British Open at bottom of major purses as R&A tries to keep money from getting out of hand

TROON, Scotland (AP) — The British Open is raising its prize fund by $500,000 to $17 million, the smallest of the four majors and 28th in size against all of men's professional golf.

And for now, that's just fine with Martin Slumbers, the retiring CEO of the R&A.

Driving the wild increases in golf purses is Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which launched in 2022 with $20 million purses for 48-man fields and $4 million to the winner. The PGA Tour responded in a bid to keep from losing star players, and this year had 11 tournaments with prize funds of $20 million or more.

The U.S. Open had the largest purse of the four majors at $21.5 million, followed by the Masters ($20 million) and the PGA Championship ($17.5 million).

In announcing the slight boost in prize money — the winner will get $3.1 million, a $100,000 boost from last year — Slumbers said the R&A had a responsibility to “strike a balance” between the British Open's position in world golf and the R&A needing money to develop and oversee amateur golf all over the world except for the United States and Mexico.

“We have to make choices if we want to continue to build on the significant growth in participation that is essential for golf’s future," Slumbers said. "We remain concerned about the impact substantial increases in men’s professional prize money are having on the perception of the sport and its long-term financial sustainability.

"We are determined to act with the interests of the global game in mind as we pursue our goal of ensuring golf continues to thrive in 50 years’ time.”

They were similar to his comments last year, a month after the PGA Tour announced it had reached an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which pays for the rival league. The tour had a U.S. private equity partner now while still negotiating a commercial investment from PIF.

Slumbers said a year ago he would consider all corporate partners, including PIF.

He met last year at Royal Liverpool during the British Open with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF, and they played together last fall in the Dunhill Links Championship, a European tour event that mixes professionals with amateurs.

Slumbers is retiring in September after 10 years as CEO. The R&A announced at the start of the month that 45-year-old Mark Darbon will take over as CEO.

Darbon most recently was CEO of Northampton Saints, a premiership rugby club. He has an extensive background in sports, marketing and sponsorship dating to 2009 and was a senior member of the London organizing committee for the 2012 Olympics.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Tiger Woods of the United States, right, tees off the 10th hole during a practice round for the British Open Golf Championships at the Royal Troon golf club in Troon, Scotland, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

DETROIT (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated false claims that Chinese automakers are putting up large factories in Mexico, vowing during a stop in the automaking state of Michigan to slap 200% tariffs on any vehicles the unbuilt plants make and ship to the United States.

Trump also claimed during an event in Flint that if Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is elected in November, there will be no more auto industry in the U.S., because work building electric vehicles will go to China.

That statement came even though automaking employment has grown since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, after dropping during Trump's first term.

“If I don't win, you will have no auto industry within two to three years," Trump said, calling any increases under Biden and Harris temporary. “You will not have any manufacturing plants. China is going to take over all of them because of the electric car.”

He told the crowd he would make foreign automakers build factories in the U.S. by imposing tariffs on imported autos, saying it “will be like taking candy from a baby.”

Foreign automakers already have multiple U.S. factories, mainly in southern states.

Auto jobs dipped 0.8% during Trump's term to just over 949,000 in January 2021, when he left office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since Biden took office that month, auto and parts jobs rose 13.6% to 1.07 million in August, so there's no evidence of the industry disappearing. Auto sales were up 2.4% in the first half of this year.

Trump said his tariffs would make Chinese vehicles built in Mexico unsellable in the U.S., forcing automakers from China and elsewhere to set up factories in the U.S.

“They’re owned and built by China in Mexico, and there are a number of them going up right now,” Trump said of Chinese factories.

Although some Chinese automakers aspire to sell in the U.S., industry analysts say there are no large Chinese-owned auto factories under construction in Mexico, and there's only one small Chinese auto assembly factory operating there. It’s run by a company called JAC that builds inexpensive vehicles from kits for sale in that country.

Trump also promised to charge tariffs on vehicles made in other countries if those countries tax U.S.-made vehicles. But often tariffs end up being passed on to consumers in the country that assesses them.

A message was left Tuesday night seeking comment from the Harris campaign.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)