Men’s professional golf ‘unsustainable’ as money putting fans off, warns outgoing R&A chief

Martin Slumbers, the outgoing R&A chief executive, has told the male professional game that the continuing split is damaging the sport and has warned that dwindling viewing figures will only improve when the emphasis is not on money.

Like the majority in golf, Slumbers was disappointed by The Telegraph’s recent revelation that the US Ryder Cup team will break with nearly 100 years of tradition by paying its players directly from next year, but believes it is symptomatic of the obsession with dollars that has raged since the Saudis set up the LIV Golf series three years ago.

Negotiations between the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour to unify the game are dragging on and Slumbers thinks it is imperative they reach a hasty solution.

“The divisive position that we have in the professional game has been very damaging for golf,” he told Telegraph Sport. “It’s been damaging in terms of our reputation as a sport. I was hoping that we’d have had peace by now, because we need to get some stability. We need to see the game become financially sustainable, because it cannot carry on like this.

‘We need to stop talking as much about money and get back to the values of the sport’

“If it is to have a long-term future, we need to stop talking as much about money – everything in golf seems to be dominated by money – and get back to being about values of the sport. If we do that, I think the general public will start to watch it again.

“Look the public are watching certain events – some viewing figures are up. But, as we know, a lot of them are down and I think that has a lot to do with that whole concept of constantly talking about money. Unfortunately, the male professional game has become delinked from the fan.

“If I look at the Ryder Cup purely as a golf fan, then week in, week out the pros are in a business, playing for money and for ranking points. But once every couple of years, they have the honour to play for their country or continent and, in a way, say thank you to the fans who’ve supported them.

“And, historically, that’s why the Ryder Cup is such a great event, because it creates that amazing fan experience of supporting your country. That link could now be put in danger, in my opinion.”

The sporting civil war has been Slumbers’ “biggest disappointment” in his 10 years in this position.

“Up until the turn of the decade pro golf was going brilliantly and then we went into Covid and I think those who run professional golf did an unbelievably good job in getting golf back going,” he said. “And then in 2021, 2022 this divisiveness emerged [with the formation of LIV, which then spent billions on attracting big names], it just put a big brake on the game.

“The pro game, that is. Because, after seeing membership and participation falling every year from 2006 to 2018, the recreational game is now booming and to me the biggest danger for the pro game is that delinking.

“You know, when people used to ask me why participation levels were falling, I would reply that if people aren’t joining your club, perhaps you haven’t got a product that they want to buy. But on the back of that Covid bounce, those clubs changed, became more inclusive, attracted families and people did want to join.

‘It’s not a product they want to watch’

“So when they ask why are those people not watching the professional game week in, week out anymore, well maybe it’s because it’s not a product they want to watch. We need to be open and honest about that, but it is fixable because when the pro game is at its best, when the best players are playing against each other on some of the best courses in the world – and not just four times a year – it’s very compelling TV.”

The R&A has yet to grant the LIV Golf series guaranteed berths in the Open Championship, but Slumbers did acknowledge that access from the breakaway circuit’s order of merit could be a “possibility” for next year when the entry categories are decided in January. However, it is not believed to be likely.

Slumbers also had bad news for the 47th President of the United States. While calling Trump Turnberry “my favourite links course” he reiterated that the governing body’s position has not altered regardless of his re-election to the White House. “We will not be taking any of our championships to Turnberry until we’re comfortable that the discussion would be all about golf,” he said. “But it remains in the pool of courses, subject to that one caveat.”

This includes the AIG Women’s Open. Slumbers is rightly proud of the event’s standing in the female sport since the R&A assumed control of the British major. It has been part of the drive to modernise the sport and take it away from the charges of sexism, which has perhaps been his most notable success at St Andrews HQ.

Another important issue in his tenure has been to work with the US Golf Association to introduce regulations that will essentially rein back how far the ball can travel in a move to protect classic layouts such as the Old Course, as well as counter environmental concerns and fears that the pro male game is becoming too one-dimensional.

The new regulations will come into effect for the pros in 2028, although there have been rumblings that the PGA Tour could refuse to implement the rules. Again, Slumbers has a warning as he prepares to hand over the reins to Mark Darbon, the former Northampton Saints chief executive, on December 13.

“We can’t legislate for that, but what I will say is that if a tour did choose to do that, then they would not be playing by the rules of golf,” he said. “It would be as simple as that.”