Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, has revealed a “very credible threat” was made against last year’s Open Championship by environmental protestors.
The 150th Open, at the Old Course in St Andrews, passed without incident. The live threat of disruption to this week’s staging of the world’s oldest major exists, with Just Stop Oil having targeted high-profile UK sporting events throughout this summer.
Asked about the security operation at Royal Liverpool, Slumbers glanced back towards 2022. “We have had no direct intelligence,” said Slumbers of Just Stop Oil. “There was direct intelligence last year. The Open was targeted last year.
“We have significant security procedures in place. We work clearly with the law enforcement agencies and we’ll wait and see what happens. You will have seen that we advised the players, ‘Please don’t get involved’ and I stand by that. We have enough things in place to be able to deal with it. Beyond that, I think security matters I need to keep confidential.”
Pressed on the nature of last year’s message, Slumbers added: “We had a very credible threat that came through. It was reported to us through a journalist, who very kindly and responsibly informed us that one of the most senior players in the field was going to be targeted by an environmental activist. That’s all I really want to say.”
It is understood no specific player was mentioned as being under threat at the time of the message but security was enhanced, particularly around the 18th hole of the Old Course. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were all in the St Andrews field.
During his traditional pre-Open briefing, Slumbers shrugged off the lack of UK television visibility for the championship in comparison to Wimbledon. The tennis tournament benefits in that sense from BBC coverage; the Open has been under the domain of Sky Sports since 2016. “We estimate there will be over 600m people watching the Open Championship come Sunday around the world,” Slumbers said. “I see golf as a global sport. I see the Open as a global asset. I’m more focused on that.”
A mild swipe at the BBC followed. Slumbers said: “You can only consider terrestrial, free to air offering if there is one put on the table to be considered and there isn’t one at the moment.”
The R&A has announced that the inaugural African Amateur Championship will take place next February. The winner from a field of 72 will be granted a place in next year’s Open, to be held at Royal Troon.
