Saudi-backed events threaten major disruption to golf’s old order, though top players are not signing up in numbers for now
Saudi Arabia’s increasing involvement in sport included them targeting golf, initially via single tournaments on existing male and female tours. This quickly evolved into a lucrative series, fronted by Greg Norman but strongly opposed by the PGA and DP World Tours. This event is one of eight planned across the world in 2022 in a serious disruption plan.Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio García, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Martin Kaymer are the biggest names.
event with sponsor links to Saudi Arabia, but fell off the DP World Tour’s radar after the short-lived Golf Sixes competition.What does a player “resigning from a Tour”so they will not be eligible to feature on that circuit. Many believe this is a pre-emptive strike by players to avoid any punishment the PGA Tour may hand out for violations of their rules via involvement with the LIV Series.The majors, including next week’s US Open, remain unaffected.
. Golfers hope those behind the biennial event will ultimately decide it is not worth negatively affecting their product – both in terms of players and captains – by ostracising LIV participants.Sky has a close relationship with the PGA and DP World Tours and therefore would not touch this. Mainstream broadcasters in the UK have shown no recent interest in golf. Facebook and YouTube will instead offer streaming services.