The Open: R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers on LIV invites and concerns over golf's financial future

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers is open to the idea of partnering with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and has revealed it is "an option" to create an exemption category for LIV players to qualify for The Open.

Defending champion Cameron Smith is one of 16 players from the LIV Golf League in the field at Royal Liverpool, with the majors currently the only events where players from the tour can still play alongside PGA Tour and DP World Tour golfers.

Slumbers welcomed last month's shock framework agreement announced by the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund - who bankroll LIV Golf - to try and unify the men's game, although details of the venture have yet to be finalised.

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"We're not party to the agreement and while we absolutely welcome an end to the disruption in the men's professional game, there is a lot still to be understood," Slumbers said in his pre-tournament press conference. "We will await the outcome with interest.

"We are continuing to talk to various potential sponsors. We're not changing from [having the name as] The Open. We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen.

"I think the world has changed in the last year. It's not just golf. You're seeing it in football. You're seeing it in F1. You're seeing it in cricket. I'm sure tennis won't be that far behind. 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."

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Lee Westwood is missing The Open for the first time since 1994 and Sergio Garcia is another notable absentee after failing to progress through Final Qualifying, with the lack of world ranking points on offer at LIV events raising the question about a potential exemption category in the future.

"It [exemption category] is not the option that is top of my list at the moment, but it would be one of the options that is available," Slumbers added. "The disruption being caused is not good for the sport. It's tearing the sport apart.

"I care about what the perception of this game is around the world. I don't want it to be perceived as a game that isn't available to everyone, that isn't available to boys, girls, men and women. We need to move beyond that. I am very pleased that they are sitting there and figuring it out because long term that's good for the sport."

The R&A has previously ruled out banning players from the Saudi-backed circuit, a stance it has continued to maintain, with Slumbers insisting it had given plenty of opportunities for LIV players to qualify.

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"We did two main things that created and ensured in our opinion that pathways to any players playing on LIV or anywhere else in the world had a chance to qualify this week," Slumbers explained.

"We gave four places into the championship to the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour, fully available to any player on LIV to have played in, and a number of them did and tried to qualify, and we increased in final qualifying from 12 to 19 spots.

"If you have a look at the fields who made it to FQ (Final Qualifying), they were probably the strongest Final Qualifying fields of global players that we've had since we introduced the system back just before I joined.

"We will continue to ensure that there are qualifications and exemptions available to ensure the best players in the world tee it up in this championship. I think we've achieved that this year, and we'll continue to do that."

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The winner of this year's contest in Hoylake will earn a record $3m (£2.3m), with the tournament's prize purse almost doubling since 2016, although the money on offer at The Open remains less than the other three men's majors and at regular LIV events

"Significant increases in prize money in the men's professional game has resulted in the long-term reassessment of the business model for professional golf," Slumbers added. "As custodians of the game, we have to balance the prize fund at The Open with ensuring the appropriate investment in grassroots and new golf initiatives.

"There's no doubt that our ability to achieve this has been impacted by the much more rapid acceleration in men's professional prize money than we had anticipated or planned for.

"These are the stark choices which we, and I'm sure the other leading bodies in golf, are facing, and we have to take a strategic approach that is financially sustainable over the longer term rather than just finding short-term solutions.

"If you want to know what I really care about and what I think is important for the game, it's the financial sustainability of professional golf. It's ensuring that golf is thriving in 50 years' time, but that we maintain and do not forget the values around our game."

Watch The 151st Open throughout the week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf.