LIV Golf rebels escape ban from Open Championship at St Andrews

Players who signed up with the Saudi rebel circuit have escaped a ban from next month’s Open - but it may be the last championship for many due to an inevitable loss of ranking points. The R&A’s chief executive Martin Slumbers confirmed that, as expected, the British event will emulate the US Open in allowing any eligible player to compete at St Andrews.

However, next year’s majors could be a problem, even if the respective organisers permit LIV Golf Invitational Series competitors to play.

“What is clear at the moment, with LIV Golf being 54-hole events and not offering any world ranking points, is that the guys who are top-50 in the world are slowly going to lose their ranking and fall outside the top 50 and that’s what gets most of these big names in the majors,” Paul McGinley, the former Europe Ryder Cup captain turned Sky Sports analyst, said over the weekend.

“The only guys who will probably be eligible by the time next year comes around at the Masters in April could well be past champions, under the current criteria, because the others may all have fallen out of the top 50. It will be interesting to see what is going to happen, as there are so many things and scenarios that can play out.”

Telegraph Sport revealed on Tuesday that American Brooks Koepka is the latest big name to join Greg Norman’s lucrative breakaway series, following the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau.

For some of those names, involvement in major tournaments after the Open could now be in significant doubt. Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen have exemption for Opens until they are 60 as past winners. However, stellar names such as Koepka and Dustin Johnson could lose their exemption next year unless they win the Open or