According to the PGA TOUR Charter, any member who wishes to participate in a non-U.S. professional event held in the same week as the PGA TOUR is required to apply for a formal waiver to the PGA TOUR 45 days prior to kick-off.
And on June 9, the first leg of the $25 million LIV Golf Invitational Series (commonly known as the Saudi League, referred to as the LIV League) will be unveiled at the Centurion Club in London, England. As a result, this past April 25 became the "45-day limit" deadline for players to apply to the PGA Tour for exemptions to participate in this game.
Although it is not clear who has applied, according to the information received from LIV on the website of Sports Illustrated, as many as 70 players have signed up for the first leg of the LIV league. This means that some of their PGA Tour members have applied to the PGA Tour for exemptions.
Ursula, Garcia, Westwood and Paul are known to have signed up
It is reported that among these 70 people, there are as many as 15 players in the top 100 in the world today! From this point of view, the "star content" of the Saudi league is not low.
You know, this week's PGA Tour Mexico Open, only 15 of the world's top 100 players participated. The DP World Tour, known as the world's second largest tour, was present at the Half-Field Championship last week, and only 4 of the world's top 100 stars attended.
According to the british "Daily Telegraph" news, Luis Urschuren, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter four stars have confirmed to the PGA Tour to apply for exemptions. And the world rankings of these 4 people are 15, 47, 56 and 75, respectively.
The Daily Telegraph also reported that the liv league opener will have "at least 3 Grand Slam champions" joining. And Ushuren and Garcia are the former champions of the British Open and the American Masters, respectively.
Mickelson plans a comeback
And who is the other "surfaced" Grand Slam winner, not the previously speculated Baba Watson, but a more heavyweight name - Phil Mickelson, who has not been seen for a long time!
On the same day as April 25, Mickelson issued a statement through his agent saying he had signed up for the next two Grand Slam games of the year, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. At the same time, he has also submitted an application to the PGA Tour to be exempted from the London opener of the first leg of the LIV League!
"Our client, Phil Mickelson, has officially signed up for the PGA Championships as well as the U.S. Open." Steve Loy, a longtime manager of Sportfive, said in a statement, "We also submitted an application on his behalf for release to participate in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational in London on June 9-11." The request is in line with the PGA Tour's April 25 deadline for exemption from participation in conflict events. ”
Old Mi became the oldest Grand Slam champion at the PGA Championship last year
Also on Monday, the 2022 PGA Championship announced the first list of players to participate – the name of the defending champion Mickelson is prominently on the list! On the other hand, this also "solidifies" the possibility that Lao Mi is about to return to participate in 3 races.
Due to the "gaffes" in the previous interview, Mickelson has not participated in any competition since the Saudi International In early February, and has also been terminated by KPMG, Callaway, Heineken and other sponsors. The first Grand Slam Masters of the year, the three-time Green Jacket winner is an unprecedented one, not appearing on the "invited roster" for the first time in 28 years. But now in the PGA Championship squad, it seems that the 51-year-old has received permission from the organizer, the American Professional High School Association, to begin his defending trip on May 16 this year.
Mickelson has always been known as the main support star of the LIV league and has a long-term relationship with Saudi Capital. If The Old Man comes back, the six-time Grand Slam champion and 46 PGA Tour winner will obviously add a lot of weight to the appeal of the LIV League stars.
The LIV League with a novel format and generous prize money
Although as many as 70 players have signed up, the LIV League is actually a "small squad" elite tournament with only 48 places, including 9 places reserved for the Asian Tour, the Day Tour, the Australian Tour and the South African Tour. This means that even if so many PGA Tour Players apply, most of them will not be able to enter the competition – such as Robert Galligus, the american veteran who first openly submitted an application to the PGA Tour, with his current ranking of 1053rd in the world rankings, it is obviously difficult to enter the lineup of stars vying for the $4 million championship jackpot.
According to a spokesperson for the LIV League, the "players' roster" for the first London opener will be officially announced on May 27, two weeks before the start of the tournament.
Today, the ball is kicked to the side of the PGA Tour and DP Tour. Bylaws, after a player submits an exemption request, the PGA Tour is required to respond to approval or refusal of release 30 days prior to the start of the game (May 10). On the DP Tour side, the deadline for approval is 25 days before the start of the tournament (May 15).
Monaghan has been tough on the LIV league boycott
PGA Tour president Jay Monahan has warned that any player who "violates" the rules for other tour tournaments will face suspension or even stripping PGA Tour membership.
In this regard, LIV League CEO and former world number one Greg Norman said in an email sent to many players that the PGA Tour does not have the power to ban players from participating, and will give relevant legal assistance to players who apply for the LIV league.
Norman is now CEO of LIV Golf Investments
This means that if the PGA Tour ultimately rejects a player waiver application, it will most likely lead to a large number of legal proceedings. And this is far from the climax of the "LIV League vs PGA TOUR" drama...
According to PGA Tour regulations, members apply for exemptions only for "overseas events", while other "competitive" tours held in the United States in the same week are strictly prohibited from members to participate!
In the 2022 schedule announced by the LIV League, as many as 5 games were held in the United States, and almost all of them "crashed" in the same week as the PGA Tour! This includes the season finals, just announced on Monday, held in the same week as the HSBC Championship, with a total prize money of up to US$50 million (2.5 times the PGA TOUR's highest prize money event, the Players Championship).
It seems that a "mutual tearing" war has just begun.
More Bird Sports Highlights:
Friends who are "watching" will catch birds tomorrow