The Open Diary: Golf's Civil War certainly more civil these days
Bryson DeChambeau is one of 19 LIV Golf players playing at this week's Open. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire.
Scottie Scheffler is out here for Scottie Scheffler. Don’t take that the wrong way. The world No.1 isn’t strutting around like some peacock, it’s just that his focus remains singular, on himself and on his family.
The American declared on Tuesday that he would quit golf if it was having a negative effect on his family, and his explanation as to why he doesn’t play more golf outside of the States reinforced the view.
“I think the greatest competition we have right now in the game of golf is the PGA Tour and playing in the States. I'm playing where the best competition is. Week in and week out, I believe that's the PGA Tour. For me to play against the best players in the world, that's where all of them are.
“Would it be nice to play an international schedule? Yeah, I'd love to be able to travel the world and play golf. There's a time and a place for that, and right now, with the way my life is, it's not really the time or the place.”
Rory McIlroy gave a different take when asked the same question on Monday. The Northern Irishman is due to compete in the first ever DP Tour event in India in October and he expressed a desire to return to Australia for the first time in over a decade.
Different folks, different strokes.
Big event, bigger price hikes: it’s a strategy as old as the hills that make up the dunes around here, but one Portrush business was forced into a very public climb-down after taking it a step too far for this week’s Open.
Ramore Restaurants in the town came in for a wave of criticism after their updated costs for the big week. The price of a chicken and bacon burger, for instance, surged from £7.95 to £17.95.
That burger has now been reduced by a fiver – still five quid more expensive than before – with the restaurant group explaining that it has “taken steps to revise and adjust pricing across all of our restaurant menus”.
The Ramore Restaurants group includes the Harbour Bar, Ramore Wine Bar, Basalt and Neptune and Prawn. A spokesperson explained that the increases had reflected the “significant investment” made in preparation for the week.
Dozens of extra staff have been taken on for The Open.
"Everyone can make mistakes," a statement read, "however nobody deserves slander and hatred."
No sign this week of the toxicity that the whole LIV breakaway injected into golf’s ecosystem and the majors. There are 19 players here from the upstart tour and what stands out about that is that it isn’t standing out in any way. It just is.
The LIV lot have last month submitted a fresh application to be recognised for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points having had its original bid turned down in October of 2023 and, well, the Civil War, is certainly more civil these days.
As it stands, LIV players earn ranking points only for performances at the majors and at Asian Tour and DP World Tour events. Bryson DeChambeau, a leading LIV light, was asked what tweaks to this latest application might help them in getting the green light.
“That's a great question and one I don't know. I don't know fully. I would say that there are definitely grounds upon which we can change some things.
“Definitely relegation for sure, more pathways into LIV. I think a global tour, more association to a global tour would be great for a feeder system into LIV. Those things, I think, could help quite a bit.”
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