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The PGA Tour is denying releases to golfers who requested to play within the first of a collection of Saudi-funded tournaments subsequent month in England, a daring transfer by Commissioner Jay Monahan in attempting to quash Greg Norman’s newest bid to begin a profitable rival league.
The primary LIV Golf Invitational is scheduled for June Sep 11 at Centurion Golf Membership exterior of London, with a 48-man subject competing for a $20 million purse over 54 holes. The winner will get $4 million — to this point the richest prize in golf — and final place will get $120,000.
The tour knowledgeable the gamers who’re looking for releases late Tuesday afternoon, after which notified all gamers of the choice in a brief memo, which was obtained by The Related Press.
“We have now notified those that have utilized that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA Tour Match Rules. As such, Tour members should not licensed to take part within the Saudi Golf League’s London occasion beneath our laws,” the memo stated.
“As a membership group, we consider this choice is in the most effective curiosity of the PGA Tour and its gamers.”
Whereas the names of gamers who’ve signed up has not formally been launched, Phil Mickelson stated via his agent he has requested for a conflicting occasion launch to the London occasion. Lee Westwood confirmed final week he requested the PGA Tour and European tour for a launch.
The Every day Telegraph reported that Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Ian Poulter additionally had been amongst those that sought releases.
Norman is the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, funded primarily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund. He informed Sky Sport earlier Tuesday he would have six of the highest 50 gamers on this planet on the London occasion and 19 of the highest 100.
Now that Monahan has staked his place, it’s as much as the gamers to determine in the event that they nonetheless need to go and threat dropping PGA Tour membership.
When requested the tour’s subsequent step, Monahan stated, “I can inform you what we’re going to do — preserve internet hosting the most effective occasions with the most effective gamers, with the world’s best followers and companions.”
The primary LIV occasion, one week earlier than the U.S. Open, is scheduled for a similar week because the RBC Canadian Open, the fourth-oldest nationwide open in golf. Norman gained it twice.
PGA Tour pointers sometimes enable for gamers to get three releases to play in tournaments world wide.
Monahan granted releases to about two dozen gamers for the Saudi Worldwide on Feb. 3-6 — the identical week as Pebble Seashore — with the caveat that gamers going to the occasion can be required to play Pebble Seashore as many as two instances over the subsequent three years.
However his choice Tuesday painted the LIV Golf Invitational in a distinct mild as the primary of eight such occasions with $20 million purses, together with a $5 million prize fund for a group part.
Norman has postponed the league idea of 12 four-man groups for a couple of years after the highest gamers stated they weren’t .
He has offered the LIV Golf Invitational collection this yr as separate tournaments through which gamers may compete as typically as they appreciated.
5 of the tournaments are scheduled for america, a direct problem to the PGA Tour as a result of its laws don’t enable for any releases for tournaments held in North America. The primary one is scheduled for July 1-3 close to Portland, Oregon. Others are for suburban Chicago and suburban Boston, in addition to two programs owned by former President Donald Trump in New Jersey and Miami.
The U.S. occasions, notably the Portland one, was seen as the primary actual check of the PGA Tour stating the place its gamers may compete.
As a substitute, Monahan fired the primary shot in denying releases to London. The subsequent step is whether or not gamers will problem him by taking part in the LIV Golf Invitational, anyway. Monahan has stated that might result in gamers being disbarred.
The transfer was not completely shocking. Monahan had stated in late February that he informed gamers the PGA Tour was transferring on “and anybody on the fence must decide.”
The tour denied the releases on the identical day Norman introduced an extra $2 billion funding to increase the LIV Golf collection to 10 tournaments subsequent yr, and a full season of 14 tournaments in 2024 and 2025. He stated particulars of these extra tournaments can be disclosed later.
“We have now a long-term imaginative and prescient and we’re right here to remain,” stated Norman, who tried to begin a World Golf Tour in 1994.
The most recent effort suffered a giant hit in February when the highest 10 gamers on this planet all stated they had been sticking with the PGA Tour. Rory McIlroy, a staunch opponent to the Saudi league, referred to it as a “pre-Champions tour” noting that the majority of these had been within the twilight of their careers.
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Extra AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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