Johnson, presently the world No. 13, would be the highest-ranked participant on the event, which may even embrace Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace.
As lately as February, Johnson stated that he was “totally dedicated to the PGA Tour.”
Nevertheless, six-time main winner Phil Mickelson, an outspoken supporter of the brand new tour, doesn’t function within the area at England’s Centurion Membership. The 51-year-old stated in February he would take “a while away” from golf after being criticized for feedback he made about Saudi Arabia’s regime and the nation’s new tour.
“Free company has lastly come to golf,” Greg Norman, LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner, stated in a press release. “This is a chance to start out a motion that can change the course of historical past by bringing new and open competitors to the game all of us love.
“The will proven by the gamers to take part in LIV Golf demonstrates their emphatic perception in our mannequin and confidence in what we’re constructing for the long run.”
Norman obtained fierce criticism final month for showing to downplay the the homicide of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi forward of the tour’s launch, saying: “We have all made errors.”
A US intelligence report named Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, as accountable for approving the operation that led to the 2018 homicide of Khashoggi — one thing bin Salman denies.
The Centurion Membership event may have a complete prize pot of £20 million ($25.2M), with £3 million ($3.8M) for the successful golfer. Six locations nonetheless stay open within the 48-man area.
The occasion will happen from June Sept. 11, the identical time because the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open, which Johnson had been scheduled to compete in.
In a press release posted on Twitter, the Canadian Open, a event Johnson gained in 2018, stated it was “disenchanted” along with his determination to decide to play within the Saudi-backed occasion.
“As a previous RBC Canadian Open champion, Canadian golf followers had been wanting ahead to DJ’s return this yr,” it stated. “Our focus continues to be on internet hosting the extensively celebrated return of the RBC Canadian Open and welcoming the world’s finest gamers to Canada.”
The PGA Tour has not granted permission for its gamers to compete elsewhere and so they might reportedly be set to face punishment for his or her determination.
“Dustin has been considering the chance off-and-on for the previous couple of years,” David Winkle at Hambric Sports activities Administration stated in a press release on behalf of Johnson.
“In the end, he determined it was in his and his household’s finest curiosity to pursue it. Dustin has by no means had any difficulty with the PGA TOUR and is grateful for all it has given him, however in the long run, felt this was too compelling to go up.”
