– We are at a crossroads. It is too early to say how it will turn out, but I think the sport of golf as we know it, stops today, says Tom Erik Andersen, editor of Norsk Golf. That’s because the new and extremely money-rich Saudi-based Liv Golf Invitational Series starts at Centurion Club outside London on Thursday. It has created rifts and steep fronts. The PGA promises battle against those who left the traditional PGA Tour in favor of the new series of sums of money that the PGA is nowhere near matching. “They have to choose one or the other,” PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan said in a meeting with the agents of many of the players on June 1, the same day that the names of 42 of the players in the first round of the new tour were announced. “Members who do so violate our guidelines, and must expect disciplinary action,” he said. Without going into more detail on what kind of penalties it can be talked about. This is the Liv Invitational Golf Series A tour for 48 invited players, funded by the Saudi State Investment Fund Eight tournaments in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. The first takes place in London 9-11. June. The champions are selected after seven of the tournaments. The last one is a pure season finale. There will be competition both individually and for four-man teams. The competitions run over three rounds (54 holes). The exception is the final, which has four rounds (72 holes). Everyone gets to play everything, there is no cut. The prize money is 25 million dollars in a quarter of the seven introductory votes. 4 million goes to the individual winner. The system of the 48 receives $ 120,000. In the final, the winner will receive 18 million dollars, provided that he has participated in at least four competitions. For teams, the winning prize is $ 5 million initially, $ 16 million in the final. These are the competitions this year: 9.-11. June: London, England (collides with the PGA Tour Canadian Open in Toronto) June 30 – July 2: Portland, USA (collides with the John Deere Classic in Illinois) July 29-31: Bedminster, USA (collides with Royal Mortgage Classic, Detroit) September 2-4: Boston, USA September 16-18: Chicago, USA October 7-9: Bangkok, Thailand October 14-16: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 27.- October 30: Miami, USA (final) Tiger Woods says no to giant offer Top players such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Na have already left the PGA and are betting on the new league. Veteran Phil Mickelson has also, after a long hesitation, decided to join Liv. And the day before the first tournament, there was also the news that Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau will join the next gong. Where the PGA tournament in Canada this weekend “only” has a prize money of 8.7 million kroner, the Arabs at the same time slam 25 million kroner on the table at the Liv tour’s first tournament. Among other stars Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas will start there. They call the Liv tour “a shame” the day before the start. – There is something completely new that is being introduced with this tournament. The PGA has always had the principle that you should make your money’s worth. If you play well, you serve well. If you play poorly and do not get a prize, you go home empty-handed, Andersen tells news. He is aiming for the sums of money Liv has used to attract the stars. Dustin Johnson was the first star to announce the transfer. The reports say that he received 125 million dollars, more than what Tiger Woods has recorded in prize money throughout his career. And that before he has knocked out a single ball on the new tour. Woods is also said to have been tempted with even wilder amounts. But he has said no. – We all know why many people play in London this week, said golf star Rory McIlroy according to the BBC about the event. – These are large sums and are money they get in advance. I understand that, for some it is very independent, he continues. – Sports laundry on a scale the world has not seen before BAKMANNEN: Greg Norman already said in the 80’s that he could play where he wanted. Now he is central in the Saudi league Photo: PAUL CHILDS / Reuters Many call what is happening sports laundering. Andersen is involved in this. – It is sports washing on a scale the world has not seen before, when a regime with such relations to human rights takes control of an entire sport, Andersen says. – All sports are for sale. Nevertheless, sports laundry has come so far that it is almost no longer talked about anymore. news has several times been in contact with the Saudi Arabian embassy about this case. The embassy asked to receive the questions via e-mail, but they did not answer. If it is hard against hard and exclusion, the “defectors” can lose prestigious tournaments such as future majors and the Ryder Cup. The American Golf Association just said on Tuesday that they will allow Liv participants to start in the US Open, writes golfdigest.com. – They can, because each of the four major tournaments are their own events run by organizations that make their own decisions, says Andersen. The Ryder Cup could get worse. It is also a highlight for the players. – It was a difficult decision. All things can change, and hopefully it will make it so that we can participate. The Ryder Cup is incredible, and something that has meant a lot to me. Hopefully I get the chance to represent my country again, Johnson said. Greg Norman drives The old champion Greg Norman is one of the drivers behind the Arab league. He has been working for several decades to establish a breakaway league from the PGA. He has done so since he was banned from playing golf in South Africa during the apartheid regime there in the 1980s. – I am a professional golfer and play where I want, he said then. Now he threatens legal action against the PGA if they shut out the Liv participants. VINGLA: Phil Mickelson’s name was the first to leak this winter. He withdrew from the golf course after the brawl that occurred, but is now back in the Arab league Photo: Denis Poroy / AP the tour to the new and hugely money-rich Arab Liv Golf Invitational Series. Johnson will play all eight voices in the tour this year. In February, he strongly dissociated himself from the new golf series and said he would be true to the PGA. – I know that there is our speculation about me and the new golf tour. Therefore, it is time to state that I am fully committed to the PGA Tour, Johnson told Sky Sports. Then. He has had the Canadian bank RBC as the main sponsor since 2018, but the bank is now breaking the sponsorship. Several of the other defectors also risk losing their sponsors. Tom Erik Andersen thinks more people may jump over. – For every new person who reports a transition, it will be easier for others to do it afterwards. In this tournament there will be “trial jumpers”. I think more people have not reported a transfer yet, because they do not want to get difficult questions, such more got at the press conference before the first tournament, he says. Andersen admits that he is pessimistic, and fears that the best may be split. That the best will no longer meet in the same tournaments. – Then a lot disappears. 100-150 years of golf history are gone, and it’s sad. Amnesty International has stamped the tournament as sportswashing, and the PGA will refuse to start for those who participate in the new league. US intelligence has established that the man who de facto is behind the new league is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the same person who approved the murder of the Saudi-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul. SAY NO: Tiger Woods said no to a billion dollars to play in the new league Photo: Eric Gay / AP – We are golfers, not politicians At a press conference with the Liv players this week, they were asked if they reflect on Saudi Arabia’s crimes on human rights. They would rather not answer that. – We are professional golfers, not politicians. If Saudi Arabia wants to use golf as a way to get where they want to be, and has the resources to do so, it is something we are just proud to help them with, said Graeme McDowell. At the press conference, a reporter from the Associated Press was dismissed because he was not polite enough in his question. Four of the 50 highest ranked players in the world, and 16 of the top 100, are in the 48-man field in London. Norwegian Viktor Hovland is not among them. He has previously said that he will initially play in the PGA Tour, but can take it up for reconsideration if many of the best report a transfer. So far, as far as I know, that is the only thing Viktor has said. Thus, he has also said that he will at least stay on the PGA Tour, says Tom Erik Andersen.
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– Sportswashing on a scale the world has never seen before – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
