Following months of rumor and controversy, the PGA Tour has ultimately met its bona fide challenger.
The LIV Golf Sequence — an audacious Saudi-backed start-up tour — is hoping to take the world of golf by storm. With two-time main champion Greg Norman on the helm, LIV Golf has pried away an array of distinguished figures from the PGA Tour, with the promise of profitable payouts in return. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson are among the many notable golfers to flee to the brand new circuit.
And because the exodus from the PGA Tour escalates, the image of professional golf is rising murkier by the minute.
Right here is all that you must know concerning the LIV Golf tour forward of its inaugural occasion on Thursday, June 9:
What's the Saudi-backed golf league, LIV Golf?
LIV Golf is a start-up tour hoping to ascertain itself as a breakaway circuit and competitor to the PGA Tour. It's funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF), therefore incomes the “Saudi Golf League” moniker.
Amongst the appeals of LIV Golf, golfers are paid on a per-event foundation and should not have to commit to a whole occasion schedule. Different differentiators from the PGA Tour embody fewer tournaments, no cuts and play consisting of three rounds for a complete of 54 holes.
Occasion fields are additionally confined to 48 golfers, who're then divided into twelve four-man groups for a mix of particular person and workforce competitors. Play will start in a shotgun format, with gamers teeing off on the identical time at completely different holes.
Saudi LIV Golf controversy defined
The PIF has pledged $400 million alone to fund the league’s inaugural 2022 season, $255 of which will likely be allotted for prize cash.
These profitable figures, although, have raised crimson flags when positioned in dialog with Saudi Arabia’s current historical past.
The Saudi Arabia authorities has ceaselessly been accused of human-rights violations, in addition to battle crimes. Most notably, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was discovered to have permitted the 2018 homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
LIV Golf, then, has been criticized by some as “sportswashing,” an try by the federal government to divert consideration from its wrongdoings and solid itself as a “regular” nation via the projection of sports activities. Norman, for one, has downplayed the importance of Khashoggi’s homicide when defending his involvement with the tour.
When is the Saudi Golf LIV Invitational?
The circuit’s inaugural season kicks off Thursday, June 9 for a three-day occasion in London on the Centurion Membership. Throughout its four-month season, LIV Golf will host eight occasions — seven particular person occasions and one workforce championship, the place gamers will coalesce to vie for the LIV Golf workforce trophy.
A full schedule of occasions is included beneath:
London, England: June Sept. 11
Portland, Oregon: June 30 – July 2
Bedminster, New Jersey: July 29-31
Boston, Massachusetts: Sept. 2-4
Chicago, Illinois: Sept. 16-18
Bangkok, Thailand: Oct. 7-9
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Oct. 14-16
Miami, Florida: Oct. 27-30
Tips on how to watch the LIV Golf Invitational
The London occasion begins Thursday, June 9 at 9 a.m. EST. Play could be streamed at LIVGolf.com, YouTube and Fb; the circuit has not but reached a broadcast tv deal in america.
Who's competing within the Saudi Golf League, and who’s not?
LIV Golf has lured a formidable assortment of golfers from the PGA circuit, headlined by Johnson, the highest-ranked participant to affix the tour at No. 15, and Mickelson.
Different top-50 gamers embody Louis Oosthuizen (No. 21), Bryson DeChambeau (No. 26), Kevin Na (No. 34), Talor Gooch (No. 35) and Patrick Reed (No. 36).
For now, Johnson stays the most-touted defector, with a big portion of the game’s upper-echelon remaining within the PGA Tour.
World No. 8 Rory McIlroy hasn’t modified his thoughts on the LIV tour since its inception. The Irishman reiterated his ideas this week.
“I feel my stance on it has been fairly clear from the beginning,” he mentioned forward of the RBC Canadian Open. “It’s not one thing that I wish to take part in. I actually perceive the fellows which have went. I perceive what their targets and their ambitions are of their life. I’m actually not knocking anybody for going. It’s their life, it’s their resolution, they'll dwell it the way in which they wish to.”
Saudi Golf League Prize Cash
Not solely has LIV Golf shelled out ludicrous quantities of cash to lure golfers to the tour — Mickelson, for example, was given $200 million — however the circuit is upping the ante on prize cash, too.
Every occasion has a $20 million prize pool, together with a smaller $5 million purse reserved for workforce competitors. Particular person payouts vary from an estimated $4 million for the primary place finisher to $120,000 for the final place finisher. October’s final Workforce Championship, in the meantime, carries a $50 million prize pool.
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