One of the biggest stories in golf this year is the formation of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. The series poses a serious threat to the PGA Tour and PGA European Tour as golfers are intrigued by the new organization.
According to Mark Schlabach of ESPN, one golfer who appears to be part of the new tour is world number 58 Lee Westwood of Worksop, England. He has already requested his release from the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour (also known as the European Tour).
Two other players who also appear to have shown interest in the league are Phil Mickelson and Robert Garrigus. At 55th in the world, Mickelson still has a lot of high-performance golf left at age 51. Last year he proved that when he won the 2021 PGA Championship.
Even though Westwood has not won a major and has only two PGA Tour victories under his belt (the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic and 2010 St. Jude Classic), he has a fantastic European Tour resume, where he has won 25 times, including the 2009 Dubai World Championship, and the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. In 2010, Westwood was also ranked number one in the world.
Another golfer who could soon join the new Saudi Arabia series is Sergio Garcia of Spain, the 2017 Masters champion. On Thursday during the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Washington, Garcia was upset with the ruling of a lost ball, and bellowed, “I can’t wait to leave this tour!”
It should also be noted that the chief executive officer of the new league is none other than Australian golf legend Greg Norman. A two-time major champion, Norman won the British Open in 1986 and 1993.
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