R&A’s Slumbers touches on several hot-button issues

The R&A had its annual eve of The Open news conference Wednesday at Royal Birkdale and chief executive Martin Slumbers commented on numerous topics ranging from anchored putters to distance to drug testing to The Open’s place in the major championship schedule. “Now the great thing about links golf is you can play a hole in multiple ways, and that’s one of the beauties of it,� Slumbers said. Slumbers said it was Jason Day’s caddie, Colin Swatton, who first brought the potential situation to his attention. On the Royal Birkdale setup taking driver out of many player’s hands: “The great thing about links golf, as many of you know, if you’re as much an aficionado of this game as I am, course management is one of the most important things about links golf.