The R&A is in talks about funding Saudi Arabian golf schemes, in a move which further illustrates the kingdom’s growing acceptance within the sport’s corridors of power. Speculation will now only increase that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund could use the Open Championship or Women’s British Open, both R&A assets, to increase its footprint in golf.
Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, has been in regular contact with PIF’s governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, for months. The pair played alongside each other in the Dunhill Links Championship in October. Rumayyan had appeared on the draw sheet under an alias.
