speaking ahead of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, which got underway Thursday at Royal Melbourne, both Masters chairman Fred Ridley and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said it was premature to discuss the qualification criteria for 2024 but, at the moment, they have no plans to make any significant changes.
At the LIV finale last week in Miami, the Telegraph reported that LIV was already in talks with the R&A about securing more spots for their players in next year’s event at Royal Troon. Acting LIV chief operating officer Gary Davidson said that majors could include as many as 12 players from its end-of-season points list, an idea supported by Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and others. Speculation of a potential partnership was also fueled by Slumbers playing recently with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV, at the DP World Tour’s Dunhill Links Championship.
“There has been some speculation in the media recently, and I would say that it is completely off the mark,” Slumbers told reporters Thursday. “I would like to make it very clear that exemptions for The Open, we do not discuss them with anyone, nor would we at any point in time.
“I think it’s very important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that The Open is intended to be open to everybody, but you earn your place in the field and through exemptions, and that won’t change.”
Major qualification is a pressing issue for LIV, particularly after the Official World Golf Ranking voted not to recognize the upstart league with world ranking points. Currently, LIV boasts only five players who are exempt into all four majors next year, based on their recent major victories: Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau and Mickelson. Talor Gooch, who won LIV’s season-long individual title, is not currently eligible to play in any major next year as he sits outside the top 200 in the world ranking.
Slumbers said the R&A is currently reviewing its qualification criteria, as it does every year, and should release its list of exemptions in early 2024.
“There are plenty of opportunities for any player in the world who thinks they are good enough to have a chance to qualify and play in The Open Championship, irrespective of which tour they are participating on, and that will not change,” Slumbers said.
The Masters typically announces its qualification criteria at the end of the year. Last year, Ridley announced that there’d be no changes for 2023, and that any eligible player would be allowed to compete, regardless of their professional affiliation.
“While we do not at this time anticipate making any changes in 2024, we do always look at them and we will continue to do that,” Ridley said Thursday. “Our qualification criteria are very much dynamic, and we adjust to what we feel is in the best interests of the tournament representing the best players in the world, so we always look at that.”
When a reporter pressed Ridley by saying it’d be a “shame” if a player such as Gooch, who is coming off the best year of his career, wasn’t able to play in the Masters, Ridley responded: “They made decisions based on what they thought was in the best interests of their golf careers, and we certainly respect that.”
Ridley added that the club can also extend special exemptions to international players. “We’re always looking at that,” he said. “But these decisions have been made, and we’ll have to do what’s in the best interests of the Masters, and we’ll continue to do that.”
