PGA Tour suspends LIV Golf players as Saudi-backed rebel tour opens under reputational cloud – By Patrick Smith (NBC News) / June 9, 2022
Not long after the first swing of LIV Golf ‘s inaugural event near London, the PGA Tour said it was suspending all current and future players in the breakaway league.
LONDON — When the LIV Golf series launched Thursday, it looked like any other major tournament. But looming over the sports’ stars and characteristic rolling greens was a geopolitical cloud.
The likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were among the names at the inaugural event of this rebel golf tour, lured by the financial backing of Saudi Arabia. While they teed off at the unassuming Centurion Club near St. Albans, each swing reverberated far beyond the commuter city north of London.
Not long after the first shot, the PGA Tour said it was suspending all current and future players in the breakaway league. “These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to members.
Yet the LIV series is not just a challenge to the established golfing order but Riyadh’s latest apparent attempt to win international influence and prestige while rehabilitating a reputation tarnished by human rights concerns and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
