Outgoing R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers believes the current divisive situation within the men’s game is doing “terrible damage” to the reputation of the sport.
Slumbers – who has been chief executive of the R&A since 2015 – is to be replaced by Mark Darbon, who is leaving his role as CEO of Premiership rugby side Northampton Saints.
He leaves the role at a contentious time within the golfing world as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saud Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are still negotiating a solution to the shock “framework agreement” announced in June 2023.
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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in August that they continue to negotiate with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
Slumbers admits he is concerned about the current ‘civil war’ and fractured divide within golf, with the 64-year-old hoping there will be a peace deal to unify the men’s game.
“I think the divisive position that we’ve got in the game, the constant talk about money, the ever-increasing prize money, the financial unsustainability of the game, I think has done terrible damage to the reputation and perception of the sport that I love,” Slumbers told Sky Sports News.
“I truly hope that we’re getting to a point where there will be peace and there’ll be more stability.”
Slumbers: No unfinished business
Slumbers highlights a favourite moment of his R&A career being with Shane Lowry on the Saturday night of The Open at Portrush, where the Irishman was celebrating holding a four-shot lead in front of packed crowds before going to secure a maiden major title the next day.
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Highlights from Shane Lowry’s four rounds at The Open in 2019, where he claimed a six-shot victory at Royal Portrush.
“It just doesn’t get better than that,” Slumbers said. “I don’t know how many thousands of people were there around that green, but it was an amazing experience.”
Slumbers is proud of his legacy leading the governing body and the organisation, which runs The Open and AIG Women’s Open, and believes he has left the game in a state where it has become a “much bigger recreational sport”.
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Highlights of the final round at St Andrews for the AIG Women’s Open, where Lydia Ko impressed.
He states that he has given the role everything he could since taking over from Peter Dawson in 2015 and following his efforts to “modernise the game but being reflective of history”.
“I don’t walk away with any unfinished business,” Slumbers added. “I felt that I came into the job, I knew what I wanted to do. I’ve given it everything I had to be able to do it.
“The growth of The Open, the size of The Open, I always wanted it to be seen as one of the world’s greatest sporting events. That’s certainly what we’ve delivered over the last the last 10 years.”
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