SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND | Described officially as “The R&A Press Conference with … the Chief Executive,” this annual meeting with journalists on the Wednesday of Open Championship week is the stage on which Mark Darbon, currently the chief executive – like Martin Slumbers before him and Peter Dawson before Slumbers – can report on the activities of the R&A in the previous 12 months.
Press conference? It can sound dryer than some of the fairways at Royal Birkdale this week. But it shouldn’t be ignored. It is the R&A’s opportunity, perhaps the best of the year, to get its message on numerous issues transmitted around the world. It is by any other name a state-of-the-nation address.
Darbon, 47, is slim and owlish-looking, quietly spoken and calm. He took over this role in 2024 and is earning praise for his work. “He is doing very well,” one golf administrator said. “He is calm, balanced, well informed.” And at his press conference this year, as a sign of growing confidence, he showed flashes of a sense of humour hitherto unrevealed.
Darbon began by highlighting the financial footprint of the Open – saying that this year’s is forecast to bring an economic benefit of £200 million to the region. He mentioned the new Last-Chance Qualifier on Monday of Open week, an outstanding innovation that added considerable interest to the first day.
He mentioned the Heroes Classic “which saw our reigning [men’s and women’s] Open champions … joined by an array of other champions and personalities to compete in a three-hole scramble.”
And with some justifiable pride in his voice he unveiled Adam Scott, the 45-year-old Australian, as the first recipient of the R&A’s Spirit of Golf Award given to an individual who demonstrates the spirit of the game on a global scale and exemplifies the values, behaviours and traditions of golf. “Adam … is the ultimate professional and has consistently displayed integrity, respect and passion for the game,” Darbon said, a point of view with which, surely, there can be no disagreement.
He was questioned about the Open’s prize fund, up this year by $750,000 to $17.75 million, still some way behind the USGA’s prize fund of $22.5 million for the recent U.S. Open. Was this a stand against ever-increasing prize funds, he was asked? “That’s a fair assumption,” he replied. “We are big believers in recognising and rewarding the players. They are the icons of our sport. They have a disproportionate impact on the status and standing of the game. … We invest the proceeds that we generate from this Open …back into the sport. That is really important for us and we think we’re finding the right balance.”
Significantly, what was once the most-talked about issue in golf, the proposed rollback of the distance a golf ball flies, has become one of the least-talked about. It was the fifth question Darbon faced and he added little to the current position that it is under discussion by the game’s authorities.
Other issues discussed included the fans’ code of conduct; the World Handicap System; and that the Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in two years’ time will not be expected to match the 300,000 spectators anticipated at Royal Birkdale this week. He said that Portmarnock in the Republic of Ireland is being considered for a future Open and that Muirfield, long an R&A favourite, could be brought back onto the Open rota.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first question put to Darbon was about the England soccer team’s possible involvement in the final of the World Cup on Sunday and what effect that might have on the tee times of the final day of the Open. He replied that the R&A currently has no plans to alter anything but will finalise its position following today’s semifinal.
Significantly, what was once the most-talked about issue in golf, the proposed rollback of the distance a golf ball flies, has become one of the least-talked about. It was the fifth question Darbon faced and he added little to the current position that it is under discussion by the game’s authorities.
Darbon has none of the growling authority of Keith Mackenzie, a predecessor of some years ago whose bite was significantly less than his bark. Nor is he the “Voice of God” as Dawson, another past chief executive, was described by Seth Waugh, a past PGA of America CEO. “The champion golfer of the year, ” are some of the most famous words in golf uttered to introduce the winner of the Open Championship at the prizegiving each year. They do not come out of Darbon’s mouth with a theatrical flourish of an actor declaiming Shakespeare. In time, however, they might.
No one could accuse Darbon of hogging the stage even when he is in the middle of it. His showpiece started moments after 11 o’clock and was over 30 minutes later and in that time he was asked 19 questions. He gives the impression of being on top of his job but more comfortable in doing it than talking about it.
“I’d rather liked it to have gone on longer,” one American journalist said. “I’d like there to have been more questions asked.”
Darbon at the R&A stands in contrast to Mike Whan, the USGA’s CEO. They are two of the most important men in golf and in some ways quite different. Whan’s enthusiasm and willingness to engage with almost anyone rolls over all those around him as he talks at 200 words a minute and seems hypercaffeinated.
Darbon is as already described. Each to his own. Is the difference between the two men that of a typical American and a typical Briton?