Agree with this post. I joined wgt in July '09 and have played 3,100 ranked rounds since then. So in 45 months of play I've averaged nearly 69 rounds per month or a little better than 2 ranked rounds per day. I should have no problem earning enough points to be at a high enough level to get any new equipment wgt comes out with but, the catch is, I rarely play on weekends so I don't build up the consecutive play bonus points the way many players do and am instead another 100,000 pts from lvl 97.....will probably take me another year to get to lvl 98 and the r1. It'd be nice to have it available right now & I'm sure there are a bunch of players(likely in the same boat as I am) that would buy it instantly were it available.
With that said, no I don't think you have to have this club to win the open & yes, the players who manage the greens the best will be fighting for the win. My putting, not my r11, will keep me from contending for a high finish but I give it a go none the less! :-)