Phil Mickelson played 18th at the Pro-Am at Centurion Club, Hertfordshire before the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Stephen Paston PA images Getty Images
The PGA Tour eliminated 17 golfers, including major championship winners Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who competed on Thursday in the Saudi-backed LIV golf event near London. The suspension is indefinite.
The players “did not receive the necessary conflict event and release of media rights – or did not apply for publications at all,” according to an internal PGA note. The PGA will also suspend all future players from touring who play in LIV events, the note said on Thursday.
“These players made their choice for their own financial reasons,” the note said. “But they may not require the same benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform for PGA TOUR membership as you.”
Mickelson, who has just turned 51, was a major tenant of LIV Golf, which is funded mainly by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. He has not competed in a golf tournament since February. His deal with LIV is reported to be worth about $ 200 million. Johnson’s deal is worth about $ 125 million, The New York Post reported.
Mickelson, who has won six major golf championships, is second only to Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour career list with nearly $ 95 million. Johnson is third with about $ 74 million. (Woods turned down a massive offer to join LIV, according to Greg Norman, another former PGA star who serves as CEO of LIV Golf Investments.)
Norman, Mickelson and others are eager to join the venture despite previous human rights abuses by the Saudi government, including his involvement in the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoghi. In February, Mickelson told his biographer that he believed it was “scary” to get involved with the Saudis, but said there were other factors.
“They’re executing people there for being gay. Knowing all this, why would I even consider it? Because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the way the PGA Tour works,” he said at the time.
Mickelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. Johnson said he had no comment.
As for whether players will be able to rejoin the tour later, the PGA note said: “Trust that we are ready to deal with these issues and will approach them in the same way we have the whole this process: by being transparent and respecting the provisions of the PGA TOUR that you helped to establish. “
In a statement, LIV Golf called the decision “vindictive” and said it “deepens the division between Tour and its members”.
“It is worrying that Tour, an organization dedicated to enabling golfers to play the game, is the entity that is blocking golfers from playing. This is certainly not the last word on this topic. The era of the free agency is beginning, as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London and beyond, ”the organization said.
The LIV event in England is the first of eight planned tournaments. Five have been set aside for the United States, including two on courses owned by former President Donald Trump.
Here is the list of players. Asterisks mean players who have already told the PGA to resign. You can read the full internal note here.
- Sergio Garcia *
- Thaler Guch
- Brandon Grace *
- Dustin Johnson *
- Matt Jones
- Martin Kaimer *
- Graham McDowell *
- Phil Mickelson
- Kevin Na *
- Andy Ogultry
- Luis Osthuisen *
- Turk Pettit *
- Ian Poulter
- Charles Schwarzel *
- Hudson Swaford
- Peter Wheeline
- Lee Westwood *
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