LIV Golf vs. PGA: Details of the Saudi millionaire super league that is putting the golf world on a war footing

This Thursday, the world of golf can take the first step towards a change of momentous proportions. The start of the LIV Golf Invitational Series in London, with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio García at the helm, trying to upset the PGA at the forefront of checkbook and regulatory changes. The Saudi-promoted super league is undoubtedly the talk of the moment and it is that the eight tournaments and $250 million in prize money seem like enough to change the rules of the game.

Incentives that make the North American Tour nervous, which threatens to ban joint participation in these two circuits, but has failed to stop the modern initiative. How will this be achieved, what will be the format, who agrees and who disagrees, are some of the issues that will be explained below.

First you need to understand what the LIV Golf Series is. This new circuit was born from the monetary support of Saudi Arabia and will have eight tournaments in 2022 (For 2023 they hope to be ten and in 2024 fourteen) which they will begin in June in London and will continue in Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok and Jeddah, ending in September in Miami.

Events will feature 48 players divided into 12 teams, who will compete over three rounds, without cuts and everyone starting at the same time . In addition to these changes, it has been announced that all players and caddies will have microphones during all their games and that there will also be individual competition. Guaranteed show.

Obviously the weight of this circuit is money. From the organization they reported that each date will award prizes of nearly $25 million, being the golf event that will distribute the most money in the world . If the comparison exercise is carried out on the PGA, on this round the tournament which brings in the most money is The Players with a jackpot of 20 million dollars, ie 3.6 for the champion. In the case of LIV Golf, the winner of each event will receive US$4 million.

The Majors (the four biggest tournaments in the world and not belonging to the PGA) are also left behind in this fight. The Augusta Masters distributed 15 million this year, or 2.7 for Scottie Scheffler, winner after a perfect week . Additionally, the super league awards big prizes to the last ranked on each date, managing to win $120,000 just for their participation.

But this event would be nothing without its stellar figures. Golfing legend and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, Greg Norman has knocked on the doors of many of the top PGA players and has been invited by more than one. The first of them Phil Mickelson.

“Lefty” already he had said months ago that the idea of ​​an alternate circuit did not seem unreasonable , something that saw the six-major winner receive heavy criticism for his comments. This resulted in him not playing tournaments for many months and maintaining an almost spectral profile. That so far, since just days before the start of LIV in London, Mickelson delivered a statement where he told the worst-kept secret of the event: Phil will play the super league and give up his PGA card, this after threats from the North American circuit.

Another who made the same decision is Dustin Johnson, former world number one and 2020 Augusta winner. , after payment of 125 million dollars on the new tour.

Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Kevin Na, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia are also signed up for the league’s premier tournament. The latter had already shown his discomfort after a meeting with a judge at the Wes Fargo Center where he shouted visibly angrily, “I can’t wait to leave this circuit! I can not wait to go there. A few more weeks and I won’t have to deal with you anymore. “commented the winner of the Masters in 2017.

But the Saudi power does not stop there. A few hours ago, the British media ‘The Telegraph’ announced that in the next few days three top players will also show their support for the new initiative. It is Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler.

We could have expected the escape of the first, since he is a young player, with a lot of commercial impact and with a vision more linked to the show. But that of the other two does a lot of damage to the PGA and that is that Reed and Fowler are both veteran players and emblems of the circuit.

The position of the PGA in front of this new circuit has been clear. Those who play in the LIV Golf Series will lose their card on the North American tour seeing themselves harmed in the world rankings and in their chances of competing in the most famous team competitions in the world (Ryder and Presidents), out of all American players.

That is why Mickelson, Johnson, Garcia, Oosthuizen and Na have already resigned from the PGA , immediately finding themselves without a card to play their events. Something that for the moment will not complicate the first to compete for the majors this year.

In fact, the American Golf Association (USGA) has already signaled that it won’t cause any problems for golfers who attend LIV to play in the US Open, the third major of the year, which will be played between June 16 and 19.”We are proud to be the most open championship in the world. Players who have earned the right to participate in this year’s tournament will have the opportunity to do so. “, although he warned, “This decision should not be construed as endorsing any alternative organizing entity, nor as endorsing the actions or comments of individual players. ”.

This is partly because the majors do not belong to the PGA and operate according to their own logic of participation . Mickelson, Johnson and Garcia, for example, are guaranteed a lifetime presence at the Masters after previously winning the green jacket. Also, for example, certain past victories give them the chance to have a guaranteed invitation until certain years in other majors.

Now the biggest problem facing LIV Golf players is that it does not have a score for the world ranking at the moment, so players who do not have additional licenses will not be able to participate in the majors thanks to their positions in the general classification. SEO.

Greg Norman gave one of the juiciest news in recent days when he announced that Tiger Woods had turned down a nine-figure offer to feature in the Saudi league events. In fact, there aren’t a few sources that say the offer was specifically $700 million just to participate. Unheard of and which would bring the native of Cypress to a considerable rise in an already immense fortune.

The refusal, despite the surprise of the high amount of the sum, is nothing new if we look at the comments that the winner of 15 majors had made some time ago. “I believe in history, in big tournaments, in what Jack did [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer], creating our circuit. There’s a legacy in there “, had said.

Rory Mcllroy, on the other hand, was more thoughtful when talking about this new league during his Memorial appearance. “When I turned professional, I was playing for money. Now I play golf for money? No. My situation has changed over the years. Some guys are in a position where they are not guaranteed to have a job next year. It’s hard to stay in the top 125, especially when you’re over 40 and maybe not hitting the ball as far as you used to. Today is a youth game. So if another entity comes along and says, “we guarantee you this amount for three years”, the more you play for a ton more prizes, you play fewer events and you spend more time with your family, that’s is very attractive to some of these guys who are in that position. I wouldn’t do it, but you have to try to put yourself in the shoes of others “, he added.

World number two Jon Rahm also used his appearance at the Jack Nicklaus Tournament to address the controversial initiative, issuing a message of support but with hints of warning. “I remain loyal to the PGA Tour. So far we have a great product. The problem he’s going to have, because I want to play against the best in the world, is when someone who’s not even in the top 150 in the world makes four million. That’s when you’re going to create a problem. No matter what, players, especially young ones, end up with the best product. Things will change for the better. At this point in my career, if I go there and get banned from the PGA Tour, I’m sacrificing too much. So for now I stay where I am and we’ll see how it goes. You never know what will happen. The PGA Tour has been around for many years and if they scare you, I hope things get better “, he commented.