Tournament organisers The Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A) have ruled LIV Golf members are still eligible to compete at the upcoming British Open, meaning Australia’s Cameron Smith can defend his title this coming July despite his $140 million defection to the Saudi-backed rebel league.
Essentially, this also clears the pathway for the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, and yet another Aussie talent in Marc Leishman to participate.
“We have created an exciting schedule of events which takes in many regions around the world and provides the chance for golfers to earn a place in the Open at Royal Liverpool,” said Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, R&A Executive Director of Championships.
“We are grateful to our colleagues at the professional tours for their support and look forward to seeing who emerges from each event to book a sought-after place in the Championship this year.”
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Back in October, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers had indicated the British Open would distance itself from all the politics that had divided the sport to remain perfectly neutral, making specific note of the fact that banning LIV players was “not in our agenda.”
“We are not going to betray 150 years of history and have the Open not be open. The name says it all. And that’s important. What we will do is ensure that there are appropriate pathways and ways to qualify,” Martin Slumbers told Golf Digest.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Cam Smith tee-up around 9:40 AM on the first day of the Open next year.”
Slumbers added: “The Open needs to set itself aside from what’s going in terms of disagreements and make sure we stay true to our principle, which is to have the best players in the world competing.”
The 151st British Open is scheduled to be held at Royal Liverpool from July 20th to July 23rd, 2023.
