Robert Garrigus becomes first PGA Tour golfer to request release to play in Saudi-supported event

In a move reminiscent of the Fyre Festival’s booking of Blink-182 to perform at its disastrous event in the Bahamas that ultimately failed to materialize, the LIV Golf Invitational will likely have its first entrant. Robert Garrigus has applied to withdraw from the PGA Tour to play in the first of an eight-event London series at the Centurion Club from June 9-11, the journeyman confirmed on Tuesday to Golf channelthough he declined to comment further.

Garrigus is currently ranked 1,043rd in the Official World Golf Ranking and has played just three PGA Tour tournaments so far this year. His career has been solid by PGA Tour cruiser standards – he’s made $15 million and was once ranked high at number 35 in the world – but all of that pales in comparison. compared to what he could get with a few good outings this summer.

All events of the Saudi Arabia-backed Liv Golf Invitational Series (formerly Super Golf League) will include a $20 million individual prize and a $5 million team prize through the grand finale in October, with the numbers going to be $30 million and $50 million, respectively. . In other words, Garrigus has a chance, depending on how well he plays, to match his career earnings for five months starting in June.

Of course, filing a waiver doesn’t mean Garrigus will actually feature in the events, but it seems like that’s the direction he’s headed. Whether others follow suit will be very attractive. Have a report in The Telegraph Last weekend, five fairly well-known golfers – Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Jason Kokrak, Bubba Watson and Kevin Na – were linked to the tournament, but nothing was confirmed and some of them even indirectly denied the report.

Based on Golfweekplayers must submit their claim 45 days in advance of the tournament, which means the deadline to do so for the London event on June 9 is Monday, April 25.

Interestingly, the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, Greg Norman, announced recently that he doesn’t really care who will play in the eight events because the financial returns will be so great that eventually the best players in the world will want a piece of the pie. Whether it is a wise financial decision is still to be considered, but it also may not matter. LIV Golf Investments is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – essentially the financial arm of the Saudi government – and that funding is seemingly endless.

Garrigus has had one win in his PGA Tour career, winning the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic (which ended in 2012) and has played in 11 major championships throughout his career (though no championship since 2013). He also has seven second-place finishes in his career with five of those coming in 2012 and three of them losing in the playoffs.

Garrigus finished T16 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am earlier this year to go from 1,614th to 1,002th in the world.