Friday was supposed to be the day we learned who was heading to London for the LIV Golf Series opener June 9–11 at the Centurion Golf Club.
In what’s become a recurring theme, the field was not released.
The Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led breakout league has been anything but punctual in the lead-up to the series debut. A few players have committed to play in the event, including Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia.
At the Wells Fargo Championship, Garcia showed that he’s very much looking forward to putting the PGA Tour in his review mirror with his on-camera breakdown over a lost ball.
Westwood has already dealt with repercussions due to his decision, losing long-time sponsor UPS.
And, well, we all know what’s going on with Lefty.
On May 10th, the Tour denied the player’s request to play in the event.
“We have notified those who have applied that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA Tour Tournament Regulations. As such, Tour members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our Regulations,” said the letter signed by PGA Tour Executive Vice President Tyler Dennis. “As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA Tour and its players.”
Despite earlier reports, LIV Golf will NOT be announcing a field list for its first event today. Am told the announcement will come soon, just not today.
Sorry, folks!
— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) May 27, 2022
Recently, it was reported that Jack Nicklaus was offered more than $100 million to be the face of the league. It would be objectively funny for LIV to wait until Memorial week to release the field. One, because the list of players set to tee it up at Murfield Village is likely to be loaded, and two, while we watch Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and many others, Norman and LIV are likely to start their campaign upon the backs of players mostly outside the upper echelon.
