“It’s sad where the money comes from”

The controversial LIV tour of golf kicked off at the Centurion Club in London on Thursday. The tour, founded with money from Saudi Arabian investors, is trying to gain a foothold alongside the PGA tour and has blamed shocking sums of money on the players it acquired as advertising faces.

17 players previously seen on the PGA Tour entered the opening tournament for the LIV tour. The most famous of them is the American six-time major winner Phil Mickelson and the former number one on the world list Dustin Johnson.

Johnson expressed his allegiance to the PGA tour back in February, but resigned on Tuesday. British newspaper Telegraph and sports website According to the Bleacher Report (you will switch to another service)Johnson will be paid $ 125 million, or nearly $ 118 million, for playing on tour alone.

The reward far exceeds Johnson’s PGA Tour career paths of $ 73.4 million. He is ranked third on the tour’s money list ever.

On the other hand, jumping on the LIV tour eats away at their sponsorship deals. Johnson’s move, for example, caused one of his biggest sponsors, the Royal Bank of Canada, to end all cooperation with him.

Six-time major winner Mickelson ended up in the headlines early on when he described the Saudis as scary and murderous. Mickelson said he was aware they were responsible for the Washington Post reporter Jamalin Khashoggin murder and numerous other human rights violations, but is nonetheless ready to take part in the tour.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus82, told the public earlier in May that he was offered $ 100 million to participate in the organization of the LIV tour.

On the PGA Tour, it is not officially possible to pay performance fees, but even there, the organizers circumvent the rule by concluding multi-tournament contracts with individual players.

The PGA tour certainly also demands the loyalty of its players underlined by Nicklaus.

The division of the golf world took on more rounds on Thursday after the commissioner of the PGA tour Jay Monahan announced that LIV tour players will no longer be able to compete in the PGA.

– These players have made their choices for their own financial reasons. They cannot claim the same PGA membership benefits, opportunities and visibility as you. Such an expectation would be disrespectful to you, our fans, and our partners, Monahan said.

Monahan sent his message directly to PGA players. He warned that joining the new tour would lead to the same foreclosure measures.

The new LIV tour, in turn, is a player legend from years past Greg Normanin handwriting. The Saudi donors behind the tour have guaranteed the series a substantial start-up capital of 370 million.

The prize pool for the opening tournament of the LIV tour is the largest in golf history, at $ 25 million, or just under € 23.5 million. Similarly, the most expensive event in the history of the U.S. PGA Tour has had € 18 million in prize money and far more players sharing that amount.

48 players will take part in the opening tournament of the new tour, with even the last one to receive $ 120,000. In the PGA Tour, players below the cut limit after the first two rounds will not receive a crumb of the prize pool.

According to LIV, the PGA’s decision to erode the position of international golf.

– PGA’s announcement today is vengeful and deepens the gap between the tour and its members, LIV said in a statement.

Other well-known players in the LIV opening competition include Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter,Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell. The new tour will play a total of eight races this year in addition to England in the United States, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

More water in the LIV tour’s mill has added that two of the four U.S. races will be played Donald Trumpin owned fields in Miami and New Jersey.

The PGA’s exclusion decision does not extend to golf value tournaments, as they have their own organizers. On Tuesday, the U.S. Golf Federation allowed LIV players to participate in next week’s U.S. Open major tournament.

Saudi Arabia’s motive behind the financial investment is transparent: the country wants to turn its attention away from its human rights violations through sport. Finnish golf star Matilda Castrenin according to the participation in the tour is a morally really tough choice for athletes.

– It’s sad where the money comes from behind the tournament. Each athlete makes their own choices based on what is best for their own career, family and well-being, Castren comments to Sport.

– My personal opinion is that this series is not really needed. The world is full of good competition and there is a lot of money on the ground. I can’t comprehend who would need so much money, Ilonen said.

– Unfortunately, there are a lot of guys in the sport who make business and who have said quite directly that money plays a big part here. It’s unfortunate because it takes the bottom out of the sporty side of golf.

Unlike the men’s PGA tours and the women’s LPGA tours, the LIV tour is exclusively for male players.

– Yes, this is a lot of talk, especially when women’s prize pools are so much smaller than men’s. On the other hand, perhaps many female players are happy that we don’t have to make that choice, Castren piled up.

Saudi’s path to top golf has not been entirely straightforward. Recently Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy refused to take part in the Saudi International competition.

“LIV” in the name of the LIV story is not an abbreviation or sponsor, as you might imagine. It symbolizes the Roman numeral 54, which corresponds to the number of fairways played in each tournament.

So each tournament is a three-round, 54-hole tournament with 48 players without a cutt.

The game is scored in the usual way with a batting game.