The LIV Golf Invitational Series, the Saudi Super League that puts the PGA Tour in check and divides the world of golf with the strength of millions of dollars

What the repeated human rights violations denounced by multiple international organizations threaten to do is golf: driving a wedge between the United States, the largest self-conceived democracy on the planet, and Saudi Arabia, one of its main allies in the Middle East. . The reason is the launch of the Invitational Series of Golf LIVan alternative circuit financed by the Saudi monarchy which, in the blink of an eye, risks cracking the hegemony of the PGA Tour.

The Centurion Club of London will host the first of eight events which will include the first edition of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, also known as the Super League. There will be 48 players, including seven majors winners, three former world number ones and 27 of the 150 best golfers on the planet today. Over the next four and a half months, this circuit will have five stops in the United States (Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago and Miami), one in Bangkok (Thailand) and another in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

The visible face of this new initiative is Greg Norman, former world number one, two-time winner of the British Open and a member of the Golf Hall of Fame. The White Shark is the executive director of LIV Golf Investments, the company that manages the Super League, whose majority shareholder is the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign investment fund of the Saudi monarchy.

This conglomerate is chaired by Muhammad bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and has assets of approximately $ 620 billion in 13 strategic sectors, including entertainment and sports (in October last year, it completed the acquisition of the British shareholding in Newcastle). That’s why it won’t have been that hard for him to open his pockets and propose a tour that will distribute $ 255 million in prizes.

And the thing does not end there: Norman, who had already presented a project (never finalized) for an alternative circuit to the PGA in 1994, announced that the LIV Golf Invitational Series will invest $ 2,000 million between 2023 and 2025 increase the number of races from eight to 14.

For now, each of the seven tournaments that will make up the regular phase of the tour will take place over three days (there will be three 18-hole rounds with no qualification cut) and will bring together 48 players who will compete individually and also in teams of four members. . Each race will award points and whoever gets the most units in these seven events will be the individual champion. The eighth tournament, in Miami, will be a four-day tag team championship.

Millionair prizes for everyone: from the first to the last

In addition to the reward for sporting success, each regular season tournament will offer participants $ 25 million in prizes: 20 million will be distributed in the individual competition (the winner will take 4 million) and 5 million in the team competition to be distributed among the three best quartets.

At the end of the regular phase, the individual champion will also pocket 18 million, while his two companions will receive 8 and 4 million (assuming they have participated in at least four of the seven events). The final of the team tournament will distribute 50 million dollars among the 12 quartets (the former will get 16 million). But not only the winners fatten their pockets: who finishes last in every single race will receive $ 120,000which makes the proposal attractive also for second and third line professionals.

These volumes of cash easily exceed the prizes a player can earn for participating in any tournament organized by the PGA and even for participating in one of the four majors. In April, American Scottie Scheffler, world number one, received $ 2.7 million for winning the Augusta Masters. The same amount was received last month by his compatriot Justin Thomas for winning the PGA championship.

Conflict and tugs with the PGA

Such a hook has put many players in a dilemma since then the PGA has not authorized them to participate in the LIV Golf Invitational Series and warned in May that those who chose to play would be “subject to disciplinary action”, including bans from attending tour events. At the time, Greg Norman called the PGA “anti-golf, anti-fan and anti-competitive” and accused it of trying to “perpetuate its illegal monopoly on what should be a free and open market.” “No matter what obstacles you put in front of us, it won’t stop us,” he warned.

The inability to participate in the events managed by the PGA and the Ryder Cup (which every year pits a team of European golfers against another American) was the first of the consequences that the players who opted for the LIV Golf Invitational had to face. Series. . The uncertainty remained about the possibility of interpreting the major, whose organization is independent of the PGA. The first response was given on Tuesday by the United States Golf Association (USGA), which reported that they will be able to take part in the US Open which will be held June 16-19 at the Brookline Country Club (Massachusetts).

“We are proud to be the most open league in the world and players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s tournament will have the opportunity to do so,” the USGA said in a statement, saying excluding them would be “inappropriate”. “it’s unfair”. In any case, he made it clear that this decision did not imply support for the Super League.

The rift created by the emergence of this new circuit and the threats of sanctions by the PGA have divided the players between those who have chosen to join the initiative funded by the Saudi PIF and those who have remained (at least for now) in the traditional American tour. .

Dustin Johnson’s decision

One of those who made the leap was former world number one Dustin Johnson, champion of the US Open 2016 and Augusta Masters 2020. “, explained the American, who in February had assured that he would continue to competing in the PGA Tour, but he finally changed his mind. Gossip claims that a $ 125 million offer made him reconsider.

It was not the first of the first. Kevin Nothing He had already resigned from the PGA circuit on Saturday. “I would like to have the freedom to play where I want and exercising my right as a free agent gives me this opportunity. However, to remain a PGA Tour player, I must give up the right to make these career decisions. If I exercise my right to choose where and when to play golf, I will not be able to remain a PGA Tour player without facing disciplinary proceedings and legal action from the PGA Tour. “And he warned,” I hope current policies change and to to be able to play the PGA Tour again “

Other golf stars who have hit the leap are Spanish Sergio Garciathe South African Louis OosthuizenBritish Ian Poultry Y Lee WestwoodNorthern Irish Graeme McDowell or the American veteran Phil Michaelsonthe last to jump ship.

Mickelson has changed his mind

Phil Mickelson (winner of six majors and 57 tournaments throughout his career) has not only announced he will join the Saudi Super League, but will kick off this weekend’s inaugural tournament at Centurion Club (London).

In February, Mickelson described the Saudi promoters of this initiative as “terrible sons of bitches”. “We know that Khashoggi was murdered and that they have a terrible record over human rights. They execute people only because they are homosexuals ”, he accused then. Although he also accused the organizers of the PGA of using “manipulative, coercive and brutal” tactics to restrain the players.

After a long public silence, Mickelson reappeared on Monday to say he believed LIV Golf could have a “transformative” effect on the sport. He also said it would allow him to change his lifestyle.

“I am incredibly grateful for what this game and the PGA Tour have given me,” he said.

“I fully appreciate and respect that some may disagree with this decision, have strong opinions and sympathize with it. I have a renewed spirit and enthusiasm for the game,” he added.

From Tiger’s word to Norman’s defense

“Phil said some things that a lot of us involved in the tournament and his legacy disagree with,” Tiger Woods said a couple of weeks ago, showing his support for the PGA Tour. And he stressed, “I have decided to support the PGA Tour. This is where my legacy resides. I have been lucky enough to have won 82 events on this Tour and 15 Major Championships and have been part of the World Golf Championships, at the beginning and at the end. So I have a loyalty to the PGA Tour “.

Four-time Major Champion Rory McIlroy also agrees, with the Northern Irishman declaring that the championship is nothing more than a cash grab. His European counterpart Jon Rahm said, “I’m not doing this for the money. They throw numbers at you and that should impress people. I’m in this game for the love of golf and for the love of the game and to become a champion.” World number 1 Scottie Scheffler is another who has publicly distanced himself from the series.

Human rights organizations accuse Saudi Arabia of “sports recycling”: with brilliant sporting events, the powerful in Riyadh would like to distract attention from human rights violations in their country. It should not be forgotten that Crown Prince Bin Salman was linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Look, we all make mistakes and we all try to learn from those mistakes and correct them in the future,” LIV Golf Investments head Greg Norman succinctly replied when asked about the murder at an event in London.

Nor does the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia, denounced by human rights organizations, give the former golf star the slightest headache: “You walk into a restaurant and there are women sitting there. They don’t wear burqas. They are. out there playing golf, “he said in an interview with the American magazine Golf Digest.