Dustin Johnson headlines topic of avid gamers feature to participate in first LIV Golf Series Invitational occasion

It has been discussed advert nauseam for the previous four months, and on Tuesday, the topic for the first LIV Golf Invitational Series occasion was once eventually made public. Dustin Johnson, the 13th-ranked golfer on this planet, leads the record avid gamers who will participate within the 48-man, 12-personnel occasion at the Centurion Club in London from June 9-11 reverse the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open and the DP World Tour’s Scandinavian Mixed.

Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood had been presumed to be the true old world No. 1s to be enthusiastic, however the addition of Johnson comes as a prime shock. The 37-three hundred and sixty five days-broken-down has obtained 24 times on the PGA Tour — in conjunction with the 2016 U.S. Open and 2020 Masters — and he has been an integral section of the United States aspect for contemporary Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups.

“Dustin has been contemplating the opportunity off-and-on for the previous couple of years. In the slay, he decided it was once in his and his family’s finest ardour to pursue it,” acknowledged agent David Winkle in a reversal of a stance Johnson took on Feb. 20 that indicated he was once “fully-committed” to the PGA Tour. “Dustin has by no methodology had any teach with the PGA Tour and is grateful for all it has given him, but within the terminate, felt this was once too compelling to plug up.”

Diversified notable names feature to play consist of Louis Oosthuizen (OWGR No. 20), Kevin Na (33), Talor Gooch (35) and Sergio Garcia (54). There had been 42 names launched with 5 of the last spots reserved for avid gamers from the Asian Tour and the quite quite loads of presumed to be for Phil Mickelson.

With names of PGA Tour and DP World Tour avid gamers coming to light, one has to shock what will happen next in phrases of doable disciplinary measures. The PGA Tour is anticipated to explain punishments for folk that possess to play for LIV Golf within the shut to future with the belief that participants will face suspension or possibly even a lifetime ban from the PGA Tour.

No longer most engrossing will the 2 predominant males’s excursions must establish their prolonged-timeframe stance, however the four governing bodies accountable of the main championships will must make one amongst their salvage. The United States Golf Association (USGA) is thrown into the lower than enviable wretchedness as the U.S. Open is scheduled for June 16-19, a week after the first LIV Golf Series Invitational, and their resolution to consist of or exclude opponents might maybe have ramifications.

Just a few weeks within the past, the PGA Tour denied all player requests for the Saudi Arabian-backed occasion. Whereas some believed avid gamers would be granted waivers for the inaugural occasion, it proved to now not be the case, and the DP World Tour rapidly followed within the PGA Tour’s footsteps by giving their participants the same verdict.

Flee by CEO Greg Norman, LIV Golf is feature to kick off its eight-occasion series starting in London with broad purses: $20 million in particular person prizes, plus a $5 million personnel payout. These are funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which recently effect up an additional $2 billion in funding for future iterations of the league which might maybe be anticipated to consist of extra events as this eight-occasion series is sensible most engrossing the starting. The impartial is to lengthen to 10 tournaments in 2023 and 14 tournaments the next two years.

Beyond the easy impartial of arranging tournaments is supplying them with a number of of the head avid gamers on this planet. The main occasion in London lacks depth in phrases of talent, but how prolonged will it consume before a younger megastar admire a Joaquin Niemann sees Richard Bland successful $10 million in most engrossing three tournaments’ value of labor and asks himself, “I am so grand better than him, why am I now not playing for that selection of money?”

There has been heaps of debate main up to the first LIV Golf occasion, but now that the topic is feature, how will the accurate product stack up next to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour?

Effect prices are sky excessive and broadcast distribution has hit a snag; the first occasion will be streamed on YouTube. If the usual of play is bad, there might maybe simply now not be grand, if any, entice for the informal fan. On the replacement hand, because it has been for the previous 120 days or so, we can correct must wait and decide up out about for the first tee shot to be struck to substantiate anything else additional.