Everyone who has quit the PGA Tour to take part in the Saudi Arabia-backed series

The highly contentious LIV Invitational Series bankrolled by Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is here with a host of golf’s most famous players signed up to play.

The financial package put forward by LIV Golf has already seduced Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and plenty of others, with more high-profile stars tipped to follow suit.

Johnson, a two-time major winner and the top-ranked player to have signed up so far, has reportedly been paid $150m (£119m) just for turning up. The 37-year-old pledged his commitment to the tournament fronted by former World No 1 Greg Norman, by announcing his resignation from the PGA Tour.

Besides the eye-watering signing-on-fees, the prize money on offer is staggering. There is a $25m (£19.9m) purse to be split between the 48 players per tournament in the eight-event series , with the winner pocketing $4m (£3.2m) and the loser earning $120k (£95k).

The format is also very different from traditional majors. There are 54 rather than 72 holes for a start – “LIV” is 54 in Roman numerals – there is a “shotgun” start where players tee off at the same time, and golfers are grouped into teams of four. Johnson is captain of the “4 Aces”, Mickelson is leading the “Hy Flyers” and Poulter and Westwood are affiliated to “Majesticks”.

The first tournament is being held in England, with subsequent competitions taking place in Portland, Bedminster, Boston, Chicago, Bangkok, Jeddah and Miami.

In the build-up to the tournament, players have faced questions about ‘sportswashing’ and whether Saudi Arabia is seeking to deflect attention from its dreadful human rights record by investing so heavily in the sport. Mickelson previously called the Saudis “scary m____f___ers” before backtracking this week.

“I don’t condone human rights violations at all,” he said. “I’m certainly aware of what has happened with Jamal Khashoggi and I think it’s terrible. I have also seen the good that the game of golf has done throughout history and I believe LIV Golf is going to do a lot of good for the game as well.”

Graeme McDowell said “we’re not politicians, we’re professional golfers,” in regards to the country’s human rights record and Talor Gooch responded “I’m a golfer, I’m not that smart,” in response to sportswashing questioning. Poulter and Westwood both said they would not answer “hypothetical questions” when asked whether they would have played in a tournament held by Vladimir Putin or in South Africa during Apartheid.

According to reports, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler could be next to sign up to the breakaway competition.

Here are all the players to have signed up so far:

• Dustin Johnson
• Louis Oosthuizen
• Kevin Na
• Taylor Gooch
• Sergio Garcia
• Pablo Larrazabal
• Richard Bland
• Matt Jones
• Shaun Norris
• Phil Mickelson
• Sam Horsfield
• Lee Westwood
• Ryo Kinoshita
• Ian Poulter
• Bernd Wiesberger
• Hudson Swafford
• Oliver Bekker
• Jinichiro Kozuma
• Scott Vincent
• Justin Harding
• Laurie Canter
• Branden Grace
• Charl Schwartzel
• Sadom Kaewkanjana
• Hennie Du Plessis
• Phachara Khongwatmai
• Sihwan Kim
• J.C Ritchie
• Adrian Otaegui
• Hideto Tanihara
• Martin Kaymer
• Jediah Morgan
• Blake Windred
• TK Chantananuwat
• Wade Ormsby
• Peter Uihlein
• Graeme McDowell
• Turk Petit
• Oliver Fisher
• Andy Ogletree
• Chase Koepka
• David Puig
• James Piot
• Viraj Madeppa
• Ian Snyman
• Kevin Yuan
• Itthipat Buranatanyarat
• Travis Smyth

Analysis: LIV Invitational is morally bankrupt and won’t revitalise golf

By Matt Butler

The name is quite clever: LIV. In Roman numerals it is 54 and the players in this new incarnation of golf kicking off in the exotic locale of Hemel Hempstead will play that many holes. Neat, huh?

Of course, you might say that a new sporting franchise bolstered by limitless petrodollars would be expected to be creative with its branding.

But the new kid in town is a sign that golf is in desperate need of some love. Whether that love comes from a despotic regime with a dreadful record on human rights is something for Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood and, err, James Piot to ponder as they chase a ball around a course for a share of 20 mill a tournament.

And if you put aside the ickiness of the Saudi regime behind Jamal Khashoggi’s killers providing the lipstick and mascara to the game, the concept of a quickfire bunch of tournaments with a set season and eight-figure sums of cash riding on each one sounds intriguing – even if the reason why players joined appears to be all about the money. Not that cold hard cash as a motivator is news, especially in the world of golf.

The rules are thus: everyone tees off at once. It is called a shotgun start, which sounds a little violent, given the paymasters, but I guess bonesaw start would have been too much. Twelve teams of four play in a match-play format, with individual members also competing in a strokeplay competition. There is no cut to miss. So far, so mildly diverting.

However, toe-curlingly twee “Camden Market-style” stalls, a Craig David and Jessie J gig and Sporty Spice on the decks post-match does not sound like much of an answer to the organiser’s promise to “supercharge” golf.

Read the full article here