For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Open Championship gets underway.

1. R&A CEO not ruling out Saudi investment

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”With the purse for The Open more than doubling over the past decade, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers on Wednesday wouldn’t rule out taking money from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment to help fund escalating costs.”

• “Speaking to reporters at a news conference ahead of this week’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Slumbers said the R&A wasn’t interested in having a presenting sponsor for The Open but will continue to talk to various potential sponsors.”

• “We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen,” Slumbers said. “I think the world has changed in the last year. It’s not just golf. You’re seeing it in football. You’re seeing it in F1. You’re seeing it in cricket. I’m sure tennis won’t be that far behind.”

2. Open storylines

Golf Monthly’s Andrew Wright rounds up 8 of ‘em….among them: the 17th…”The course looks a little different than it did when McIlroy powered his way to victory in 2014. Most notably, contenders will have to deal with the new par-3 17th, which is set to play a pivotal role in determining the outcome come Sunday evening.”

• “Little Eye” might measure just 136 yards but don’t let that fool you. It’s raised green is guarded by vicious bunkers and steep run-offs at every turn. Should even the best players in the world fail to find the putting surface in regulation, they are at risk of running up a card-wrecker.

• “It’s already split opinion among the pros while veteran caddie Billy Foster described it as a “monstrosity” and warned that “this Open Championship could be remembered for a calamity that happened.”

3. McIlroy’s Hoylake hopes

Kieran Canning for Yahoo…”McIlroy, 34, seemed destined for double-digit major titles when he swept all before him at the Royal Liverpool course in 2014 and went onto win the PGA Championship less than a month later.”

• “But the Northern Irishman has remained on four majors ever since, despite remaining one of world golf’s brightest stars.”

• “I’ve had so many close calls since,” said the world number two.

• “I’ve had a great nine years and won a lot of tournaments but the big four have eluded me. Hopefully this week that’s something I can change.”

• “The past two years in particular have brought a series of  cases of what might have been for McIlroy…He has finished in the top 10 at six of the last seven majors.”

4. Report: Tiger’s ex drops suit

ESPN report…”Tiger Woods’ former girlfriend has dropped a $30 million lawsuit against the 15-time major champion’s estate, according to court documents obtained by the New York Post.”

• “Erica Herman’s dismissal of the lawsuit was filed on June 29, pending her appeal of a judge’s decision that she must abide by a 2017 nondisclosure agreement she purportedly signed with Woods.”

5. R&A CEO worried about golf’s longterm financial sustainability

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”During his annual press conference Wednesday at Royal Liverpool, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers expansively explained the association’s concerns and his desire to maintain what he called “financial sustainability.”

• “Significant increases in prize money in the men’s professional game has resulted in the long-term reassessment of the business model for professional golf,” Slumbers said. “As custodians of the game, we have to balance the prize fund at The Open with ensuring the appropriate investment in grass-roots and new golf initiatives, ensuring pathways are in place from elite amateur golf to the professional game, and most importantly, promoting women and girls’ golf, both amateur and professional.”

• “The R&A announced last week an 18 percent increase to the purse for this week’s Open Championship to $16.4 million with $3 million going to Sunday’s champion. While that bump is on pace with planned increases it’s well short of what is quickly becoming the norm in professional golf.”

6. Social media ire at LIV featured group snub

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Perhaps not unsurprisingly, there are no LIV players in any of the featured groups. That includes Cameron Smith, who’s the reigning champion at The Open. Typically, the defending champion is featured and that has held true the last several years.”

“Many fans on social media this week were not happy with the decision.”

“Perhaps due to the backlash they’ve received, The Open’s official Twitter account posted a video with Cam this morning.”

7. Scheffler hits back at putting critics

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Unfortunately, the number one player in the world also ranks 115th in Strokes Gained: Putting during that timeframe.”

• “He hasn’t finished outside of the top-5 in any tournament since April, but his poor putting has kept him out of the winner’s circle since March’s PLAYERS Championship.”

• “Prior to his start at Hoylake this week, Scheffler spoke about his issues with the putter this year.”

• “But I think I had back-to-back tournaments that I could have won where I putted poorly, and all of a sudden it became this thing where I’ll watch highlights of my round, and even the announcers, any time you step over the putt it’s like, ‘Well, this is the part of the game he struggles with.’”

• “And it’s like, if you say it every time and you guys see me miss a 12-footer it’s like, ‘Oh, there it is. He’s struggling again.’ It’s one of those deals where I don’t pay attention to it,” he said.

• “The things that I’m working on right now I feel very excited about. I’m hitting a lot of good putts. Pretty soon, a lot of those good putts will start falling in the middle of the hole instead of dodging around the side of it.”

8. WITB Time Machine: Tiger’s winning WITB, 2006 Open Championship

9. Photos from the Barracuda Championship

• Check out our galleries from this week’s event.