全英ゴルフ責任者、他大会との賞金格差「気にしていない」

【トゥルーン（英国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】男子ゴルフのメジャー大会の一つ、全英オープンを主催するロイヤル・アンド・エンシェント・ゴルフ・クラブ（Ｒ＆Ａ）のマーティン・スランバーズ最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は１７日、同大会の賞金総額が男子ゴルフのトップ２５に入っていないことについて「気にしていない」と語った。（写真はロイヤル・アンド・エンシェント・ゴルフ・クラブ〈Ｒ＆Ａ〉のマーティン・スランバーズ最高経営責任者）
　Ｒ＆Ａは今週行われる全英オープンの賞金額を発表したが、財政的な持続可能性や競技のイメージに与える影響を「懸念」し、増額を最小限にとどめた。
　優勝賞金は昨年からわずか１０万ドル（約１５６０万円）増の３１０万ドル（約４億８４００万円）。先月の全米オープン選手権と４月のマスターズ・トーナメントの優勝賞金は、それぞれ４３０万ドル（約６億７０００万円）と３６０万ドル（約５億６２００万円）だった。
　大会の賞金総額も昨年からわずか５０万ドル（約７８００万円）増の１７００万ドル（約２６億５５００万円）で、他のメジャー３大会や米国ツアーの１２大会、さらにサウジアラビアが後援するＬＩＶゴルフリーグの１４大会を下回ったが、スランバーズＣＥＯは「第一に、知らなかった。第二に、気にしていない」と述べ、「全英オープンでは、常に非常に魅力的な賞金を提供する一方で、ゴルフへの参加者を増やし、ゴルフの将来を改善することにより重点を置いてきた」と発言。
　「資源をどう分配するかを選択し、持てる資源を最大限に活用しなければならない」と強調し、「競技が５０年後も繁栄しているようにすることが、われわれの責任だ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/18-19:06）

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers has said he doesn't care that the British Open's prize fund is not among the top 25 in men's golf.
The R&A announced minimal increases to prize money for the 152nd British Open this week amid concern about the impact on financial sustainability and the perception of men's golf.
The winner at Royal Troon on Sunday will receive £2.38 million ($3.1 million), which is an increase of just $100,000.
Bryson DeChambeau earned $4.3 million for winning last month's US Open, while Scottie Scheffler's Masters victory in April came with a $3.6 million prize.
The total British Open prize fund of $17 million is up by just $500,000 on last year and stands as less than the other three majors, 12 PGA Tour events and all 14 LIV Golf events.
A, I didn't know, and B, I don't care, said Slumbers, who is set to step down from his role in November.
While we will always offer a very competitive prize fund for the Open, our wider focus is on increasing participation and improving pathways in golf.
We have to make choices about how we allocate resources and make the resources we have go as far as they can. Our responsibility is to ensure the game is thriving 50 years from now.
I'm not worried about being a lone voice. Sometimes leadership is lonely.
A total of 158 players, rather than the usual 156, will contest this year's British Open after more past champions than expected opted to play at Royal Troon, with 18 players from LIV Golf in the field.
But while USGA chief executive Mike Whan said last month he is serious about creating a formal pathway for LIV players into the US Open, Slumbers suggested that was not necessary for the British Open.
We decided after last year's event that we wanted to ensure that there was sufficient enough opportunities for all players, whichever tour they're playing on, to get into the Open, he said.
We used our Open Qualifying Series. We picked events that were available for all players. We used the Asian Tour and we used final qualifying to create those opportunities.
Will that evolve in the coming years? I think that depends on how the game evolves. But we will continue to want the best players in the world to be able to get into the Open in an appropriate way.
As for future venues, Slumbers said that the Open was absolutely going to return to Muirfield for the first time since 2013.
The possibility of staging the Open outside the UK for the first time also remains on the agenda, with Portmarnock having asked the Irish government for support in putting forward a case to stage the event.
We are fully supportive of the club doing that and we are actively engaged in making those assessments, Slumbers said.
But no decisions have been made because we don't even know if it's possible.