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T20 Blast North Group: Can Worcestershire make a Rapid defence of their title?
Birmingham
Last year: 6th
Captain: Jeetan Patel
Coach: Jim Troughton
Overseas players: Ashton Agar, Jeetan Patel
In a nutshell: Birmingham were one of the heaviest scorers in the Blast last year, but they will have to succeed this time without contributions from two New Zealanders, Colin de Grandhomme and Grant Elliott, who have both moved on. Ashton Agar will provide spin support for the admirable Jeetan Patel in the middle overs and if Olly Stone stays fit his pace bowling will add a cutting edge. Michael Burgess' arrival from Sussex should add necessary aggression to the batting.
Star: It is no exaggeration to suggest that Patel stands alongside Allan Donald as Warwickshire's greatest overseas player. This year he also has the responsibility of skippering a side in transition, having taken over from Elliott, his fellow Kiwi, who has retired.
One to watch: Matt Lamb is an academy product whose first-team opportunities have been limited but he could make a major impact in a side a little light on batting matchwinners.
Verdict: No home Finals Day joy this year for Birmingham
Bet365: 14/1
Derbyshire
Last year: 7th
Captain: Billy Godleman
Coach: Dominic Cork
Overseas players: Logan van Beek
In a nutshell: Derbyshire have been ill-served by planned Australian overseas signings, losing both Kane Richardson and Billy Stanlake. That leaves Logan van Beek, who has played only eight T20 internationals for the Netherlands, fulfilling the overseas role. After a couple of ambitious seasons under the management due of Kim Barnett and John Wright, it is hard to see much joy for Dominic Cork in his first season as coach.
Star: Derbyshire will hope that Leus du Plooy, a 24-year-old South African in his first season in English cricket, gets a taste for the Blast; five sixes in a tied Royal London Cup match against Yorkshire in April suggested that he hits a long ball.
One to watch: Billy Godleman's game broadened significantly in the Royal London Cup when he scored 521 runs, including three hundreds, at an average of 74. Can he extend his range even further by making an impact this season in T20?
Verdict: Derbyshire have never reached Finals Day and that is not about to change.
Bet365: 33/1
Durham
Last year: 2nd, lost to Sussex in QF
Captain: Cameron Bancroft
Coach: James Franklin
Overseas players: Cameron Bancroft, D'Arcy Short
In a nutshell: Durham's improving Championship form has been a welcome prelude to a Blast season where they have realistic hopes of repeating last season's quarter-final place. They surprised some by reaching the quarters in 2018 on one of the more testing batting surfaces in the country when hard running and skilful placement was vital. Crowds are finally rising in the north-east and they are good enough to keep their supporters happy.
Star: D'Arcy Short is one of the most exciting overseas acquisitions in a North Group not exactly brimming with imported talent. An aggressive left-hander, he also adds left-arm legspin to Durham's bowling options.
One to watch: Ben Raine brings fleeting reminders of a more heralded Durham allrounder, Ben Stokes, in his combative approach with bat and ball. His return to the north-east from Leicestershire can help his stock rise.
Verdict: Serious challengers for the quarter-finals.
Bet365: 25/1
Lancashire
Last year: 3rd, lost in SF
Captain: Dane Vilas
Coach: Glen Chapple
Overseas players: James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell
In a nutshell: Lancashire are hanging on the fitness of Liam Livingstone, who is a key component in their batting line-up, but even allowing for that setback, and other injuries in their seam attack, they should be able to assemble a strong challenge. Dane Vilas led Jozi Stars to the inaugural Mzansi Super League title in South Africa and, in his first season in charge at Lancashire, he will hope to make such success a habit.
Star: The World Cup might not have gone to plan for Glenn Maxwell, but Old Trafford crowds should delight in the presence of the unpredictable and potentially explosive Australian.
One to watch: Only Pat Brown took more wickets than Matt Parkinson in 2018 and the legspinner has the potential to become a global T20 star. Warmed up with a career-best Championship return of 6 for 23 against Sussex at Old Trafford.
Verdict: Only injuries will keep them out of the last eight
Bet365: 10/1
Leicestershire
Last year: 8th
Captain: Colin Ackermann
Coach: Paul Nixon
Overseas players: none
In a nutshell: Leicestershire are another county debilitated by the growing difficulty of attracting overseas players at an affordable price in an era of visa limitations and rival T20 tournaments. Coach Paul Nixon has a good T20 track record but without adequate resources he will struggle to fashion a competitive squad. Leicestershire lost their first five home matches in 2018 and their first task is to avoid a repeat.
Star: Colin Ackermann, this year's captain, offers consistency with the bat and off-spin that is serviceable enough to have brought him 30 T20 wickets.
One to watch: Harry Dearden hit 61 in his solitary T20 appearance and could provide one solution to Leicestershire's shortage of options
Verdict: Doomed to failure
Bet365: 33/1
Northants
Last year: 9th
Captain: Josh Cobb
Coach: David Ripley
Overseas players: Faheem Ashraf, Dwaine Pretorius
In a nutshell: Josh Cobb became Northants' T20 captain after Alex Wakely called time on his club captaincy and Cobb could supervise a sizeable improvement on last season's unexpected bottom-place finish. The securing of two overseas pace bowlers will sharpen their attack, as will the retention on loan of Matt Coles, who appears to be enjoying his time at Wantage Road. Their 2018 season could prove to be a blip.
Star: Northants will value Pakistan's Faheem Ashraf not just as a fast bowler but as a dangerous late-order hitter who will keep them smiting to the end.
One to watch: Ricardo Vasconcelos' quality in the Championship has been well demonstrated over the past year and he could make the sort of impact that another diminutive left-hander, Ben Duckett, used to provide.
Verdict: Northants can pull off enough shocks to contest a top-four place.
Bet365: 25/1
Notts
Last year: 4th, lost to Somerset in QF
Captain: Dan Christian
Coach: Peter Moores
Overseas players: Dan Christian
In a nutshell: Which Nottinghamshire is about to turn up - the one that won the Royal London Cup or the one that has been so woeful in the Championship that relegation from Division One already looks assured? A trio of new batting signings, Ben Slater, Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett, need to start delivering on big reputations. Notts have reached the last eight in eight of the last nine years, but the batting stars will have to shine to mask bowling deficiencies.
Star: Alex Hales' self-destructive tendencies lost him a place in England's World Cup squad but he will welcome the opportunity to show that his enforced lay-off hasn't diminished his talents. One of the cleanest white-ball strikers in world cricket, his flying starts will be invaluable.
One to watch: Dan Christian is the Australian captain who must knock the Outlaws into shape, and he must do so without the help of Steven Mullaney, the Championship captain, who misses the early weeks to undergo knee surgery.
Verdict: Runs galore at Trent Bridge but nothing can be taken for granted
Bet365: 6/1
Worcestershire
Last year: 1st, winners
Captain: Moeen Ali
Coach: Alex Gidman
Overseas players: Martin Guptill, Callum Ferguson
In a nutshell: After losing several quarter-finals, the confidence gained from the 2018 final win over Sussex has encouraged the squad to believe they have enough white-ball pedigree to make a strong defence of their title. Moeen Ali might be captain, and plays in the first two matches, but Brett D'Oliveira will often lead in his absence and needs to stamp his authority on a side that may be a little lacking in the middle order after the departure of Joe Clarke.
Star: Martin Guptill's form will surely pick up after a disappointing World Cup, capped by New Zealand's luckless defeat in the final, and his top-of-the-order forays will be key.
One to watch: Pat Brown faces an interesting second season. He was the leading wicket-taker in 2018 in the Blast, but counties have had an opportunity to study his sleight of hand and come up with responses. It will be harder this time around.
Verdict: A defence of their title may be too much to hope for.
Bet365: 14/1
Yorkshire
Last year: 5th
Captain: Steve Patterson
Coach: Andrew Gale
Overseas players: Nicholas Pooran
In a nutshell: Tom Kohler-Cadmore steps in unofficially as Yorkshire's T20 captain for the early part of the season while Steve Patterson rests up after a gruelling county season. Yorkshire are hoping for a flying start with the help of their short-term signing, West Indian batsman/keeper Nicholas Pooran and plan to rely more on specialist T20 players, a list which now includes Tim Bresnan, in an attempt to achieve a more explosive style. Dom Bess, on long-term loan from Somerset, and Josh Poysden make up a new spin pairing.
Star: David Willey was the most unfortunate omission from England's World Cup squad, and Yorkshire need him to make an impact with bat (he struck 386 runs at 142.96 last season) and ball if they are to improve on last season's fifth place.
One to watch: Jordan Thompson should get plenty of opportunities as a seam bowling allrounder with T20 potential. After making a T20 debut last year, he has followed up with debuts in the two other county formats this season.
Verdict: Yorkshire have an excellent record batting first at Headingley, but must stop losing soft matches on the road to reach the top four
Bet365: 12/1
David Hopps writes on county cricket for ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
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Cards release Harrison after arrest warrant issued
The Arizona Cardinals have released offensive tackle Desmond Harrison after a warrant was issued for his arrest on felony charges of assault in North Carolina.
A Greensboro police spokesman told multiple news outlets that an incident report was filed Tuesday. The charges would be assault on a person by strangulation and assault on a female by a male.
Further details of the case were not immediately available. The Cardinals did not address why they released Harrison.
Harrison joined the Cardinals in June after the team claimed him off waivers from the Cleveland Browns. After joining the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2018, Harrison started eight games at left tackle.
In a corresponding roster move, the Cardinals agreed to terms with defensive back Jalen Thompson, a supplemental draft pick, to a four-year contract.
White says 'hell no' to Masvidal-McGregor fight
UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal has expressed interest in fighting Conor McGregor next, following his record-setting 5-second knockout over Ben Askren at UFC 239 in Las Vegas.
When asked for his thoughts on the potential matchup, however, UFC president Dana White cut to the chase.
"Hell no," White told TMZ. "Masvidal is too big for Conor. There's plenty of fights for [Masvidal] in his weight division without Conor. He's too big for Conor. [McGregor] doesn't belong at 170 [pounds]. He's got the balls to fight at 170, but he doesn't belong there."
According to Masvidal's (34-13) agent, Abe Kawa, Masvidal is only willing to face McGregor or welterweight champion Kamaru Usman next. Usman does not have a fight scheduled at the moment.
McGregor (21-4) is a former 145- and 155-pound UFC champion. He has fought as high as 170 pounds twice, in back-to-back fights against Nate Diaz in 2016. He has only fought once in the UFC in the last 32 months -- a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018.
According to White, the UFC expects McGregor to return either later this year or early in 2020. McGregor has publicly called for a rematch against Nurmagomedov, who currently holds the 155-pound championship, but White has hinted McGregor will likely have to fight someone else.
Nurmagomedov (27-0) is scheduled to defend his title against interim champion Dustin Poirier (25-5) at UFC 242 on Sept. 7. The result of that fight could affect McGregor's next move.
"I think [McGregor] will be back this year or early next year," White said. "We'll see how this whole thing plays out in September. No, [McGregor won't get a rematch with Nurmagomedov], but it will shake a lot of things up whoever wins that fight."
CONCORD, N.C. — Davis Rochester dropped the hammer on the field on Tuesday night to win the Boston Reid Real Estate Pro division feature that headlined Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rochester’s No. 97 Legend Car asserted its dominance in the early going of the 25-lap feature and appeared to have the victory in hand before a caution with one lap to go bunched up the field and gave points leader Carson Ferguson one final shot at Rochester.
He took the shot. Ferguson slotted in behind Rochester entering turn one but couldn’t complete the pass through turn two. As the leaders entered turn three, Ferguson dove to the inside and dueled side-by-side with Rochester coming to the finish line, but Rochester held on for his first win of the season by a razor-thin 0.036 seconds.
“I knew (Ferguson) was going to push me hard into turn one,” Rochester said after the race. “I drove it in way too deep and he kind of got to my inside. I knew he was coming at me again in three so I sort of braced myself.
“I was trying to hold on and hopefully not go more than one groove up. It was great racing. I’m glad he didn’t just send me. He raced me clean.”
Mark Green wired the field in the Twenty-Six Acres Brewing Company Masters division feature, keeping a hard-charging title rival Robby Faggart behind him for the balance of the 25-lap race. Faggart tracked down Green in the final circuits, but Green’s dwindling advantage was more strategy than circumstance.
“You only have to beat them by half a foot, so I was just trying to keep the pace and take care of the car for the last few laps,” Green said.
Janson Marchbanks bagged his second consecutive PMG Young Lions triumph after Zack Miracle’s last-turn bid for victory fell 0.241 seconds short at the line.
“Farbo Motorsports does a great job setting this thing up and getting it to turn through the corner,” Marchbanks said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Braden Rogers collected a hotly contested VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro feature after a wild battle for the win among Rogers, points leader Jason Alder and fellow championship contender Gracie Trotter. With one lap to go, Rogers nudged Alder and got beside him entering turn one – but Trotter dove to the inside of both cars and appeared to have the best shot at victory.
Instead, Trotter’s car made contact with Rogers’, sending Trotter’s red-and-white No. 11 flipping. Trotter was unhurt. U.S. Legend Cars officials named Rogers the winner ahead of Alder.
“This is my favorite win, beating the best out there,” Rogers said. “I can’t thank my family, Farbo Motorsports, everyone watching me, enough for their support. I just hope it opens the door for me for a late model, a truck, anything.”
Farm Bureau Bandolero Outlaws points leader Garin Mash stalked Cameron Murray over the final three laps of Tuesday’s feature, but Mash couldn’t find a way past Murray’s blue-and-DayGlo-red No. 04 Bandolero.
“I just had to hit my marks, make sure everything was right and come out on top,” Murray said. “It’s awesome to finally get a win. I’ve been racing here for three years.”
Luke Morey was sent to the rear of the field in the final two laps of the the K1 RaceGear Bandolero Bandits feature after contact with Layton Harrison while the two battled for the lead. Truett Miranda restarted up front and held on in the final circuits to snare his first victory of the season.
“I was shocked,” Miranda said after he inherited the lead under unexpected circumstances. “I just had to hold the inside line and floor it.”
Payton Johnson claimed Tuesday night’s Beginner Bandolero feature ahead of Jonathan Pedano.
ABERDEEN, S.D. — Josh Richards stormed to victory in the third annual Bullet Sportswear Shootout on Tuesday night at Brown County Speedway.
Richards started fifth and powered to the lead ahead of Brandon Sheppard on lap 35 en route to claim his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season.
Tim McCreadie climbed from his eleventh starting position to finish second as he passed Stormy Scott for the runner-up position in the final laps. Scott recorded his best career LOLMDS finish by taking third at the checkers. Sheppard held on to finish fourth and took Jonathan Davenport took fifth.
Sheppard was in control of the race in the early going, but Richards quickly made his way from the inside of row number three to wrestle the second spot from Scott. Sheppard and Richards then duked it out for the lead with Richards passing Sheppard through the middle of the race track with 15 laps remaining.
Richards had to withstand one last caution flag with 11 laps remaining, but once the race resumed Richards went on uncontested for the 27th time in his LOLMDS career, which is fifth all time in series history.
“It feels good to get back to Lucas Oil Victory Lane,” said the 31-year-old West Virginia native. “We have had a fast car for most of the year, just a lot of bad luck has hit us. We had two runner-up finishes at Portsmouth and Tyler County. We haven’t run here that much in the past. I got the lead from Brandon [Sheppard] by rolling through the middle.”
McCreadie finished second.
“We had that incident in the heat race which set us back,” he said. “We qualified well and then we had to go to the tail. The car was real maneuverable tonight. From where we started, we are pleased. Congrats to Josh, he was strong there especially at the end of the race.”
Scott continues to show improvement in his maiden season with the series.
“We have had a really good car the last few weeks,” Scott said. “My crew continues to work and work on this thing and they have got it the best it’s been all year. This has been a tough year, but a learning one. A lot of these tracks I have never run on before. We have been here once before in a modified. If we can keep the good finishes going hopefully, we can knock out a win before the year ends.”
The finish:
Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Stormy Scott, Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Tyler erb, Jimmy Owens, Shanon Buckingham, Chase Junghans, Tad Pospisil, Kyle Bronson, Michael Norris, Hudson O’Neal, Billy Moyer Jr., Kent Arment, Cody Laney, Nick Grehl, Earl Pearson Jr., Pat Weisgram, Ryan Engels, Scott Ward, Billy Moyer, Blair Nothdurft.
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Who will surprise, who will disappoint, who will be a dark horse that can contend, and who will win the 148th Open Championship? Our team of writers at Royal Portrush weighs in with predictions for the last major of this decade.
SURPRISE
REX HOGGARD: Tiger Woods. Despite his status as one of this week’s betting favorites and his history on links courses, the 15-time major champion will struggle to make the cut. Similar to the PGA Championship, where he missed the cut, Woods hasn’t played in a month and admitted on Tuesday that his game isn’t where he wants it to be. That’s a disastrous combination on an exacting and windblown links.
RYAN LAVNER: Brooks Koepka. It’s a testament to Koepka’s greatness that The Open actually represents his “worst” major, and he still has two top-10s in his last three appearances. Still, this isn’t an ideal fit for his skill set, with an emphasis on shot-shaping and finesse. Betting against Koepka is foolish, but it wouldn’t shock if he finished outside the top 10 here.
WILL GRAY: Webb Simpson. The former U.S. Open champ has quietly been playing stellar golf, highlighted by the Canadian Open where he was left in Rory McIlroy’s wake. But he has finished outside the top 20 just once in six starts since the Masters, and while bookmakers have listed him well down the sheet, he has finished T-40 or better at The Open each of the last four years.
NICK MENTA: Joaquin Niemann. The 2018 Latin American Amateur champ, who locked up his PGA Tour card for this season as a non-member last year, was slumping his way through his first full Tour campaign before a breakout in the last month, with three top-10s, including two top-5s. He won’t be the Champion Golfer of the Year come Sunday, but at long odds, he has top-10 potential.
DISAPPOINTMENT
HOGGARD: Rory McIlroy. The native son certainly has the local knowledge to succeed this week at Portrush and his form this season, two victories and 11 top-10s on the PGA Tour, demands he be considered one of the favorites. But the buildup and emotional toll of The Open returning to Northern Ireland will prove to be too much of a distraction.
LAVNER: Tiger Woods. With just 10 tournament rounds since Augusta, Woods was refreshingly blunt in his assessment of his rusty game, and penal Portrush isn’t the kind of place to ease into the week. That the weather will be cool and damp also doesn’t portend well for the 43-year-old with an achy back.
GRAY: Francesco Molinari. Handing back the claret jug might be the last newsworthy moment for him this week. The defending champ seemingly still hasn’t gotten over his heartbreak from the Masters, as five subsequent starts have yielded few results to speak of. While a less than stellar week in Portrush won’t detract from last year’s glory, there won’t be any thoughts of a Padraig Harrington back-to-back for the Ryder Cup star.
MENTA: Rory McIlroy. The Ulsterman doesn’t get it done. For McIlroy, who’s been Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-ing his way through 2019, this has to be right there with a win at Augusta for the biggest single victory he could hope to bag. He’ll have a chance at the Masters each April. Even if the R&A decides to come back here in short order, he might only get a couple cracks at an Open at Portrush. No matter what he says about patience and perspective, this week brings with it another P-word: pressure.
Full-field tee times from the 148th Open Championship
Full coverage of the 148th Open Championship
DARK HORSE
HOGGARD: Louis Oosthuizen. The South African sails into another Open under the radar but his track record can’t be ignored. He won the 2010 championship at St. Andrews and came up just short at the ’15 Open. He also has the perfect demeanor for a layout that promises plenty of odd bounces and quirky shots.
LAVNER: Shane Lowry. One of the few players with experience at Portrush, Lowry has played solidly this season, starting with a win in Abu Dhabi and continuing with top-10s in three of his last five starts, including a T-8 at the PGA. Listed at 80-1, Lowry is an appealing long shot.
GRAY: Hideki Matsuyama. Once ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, Matsuyama has slid to 29th but enters this week amid a remarkably consistent season. He has gone a full year without missing a cut, the longest such streak on Tour, and he hasn’t finished worse than T-33 since January. In the major that values ball-striking over putting more than the other three, and on a course that should exacerbate that trend, his skill set will shine.
MENTA: Marc Leishman. He has finished T-6 or better in each of the last three Open Championships, with a playoff loss at St. Andrews in 2015. The 24th-ranked player in the world, who gets less attention than his fellow Aussies, is 60-1. He’s also one hell of a landscaper.
WINNER
HOGGARD: Brooks Koepka. Because he’s Brooks. His record in his last four Grand Slam starts is first, second, first, second so it’s easy to see where this trend is heading and he has the added benefit of having Ricky Elliott, a member at Royal Portrush, on the bag.
LAVNER: Xander Schauffele. Golf’s quietest primetime player is trending in the right direction, with top-3s in two majors this year (and top-16s in all three). At age 25, he’s primed for a major breakthrough: He knows he’s good enough to win, he got the necessary experience of being in the hunt last year at Carnoustie (where he was in the final group Sunday) and he has no weaknesses throughout the bag.
GRAY: Jon Rahm. The fiery Spaniard becomes an adopted son of Ireland, having already won an Irish Open down the road at Portstewart and coming off a title two weeks ago at Lahinch. Rahm has been trending, finishing T-3 or better in three starts including the U.S. Open, and his links acumen is evident. Long viewed as a player with major potential, this week he gets the job done.
MENTA: Brooks Koepka. Far from original or inspired, but there’s no compelling reason to think Brooks Koepka won’t be rounding third on Sunday. Koepka passes Rory McIlroy with major No. 5 – in Northern Ireland, no less – and they both drive down Magnolia Lane in April on the precipice of the career Grand Slam.
What Koepka, Woodland, Tiger and other stars are wearing at Royal Portrush
The warm and sunny weather has faded, making way for typical rainy, cold and windy Open conditions at Royal Portrush. While most players will be donning their heavy-duty rain gear, here's what they'll be wearing underneath the protection.
Tiger Woods
Gary Woodland
Brooks Koepka
Justin Rose
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Rickie Fowler
Justin Thomas
Bryson DeChambeau
Xander Schauffele
Sergio Garcia
Rory: An Open at Portrush is 'massive' for Northern Ireland
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy never could have imagined an Open at Royal Portrush when he grew up here in the 1990s, so he understands the significance of this event is far greater than just his pursuit of a fifth major.
“Having The Open back in this country is a massive thing for golf, and it will be a massive thing for the country,” McIlroy said Wednesday on the eve of the tournament. “Sport has an unbelievable ability to bring people together. We all know that this country sometimes needs that. This has the ability to do that.”
Though he grew up in Holywood, a coastal village just outside of Belfast, McIlroy said that he was “oblivious” to the conflict known as the Troubles that divided the country by political and religious beliefs.
That Royal Portrush is hosting an Open for the first time in 68 years also signals to McIlroy that progress is being made.
“It just means that people have moved on,” he said. “It’s a different time. ... It’s such a great place, no one cares who they are, where they’re from, what background they’re from, but you can have a great life and it doesn’t matter what side of the street you’re from.
“To be able to have this tournament here again, I think it speaks volumes of where the country and where the people that live here are now. We’re so far past that. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
Slumbers: R&A distance report complete, to be released this fall
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The R&A said Wednesday that its Distance Insights project has been completed and will be published later this year.
The project, initiated in 2018 to provide the most comprehensive look into the impact of distance on the game, should be released in October or November, according to R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers.
Slumbers didn’t offer any hints on the report’s findings, only to say that they’ll “work from that point” once the study is made public.
Spearheaded by the R&A and USGA, the report was designed to review every aspect of the distance boom in golf, using global stakeholder engagement, third-party data review and research.
“We have looked at distance in every single way you could possible think about it,” Slumbers said. “Where were golf courses a hundred years ago? How long have they been? What has happened to golf balls? What’s happened to equipment? We’ve gone to players, architects, all aspects of the golfing world and asked for their perception on distance. So we think it’s probably the most concise and detailed research into the topic that’s ever been done.”
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Changes are already underway for the AIG Women’s British Open.
Announced earlier this month was that the prize fund for the Women’s British Open will increase almost 40 percent for 2019, making it the second-highest purse for the five women’s majors.
Asked Wednesday whether he foresees a day when the women and men would compete for equal pay – the women’s purse is now $4.5 million, compared to $10.75 million for the men – R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said he’s more focused on a sustainable business model for the Women’s British Open.
“To build the economics of the Women’s British Open, to be able to keep raising the prize money, we need to do it as a sustainable business model,” he said. “It needs to be a long-term business model. How do we build a better model to have a more finally successful Women’s British Open that will then flow down into the prize money?
“Where it ends up, I don’t know. But my ambition is to keep growing the overall performance of it and keep enhancing the status of the event.”
Though Slumbers said that he has no intention to take the men’s Open to any inland courses, preferring to play golf’s oldest championship on 10 of the finest links in the world, that’s not yet the case for the Women’s British. This year, for instance, the event is being held at Woburn in England (with Royal Troon on deck for 2020).
“We’re looking at it very carefully,” Slumbers said. “How we attract more people to watch the championship, to watch it live, to watch it on TV, it may be that all being on links courses may not be the right answer,” Slumbers said. “With the Women’s British Open, a mix of some of the great inland golf courses and the great links courses, but all aimed at trying to make the championship more engaged with by the public.”
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