Bogey.
The LIV Golf tour launched on Thursday with a number of former PGA Tour major winners making their debut in a tournament being held in London.
The controversial LIV Tour paid ample amounts of cash to PGA Tour golfers including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, opting to chase the money of the controversial Saudi-backed golf tour, spurning the PGA Tour in the process.
On Thursday, the PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced suspensions for current and future LIV Tour players in a statement issued to current Tour players:
PGA Tour suspends current and future LIV players. pic.twitter.com/lKhxo27Ida
— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 9, 2022
Here's the important part from Monahan's statement:
I wish to provide you with an update and share information regarding the current and former PGA TOUR players who are participating in the Saudi Golf League's event in London today. Thank you for your trust, patience and loyalty. We have followed the Tournament Regulations from start to finish in responding to those players who have decided to turn their backs on thee PGA TOUR by willfully violating a regulation.
Simultaneous to you receiving this memo, the players (listed below) 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 Latinoamérica. As you know, players listed below did not receive the necessary conflicting event and media rights releases — or did not apply for releases at all — and their participation in the Saudi Golf League/LIV Golf event is in violation of our Tournament Regulations. The same fate holds true for any other players who participate in future Saudi Golf Leauge events in violation of our Regulations.
Also in accordance with PGA TOUR Tournament regulations, the players who have resigned their memberships will be removed from the FedExCup Points List when the official statistics following the RBC Canadian Open are posted on Sunday evening. To be clear, these players will not be permitted to play in PGA TOUR tournaments as a non-member via a sponsor exemption or any other eligibility category. For those who haven't yet resigned, we will ensure they will not negatively impact your tournament eligibility, your position in the Priority Rankings or your eligibility to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs. We will update you as we work through this process. …
Monahan's statement is essentially a longwinded way of saying the players who have decided to play in the Saudi Golf League won't be playing in PGA Tour events for the foreseeable future.
Here's what it means for the PGA Tour and the future for LIV Golf players:
PGA Tour suspended players list
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled the list of players who are now suspended from partaking in any PGA Tour events in the future:
- Sergio Garcia*
- Talor Gooch
- Branden Grace*
- Dustin Johnson*
- Matt Jones
- Martin Kaymer*
- Grame McDowell
- Phil Mickelson
- Kevin Na*
- Andy Ogletree
- Louis Oosthuizen*
- Turk Pettit*
- Ian Poulter
- Charl Schwartzel*
- Hudson Swafford
- Peter Uihlein
- Lee Westwood*
*Denotes that a player has resigned their PGA Tour membership.
It's unclear how long the listed players are or will be suspended for, but it puts their 2022 and 2023 seasons in jeopardy.
Why were these players suspended?
Back in May, the PGA Tour denied its players a release from conflicting-events and were told they would face punishment for competing in the LIV events without those releases.
PGA regulations state that the PGA Tour does not permit releases for conflicting events in North America and any request would be declined.
The root of the issue falls in Article V, Section A.3 of the PGA Tour Handbook & Tournament Regulations, which reads, in part, that a PGA Tour member's participation in a conflicting event would "significantly and unreasonably harm the PGA Tour and Tour sponsors."
The Canadian Open, which is being held at St. George's in Toronto this weekend, is a PGA Tour event and falls into the 'conflicting event' category.
What's next?
Monahan explained that any current and future players in the LIV Golf tour would be suspended, and their standings in the FedEx Cup would not affect current players.
From his release:
Also in accordance with PGA TOUR Tournament regulations, the players who have resigned their memberships will be removed from the FedExCup Points List when the official statistics following the RBC Canadian Open are posted on Sunday evening. To be clear, these players will not be permitted to play in PGA TOUR tournaments as a non-member via a sponsor exemption or any other eligibility category. For those who haven't yet resigned, we will ensure they will not negatively impact your tournament eligibility, your position in the Priority Rankings or your eligibility to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs. We will update you as we work through this process.
You probably have more questions. What's next? Can these players come back? Can they eventually play PGA TOUR Champions? Trust that we're prepared to deal with those questions, and we'll approach them in the same way we have this entire process: by being transparent and respecting the PGA TOUR regulations that you helped establish.
These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons. But they can't demand the same PGA TOUR membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you. That expectation disrespects you, our fans and our partners. You have made a different choice, which is to abide by the Tournament Regulations you agreed to when you accomplished the dream of earning a PGA TOUR card and — more importantly — to compete as part of the preeminent organization in the world of professional golf.
As far as the U.S. Open goes, players who meet the qualifications for the major event are invited to play. This means that Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson could tee it up next week at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
As far as future events, it's unclear exactly how long these suspensions will last, but it likely puts in jeopardy the players' eligibility for tournaments this year and also into 2023.
LIV Golf released a statement in response to the PGA's suspension announcement:
Official statement from LIV Golf pic.twitter.com/UBt4DpRdS4
— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) June 9, 2022
Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members," LIV Golf said in a statement shortly after the Tour's was released. "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.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said previously they were prepared to help its new players fight the PGA Tour's position in court.
"I can only speak on information given to me by our legal team, and I have an extremely talented legal team in antitrust and anticompetitive laws, and we believe we're in the right position," Norman said. "We believe the players are independent contractors and have a right to go play wherever they want to go play."
The LIV Golf Tour is controversial given its backers, the Saudi Arabian government and their Public Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia has been accused of human rights violations, and notably was responsible for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Detractors of the tour have pointed to the country's desire of "sportswashing," using sporting events to rehabilitate its image.
