Saudi Arabian organisers have launched their plans to hold the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Centurion Club outside London in June - but who will be playing?
LIV Golf Investments and its CEO, Greg Norman, announced the LIV Golf Invitational Series will host eight events, beginning from the London round in June - just one week prior to the US Open. The PGA Tour reportedly denied requests from players, including Phil Mickelson, to play the first event and players were forced to request clearance to play in the second LIV event by Tuesday.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series which is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, includes eye-watering prize money pots on offer.
Total prize money for the eight events - five of which are scheduled to be held in the United States - will be over £200million and the seven regular-season tournaments will have total purses of £20m, which would be the richest in professional golf, with £16m in individual prizes and £4m for the top three teams.
The top three individuals after the seven regular-season events will also share a £24m bonus, while the season-ending team match-play championship is scheduled for October 27-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami. It will provide another £40m in prize money.
Norman insists LIV Golf has received more than 200 registration requests for its first tournament in London, which will include 48 players competing on 12 four-man teams. According to the 67-year-old, the list of registered players includes about 15 of the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Rankings and two players who were previously ranked as high as No. 1.
Norman suggested six of the top-50 in the world rankings had applied to take part in the opening event, including the likes of Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer. Mickelson stated that: “Pretty much every player in the top 100 has been contacted at some point.”
Robert Garriqus was the first known PGA Tour player to formally submit a request to the Tour to compete in the Series. The American was later joined by Mickelson, Westwood, Garcia, Kaymer and Oosthuizen - who will be the top-ranked player at the Series opener.
Ahead of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Rickie Fowler revealed he had been approached but had not yet decided on his move. The American admitted he was aware that the PGA Tour denied releases to players ahead of the Series opener and is conscious of the consequences of his actions, should he play.
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It is also understood that invites went out to the world's six best male amateur players, and crucially they will be allowed to win prize money. The top six in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are currently Japan's Keita Nakajima, USA's Pierceson Coody, Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, Spain's Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto, USA's Sam Bennett and England's Alex Fitzpatrick.
Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na are sponsored by Golf Saudi, but haven’t yet revealed whether they will be involved at this stage. Australian Adam Scott suggested the schedule was ‘very appealing’ but he is yet to give a definitive answer.
Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson also allegedly received offers, but any move would likely place their involvement in future Ryder Cups into doubt. Stenson was picked as Captain for the European Ryder Cup team ahead of Rome 2023, which suggests he will remain loyal to the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Several stars, including Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, have all declared their loyalty to the PGA Tour. It remains to be seen if their loyalty will be tested in the future.
