Two of the biggest names in world golf, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, are the latest players to add their names to the Saudi rebel circuit. The two controversial Americans have agreed multi-million dollar deals to join the £200 million LIV Golf Series.
They will be unveiled before the end of the inaugural 54-hole tournament, and it is understood that fellow American Rickie Fowler is also close to being confirmed as joining the breakaway circuit, which begins at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire on Thursday. DeChambeau and Reed are expected to compete at the second event, in Portland from July 3.
With Dustin Johnson playing in this opening tournament together with Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, the LIV roster is taking on an ominous look for the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour. DeChambeau’s participation will certainly grab headlines.
Organisers were waiting until Thursday to make the announcement, but Brett Falkoff, DeChambeau’s agent, felt obliged to confirm after Telegraph Sport’s exclusive appeared. “Bryson has always been an innovator,” Falkoff said in a statement. “Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique has always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing, and it’s happening quickly.” Poulter predicted DeChambeau and Reed would not be the last top players to join the circuit. “I definitely see other top players watching on this week and wanting to be a part of it,” he said. “There’s a huge investment coming into the game of golf and… I think they will want to come and see what it’s all about.” DeChambeau is receiving north of $100 million as a signing on fee, while Reed’s deal is thought to be around $50 million.
However, their inclusion may come at a price. Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, has warned that any rebels defying his orders face a lifetime ban, although the likes of Johnson, Kevin Na and Garcia have seemingly taken this out of Monahan’s hands by resigning their membership.
There has been speculation that Mickelson, who is ending his four-month competitive absence here, has either served a ban or is still serving a ban from the PGA Tour, and his comments in his first press conference since January only added to the conjecture. “I choose not to speak publicly on PGA Tour issues at this time,” Mickelson replied when asked if he had been suspended for accusing Monahan of “running a tyranny”, of “obnoxious greed” and for admitting to helping to pay for lawyers to draw up a players’ charter for the rival circuit.
Mickelson cut a humble figure, but is not giving up his membership. “I am a lifetime member and don’t see why I should give that up,” he said. “I have earned it. I don’t need to play a minimum of 15 events. I could just play one.” The 51-year-old confirmed he is playing in next week’s US Open and stated his desire to be involved in future Ryder Cups, which would be an impossibility if he is hit with a lifetime ban.
Poulter and Lee Westwood insisted that there should be no reason why they are barred from representing Europe again. “I’d like to think it wouldn’t,” Poulter said, when asked if he was risking missing out on more Ryder Cup appearances. “It’s an unknown risk; we don’t know how the DP World Tour will view it.”
Keith Pelley, that Tour’s chief executive, has not given an inkling on how he will respond to players who play in LIV and so break the circuit’s rules, but the Tour has a “strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour. It has always been assumed it will follow suit with stringent sanctions.
However, Westwood is adamant they should be considered for captaincy. “Myself and Ian have been members of the PGA Tour while we’ve been on the European Tour, and that’s had no effect in the past on whether people have been captains,” he said. “LIV Golf is another tour, so why should it be any different?”
Rory McIlroy has been a staunch opponent of LIV and reiterated his belief that Greg Norman's venture will 'fracture the game'. “Any decision you make in your life that's purely for money, usually doesn't end up going the right way," he said.
But even the Northern Irishman believes Poulter and Westwood shouldnot be consigned to the Ryder Cup wilderness.
"They've been such a part of the Ryder Cup - look at Poulter's history in it - and it would be such a shame for him going forward whether that's as a captain or one last time in a playing capacity,' McIlroy said. "It's hard because they're playing in defiance of the Tour. I just thinkeveryoneshould get in a room and figure it all out."
