TROON, Scotland — The Open Championship is raising its prize fund by $500,000 to $17 million, the smallest of the four majors and 28th in size against all of men’s professional golf.
And for now, that’s just fine with Martin Slumbers, the retiring CEO of the R&A.
Driving the wild increases in golf purses is Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which launched in 2022 with $20 million purses for 48-man fields and $4 million to the winner. The PGA Tour responded in a bid to keep from losing star players, and this year had 11 tournaments with prize funds of $20 million or more.
The U.S. Open had the largest purse of the four majors at $21.5 million, followed by the Masters ($20 million) and the PGA Championship ($17.5 million).
In announcing the slight boost in prize money — the winner will get $3.1 million, a $100,000 boost from last year — Slumbers said the R&A had a responsibility to “strike a balance” between the Open Championship’s position in world golf and the R&A needing money to develop and oversee amateur golf all over the world except for the United States and Mexico.
“We have to make choices if we want to continue to build on the significant growth in participation that is essential for golf’s future,” Slumbers said. “We remain concerned about the impact substantial increases in men’s professional prize money are having on the perception of the sport and its long-term financial sustainability.
“We are determined to act with the interests of the global game in mind as we pursue our goal of ensuring golf continues to thrive in 50 years’ time.”
They were similar to his comments last year, a month after the PGA Tour announced it had reached an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which pays for the rival league. The tour had a U.S. private equity partner now while still negotiating a commercial investment from PIF.
Slumbers said a year ago he would consider all corporate partners, including PIF.
He met last year at Royal Liverpool during the Open Championship with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF, and they played together last fall in the Dunhill Links Championship, a European tour event that mixes professionals with amateurs.
Slumbers is retiring in September after 10 years as CEO. The R&A announced at the start of the month that 45-year-old Mark Darbon will take over as CEO.
Darbon most recently was CEO of Northampton Saints, a premiership rugby club. He has an extensive background in sports, marketing and sponsorship dating to 2009 and was a senior member of the London organizing committee for the 2012 Olympics.