There is a bona fide, all-out brawl between the PGA and brand new LIV Golf Series, which teed off with its first tournament in London today.
LIV is flush with cash from Saudi Arabia, and they are throwing it around like it was confetti. They tried to get Tiger Woods to join their league and reportedly offered him nearly a billion dollars to defect from the PGA, but he turned it down. Dozens of other golfers saw the dough as too tempting and decided to grab the guaranteed money.
Thursday, the PGA Tour sent out a statement that said those golfers are no longer welcome on their tour.
Here’s the statement that leaves little to the imagination.
“We have followed the Tournament Regulations from start to finish in responding to those players who have decided to turn their backs on the PGA Tour by willfully violating a regulation. The players are being notified that they are suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play, including the Presidents Cup. This also applies to all tours sanctioned by the PGA Tour: the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Champions, PGA Tour Canada, and PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
“The players listed below did not receive the necessary conflicting events and media rights releases — or did not apply for releases at all — and their participation in the Saudi Golf League/LIV Golf event is a violation of our Tournament Regulations.”
The golf stars include Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and others.
LIV fired back with this statement.
“Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members. It’s troubling that the Tour, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond.”
The war is on.
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