The R&A has dismissed claims from former England footballer Gary Lineker that the governing body see themselves as "superior beings".
Lineker backed up claims from the BBC's former head of sport Roger Mosey that the R&A were against him presenting coverage of The Open, while also hitting out at their decision to sell broadcasting rights for the tournament to Sky from 2017.
In his book Getting Out Alive, Mosey wrote: "The R&A didn't seem to like footballers much, and were resistant to the idea of Gary Lineker, a golf fanatic, being our main presenter for the sport."
Talking to the Golf Paper, Lineker said: "I think what Roger said was fair comment. I think the R&A have always been very difficult to deal with. They live in a world where it seems they feel they are superior beings. To me this is obviously one of the great weaknesses of what is a wonderful sport.
"They are born from an era which gives them entitlement which the rest of us aren't. I felt that pomposity when I got the job. Now they have taken the Open away from the BBC for a few pence extra. For me that is going to be a very damaging decision for golf."
However, R&A chief executive, Peter Dawson, who is overseeing his final Open having brokered the deal with Sky, defended his organisation.
"I'll leave it to you to judge whether we're superior beings or not," he said. "I don't think we are and I don't think we pretend to be, and I don't think we think we are.
"I don't recognise really anything in that article that I would regard as being close to the truth, frankly."
And, on Lineker's assertion that moving to Sky would be "very damaging" to the game's health, Dawson added: "It's borderline absurd actually to think that an event in just four days of the year is going to make a massive difference to participation by which sort of channel it's on.
"If it was all year I might listen to the argument rather more."