The Open Championship experienced several exciting occurrences during the 4-day event. Fans were attentive to the tough competition until Brian Harman took the trophy home. However, something else was also taking place at Hoylake which was related to the future of golf.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, LIV Golf’s bossman and the Governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, was spotted on the last day of the event. He wasn’t present to witness the round though. Instead, he came over to be in a secret meeting. Let’s dive deeper into it! 

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Yasir Al-Rumayyan had a secret meeting with the R&A at the Open

Al-Rumayyan has a great affinity for golf as evidenced by the fact that he funded the LIV Golf League in 2022. This league offered the players financial stability as well as other advantages and was a direct rival to the PGA Tour. Nevertheless, to make things simpler for everyone, both leagues combined in June 2023, with the mission to form one unified commercial entity.

Now it seems like Al-Rumayyan is on his brand new mission in using Saudi Arabia’s wealth to reshape the future of golf. According to the Telegraph, on the last day of the event at Hoylake, there was a secret meeting conducted between Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Martin Slumbers (chairman of the R&A Golf Club) in the presence of business executive Amanda Staveley. 

As per reports, the meeting was in regard to putting the Saudi fund in a way that can be beneficial to the R&A as well as in reorganizing professional golf under the PIF banner. Although the R&A later confirmed that they had a meeting together, they didn’t disclose anything else. 

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Well, the LIV league is currently focusing on receiving OWGR points as well as getting exemptions in the Majors. This may have been part of the agenda too.

The prior statement by R&A chairperson Martin Slumbers

At the beginning of the Open Championship, Slumbers had already addressed the subject of golf sponsorship stating that: “We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen.”  Moreover, he added, “The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis. We will be considering within all the parameters that we look at all the options that we have.”

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Well, that sound like a reconciliatory statement, doesn’t it? What are your thoughts on their secret meeting? Do you think a deal will be reached between PIF and R&A and golf will be the ultimate winner ? Do let us know in the comments below.