Saudi-backed LIV Golf Federation: Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood stand out on list of golfers who want to play in London

Professional golf is at a crossroads, and not everyone knows about it. Rival golf tournaments are springing up at every corner like McDonald’s, whose golfers are rumored to be taking their talents to greener pastures – in terms of money – and it’s hard to get fans Casual golfers track exactly what’s going on.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) still command the services of the best players in the world – all independent contractors – but those players now have options below. LIV Golf format and, technically, Premier Golf Tournament.

Volume around LIV Golf has been on the rise since the Genesis Invitational when Phil Mickelson’s controversial remarks regarding the Saudi regime, which is sponsoring the tournament, became public. The six-time major champion has been in hot water for the better part of three months because of his integral role in the Saudi-backed golf tournament series. In late April, Mickelson’s agent, Steve Loy, confirmed Lefty’s registration in LIV Golf’s first event.

Slowly but surely, other players are starting to follow in Mickelson’s footsteps. There have been official announcements from Robert Garrigus, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland along with unofficial statements from the likes of Sergio Garcia, Jason Kokrak and Adam Scott. Kevin Na, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, and former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer have all been connected to LIV Golf through various reports.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman told Sports sky 19 of the world’s top 100 tennis players, six of whom rank in the top 50, have committed to compete in next month’s inaugural event in London. While the names are yet to officially appear, LIV Golf plans to announce those names to the public next week in the run-up to the PGA Championship.

Hours after Norman spoke to Sky Sports, it was announced that the PGA Tour had refuse all player requests for the first LIV Golf event in London. It was assumed that the PGA Tour would grant these waivers, but that will not happen, as players who requested to be released were notified of their waivers on Tuesday.

What is LIV Golf?

Currently run by Norman, LIV Golf is hosting a series of eight tournaments starting this summer with some truly incredible wallets ($20 million in individual prizes, plus $5 million in cash prizes). team math). The payouts are funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which Norman says requires only an additional $2 billion in funding, and the eight-event sequence is believed to be the precursor to a drag tournament year long. The goal is to expand to 10 leagues by 2023 and 14 in the following two years. The whole thing got a bit messy, especially with distribution does not go swimming and ticket price totally flying.

Who maybe play, and when?

Some names have been mentioned above, but others even qualify? Typically, the PGA Tour allows players up to three “releases” per season to play on various world tours. The Saudi Arabia International in February is an example of an event where releases come out as part of an Asia Tour. Those who opted in had some sort of professional arrangement with the PGA Tour. Player has chosen to play must agree to play in a future AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am on the PGA Tour when the event is held the same week.

As mentioned, the PGA Tour is taking a tough stance on this and is choosing to treat Saudi International as a one-off event rather than part of the standard release process. It can therefore be assumed that no PGA Tour player will be eligible to play in the next LIV Golf Series unless they are willing to go against the decision of the PGA Tour – which is highly likely.

Besides, Norman will invite some top actors Join the 48-player field and reportedly have a total of 170 entries to play in the London event.

There are a total of eight LIV Golf events in 2022, and while the PGA Tour likely won’t grant release rights to any of them, DP World Tour may take a different stance. This means that a tournament battle may not take place on the golf course but in the courtroom.

LIV List of golf participants *

* Unofficial

Day: June 9-11
Place: Centurion Club – London, England