ST. ALBANS, England — Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel banked $4.75 million on Saturday by profitable the richest event in golf historical past, whereas the occasion’s Saudi backers confronted renewed backlash after a 9/11 victims’ group known as for American gamers to withdraw from the insurgent sequence.
Schwartzel held on for a one-shot victory on the inaugural LIV Golf occasion outdoors London to safe the $4 million prize for the person victory — together with one other $750,000 from his share of the $3 million purse earned by his four-man Stinger group for topping the group rankings.
Schwartzel, the 2011 winner at Augusta Nationwide, collected extra prize cash from profitable the three-day, 54-hole occasion than he had from the final 4 years mixed. It got here at a price, although, having resigned his membership of the PGA Tour to play on the unsanctioned sequence and not using a waiver.
“By no means in my wildest goals did I feel we may play for that a lot cash in golf,” mentioned Schwartzel, who had not received a PGA or European tour occasion since 2016.
Fellow South African Hennie Du Plessis, who was chosen for Stinger by group captain Louis Oosthuizen within the draft, earned $2.875 million by ending second at Centurion Membership, situated between Hemel Hempstead and St. Albans.
Schwartzel entered the ultimate day with a three-shot lead and did simply sufficient to carry off Du Plessis regardless of ending with a 2-over 72 for a 7-under whole of 203.
It's the first of eight occasions within the first 12 months of LIV Golf, which started in opposition to the backdrop of the PGA Tour banning gamers who signed up. The European tour has but to touch upon any sanctions for gamers who jumped to the sequence with out its approval.
Twenty gamers have now defected from the PGA Tour, with Patrick Reed the most recent former Masters champion confirmed on Saturday as signing as much as LIV Golf as the ultimate spherical was being accomplished.
Nevertheless, the profitable rewards for becoming a member of the sequence funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund haven't been sufficient to entice any gamers ranked on this planet’s high 10.
Reed, who has received nearly $37 million in a decade on the PGA Tour, is ranked thirty sixth. The 31-year-old American’s solely main win was the 2018 Masters.
Having appeared at three Ryder Cups, the place he has been one of many brashest characters on the American group, Reed’s choice may see him ineligible for choice sooner or later.
Reed mentioned he would make his debut on the second cease of the LIV Golf sequence in Portland, Oregon, on June 30-July 2.
Pat Perez, the 46-year-old American who's ranked 168th on this planet, additionally joined the breakaway on Saturday, saying he desires to journey much less after 21 years on the PGA Tour. He made no point out on the LIV dwell broadcast in regards to the riches on supply.
Saudi Arabia’s observe file of human rights violations has sparked criticism from teams, together with Amnesty Worldwide, that the nation is “sportswashing” its picture by investing in signing up sports activities stars.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, who wouldn't communicate to the media on the occasion, known as the sequence a “pressure for good” in a speech on the victory ceremony, with out addressing criticism of the Saudi undertaking.
LIV Golf performs up the monetary largesse. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi’s Public Funding Fund, mentioned on stage that there could be a prize of $54 million for any participant who may hit an implausible 54 at a LIV occasion.
For a lot of in the US, Saudi Arabia will endlessly be related to the collapse of the World Commerce Towers and the deaths of almost 3,000 folks on Sept. 11, 2001. All however 4 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 have been Saudi residents, and the Saudi kingdom was the birthplace of Osama bin Laden, the pinnacle of al-Qaida and mastermind of the assault.
Terry Strada, the nationwide chairperson of 9/11 Households United, has despatched a letter to representatives of LIV Golf stars calling on them to rethink their participation within the sequence. Her husband, Tom, died when a hijacked airplane flew into the World Commerce Heart.
“Given Saudi Arabia’s position within the dying of our family members and people injured on 9/11 — your fellow Individuals — we're angered that you're so keen to assist the Saudis cowl up this historical past of their request for ‘respectability,’” Strada wrote, accusing the gamers of betraying U.S. pursuits.
Strada’s letter was despatched to brokers for Reed in addition to Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Na.
“While you associate with the Saudis, you turn out to be complicit with their whitewash, and assist give them the reputational cowl they so desperately crave — and are keen to pay handsomely to fabricate,” Strada wrote.
“The Saudis don't care in regards to the deep-rooted sportsmanship of golf or its origins as a gentleman’s recreation constructed upon core values of mutual respect and private integrity. They care about utilizing skilled golf to whitewash their popularity, and they're paying you to assist them do it.”
Victims’ households try to carry Saudi Arabia accountable in New York, regardless of its authorities’s insistence that any allegation of complicity within the terrorist assaults is “categorically false.”
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