Seven weeks later, the Saudi League, which is in the ring against the PGA TOUR and Europe Tour, will officially start.
The so-called "Saudi League" is officially known as the LIV Golf Invitational Series (also known as the LIV League). The new Professional Golf Tour is a $250 million grand venture away from Saudi Arabia's sovereign fund and CEO of former world number one Greg Norman.
The LIV League has eight tournaments planned this year, with the opening match taking place from June 9 to November at Centurion Golf Club in London, England. With a total prize fund of $25 million, only 48 participants and no qualifying line, the winner will receive $4 million alone – the highest single-stop personal prize in today's high world! Even the bottom finisher could get $120,000 — the equivalent of 18th place in a traditional golf tournament on the PGA Tour last week.
The first person to eat crab: Garyguus
Under the heavy reward there will be brave men. On Monday, the first player to submit a "letter of submission" to the LIV league to participate in the game has been revealed - Robert Garrigus, a 44-year-old veteran in the United States, has submitted a waiver to the PGA Tour, hoping that the latter will approve his participation in the first London game of the LIV league.
According to the PGA TOUR Charter, a member who wishes to participate in another Tour event that is "in conflict with the same week" of the PGA Tour is required to submit an application 45 days in advance. And next Monday (April 25), it is the "big limit" of the 45 days before the first kick-off of the LIV League. Once an application is received, the PGA Tour will need to respond 30 days before kickoff — that is, the PGA Tour will have to decide by May 10 whether to allow Garigus to play.
On the DP Tour (European Tour), the deadline for applications to participate in the same week's clash event is "30 days before kick-off". However, according to the Daily Telegraph, "a number of European Tour players" have already submitted applications to participate in the NOV league opener on June 9. The grim tide of "defection" forced DP Tour CEO Keith Pelley to send an urgent email to its more than 200 members on Tuesday, calling on everyone to boycott the LIV League.
The DP World Tour faces a huge shock from the LIV League
"These conflicting events, no matter how attractive they may seem to you personally, have the potential to undermine our long-term efforts and have the potential to greatly damage the tour system on which we currently live." Pey wrote in a half-stern, half-pleading tone. While he explained that his team "will review every exemption request received one by one", the European Tour CEO also asked golfers to take a "long-term view".
"Please take the big picture into account, especially given these conflicting races in 2022, where several races collided directly in the same week as our most traditional 'legacy races' – including the Irish Open, the Italian Open and the Spanish Open – all three national Opens that together have a history of more than 300 years."
However, such a "warning" is deeply doubtful about whether professional players who survive on bonuses can mention the deterrent effect - taking the first leg of the LIV League in London in 7 weeks as an example, compared with the European Tour in the same week, it is a Scandinavian mixed game - the prize money is only $2 million, which is 92% lower than the LIV League's $25 million class! The logic of having a well-known player with the strength to give up the most lucrative opportunity ever to play in Northern Europe for a game with 11.5 times less money seems to be difficult to last.
However, the situation in the LIV League is also very embarrassing. After all, Robert Galligus, the only one who has submitted an application publicly, is only ranked 1043rd in the world! He has won only one PGA Tour title in his career, and it's been a long time since 2010. In fact, the 44-year-old Garyguez currently only qualifies for the PGA Tour ,half card," and although he also competed in the PGA Tour's New Orleans Classic this week (even finishing 3rd with his teammates in the first round), he has spent most of his years on the Korn Ferry Tour — even last season's Light Tour, where he was eliminated 70 percent of the times and didn't even keep his second-tier card...
The amast line of stars is the most important asset of the PGA Tour
Such a player who can hardly even make a job, if he really joins the LIV League 48-man lineup and competes for a sky-high prize money that is twice as much as the Grand Slam, I am afraid that this tour that strives to compete with the PGA Tour will greatly reduce the gold content and appeal, and risk becoming the laughing stock of fans.
So then, it's the turn of the core question – which players, exactly, which big stars, will play in the LIV league?
According to the confirmation obtained by the U.S. Golf Channel from "multiple sources", in addition to Garyguez, at least "5 players" have submitted applications to the PGA Tour to participate in the LIV League, and with the arrival of the April 25 deadline " large limit", this number is likely to increase.
Norman is now CEO of LIV Golf Investments
For Norman, the operator of the LIV League, it is obvious that he will not tolerate the competition of heavy money, and only the world's thousands of non-mainstream players will participate. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Jaws revealed that a "two-time Grand Slam champion from the United States" has signed a contract with the LIV League and will start playing in the opener.
"48 hours ago, a Grand Slam champion was sitting in my office." Norman said, "Honestly, it doesn't matter who's in the races, what matters is that we keep these tournaments going." In fact, I would love to see a young man ranked 350th in the world win the championship, a $4 million prize, which will completely change his life. ”
In Norman's view, it's a "carrot that no one can refuse": "Even if some of the big stars don't play, they will see one player after another win $6 million, $8 million, they will not be able to stand it, they will complain: 'Enough!'Enough!'" I could have beaten these people, but unfortunately my hands were tied behind my back. ’”
Old Mi's gaffes and keeps him away from the field
However, Phil Mickelson's previous "gaffes" have greatly diminished the image of the LIV league and Saudi capital in the eyes of the Western public, and have also led to almost all of the players in the top rankings in the world – at least for now – keeping their distance from the LIV league. Even Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, who were already rumored to have signed with Norman, have publicly issued statements vowing to continue to "allegiance" to the PGA Tour.
However, according to an industry insider to the Daily Telegraph, the early stages of the LIV League may not attract the top players in the first line, but some former Grand Slam champions, former world top ten, and veteran stars with appeal will still support the façade of the lineup.
"They probably won't get any of the top 20 in the world, but I think some of the big names in the world number 25-65 will join." "After all, there's a $4 million jackpot here, and even the last place can get $120,000," the veteran said. Many professional players will think that since his job is to play games to make money, he should have freedom and not be bound by any tour. ”
Dj and Deschampeau had to temporarily swear allegiance to the PGA TOUR
"So when the list of centurions in June (London) is finally released, it may still be a surprise to some people."
Since Norman mentions that an "American star who has won two Grand Slams" has signed, and if this person is not in the top 20 of the world rankings (excluding Dustin Johnson' possibility), who would he be? All the criteria are bound to point to one person - Baba Watson!
In fact, Baba is not the only one involved in the LIV League. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have recently refuted some of the people who have slammed the LIV league in public. Korean-American player Luo Sangyu, who holds four PGA Tour titles, also deliberately wore a shirt with the "Golf Saudi" logo at the first Grand Slam Masters of the year, which aroused the sideways glance of the media and fans.
The Saudi golf logo on Luo Xiangyu's collar
Jason Kokrak, currently ranked 28th in the world, was one of the first players to publicly express interest in the LIV league. Last July, he became one of the ambassadors of Saudi Golf. In an interview in February this year, he made no secret of "making money", which is the only reason why he wanted to play in the LIV league.
"I'm not a top player, and no one is going to throw $20 million in sponsorship fees at me. Therefore, being able to make the most money in the shortest amount of time is the goal of my career. Kocrick, who will turn 37 next month, said, "If playing just a few games will allow me to save up for a lifetime of pensions and get money that I will never make on the PGA Tour, why not go?" ”
Koklark is also the face of Saudi golf
In addition, at the Saudi International Tournament held in February this year, there were as many as 20 PGA Tour stars including Zander Sheophile, Dustin Johnson, Deshambo, Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Wolf, Sean Laurie, Luo Xiangyu, Abraham Anser, Jason Dufner, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Nieman, Louis Ursuren, Baba Watson, Terrell Hatton and harold Varna III, who eventually won the PGA Tour, who submitted exemption applications to the PGA Tour in advance. It was eventually approved to participate in the $5 million Asian Tour, giving up the $8.7 million PGA Tour Pebble Beach match that week.
If you don't count the world's top ten stars who have allegiance to the PGA Tour, then the rest of the Saudi International list seems likely to be potential players who will say "Yes" to the LIV League.
Baba Watson is highly likely to join the LIV league
Combining all the above news, as well as the multiple statements before and after the "Lao Mi incident", it seems that we can get the following two lists, thus outlining a rough "golf world map" of the LIV League opening match in June.
Stars who are sure not to appear in the first leg of the LIV League:
Tiger Woods
Scotty Schoffler
Colin Morikawa
Joan Ram
Patrick Cantley
Victor Hofland
Cameron Smith
Rory McIlroy
Justin Thomas
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Zander Sheophile
Hideki Matsuyama
Bryson De Chambord
Brooks Koepka
Phil Mickelson
Stars who seem likely to play in the first leg of the LIV League:
Baba Watson
Jason Kokrak (Saudi Golf Spokesperson)
Tommy Fleetwood
Lee Westwood
Ian Poulter
Luo Xiangyu (Saudi Golf Spokesperson)
Sean Laurie
Matthew Wolff
Sergio Garcia
Patrick Reid
Justin Ross
Graeme McDowell
Pablo Larazabou (Saudi Golf Spokesperson)
Adrian Arnos (Saudi Golf Spokesperson)
Robert Galligus
……
Will the brave men under the heavy reward be them? After 7 weeks, let's wait and see.
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