The PGA Circuit announced on Thursday that it had banned the 17 players who had participated in the inaugural tournament of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour. This action penalised the rebel professionals while also seeming to be an attempt to discourage more defections from the PGA Tour.
Those golfers who teed off in the first LIV Golf event, which began on Thursday outside of London, are “no longer eligible to participate” in events on the American-based PGA Tour or any of its affiliated tours, according to a memo that the commissioner of the PGA Tour, Jay Monahan, sent to his membership. The memo was sent by the PGA Tour commissioner. He also promised to impose the same penalty to any professional player who participates in one of the next competitions hosted by the competing circuit.
Before the tournament that was to take place at the Centurion Club, the majority of players who had signed on with LIV Golf announced that they had resigned from the PGA Tour. These players included Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Na, and Sergio Garca. They may have done this to avoid a suspension or a lifetime ban. But according to Monahan’s letter, they were going to be excommunicated anyway.
The memo did not make it clear how it would deal in the future with the players who have been lured to commit to playing on the LIV Golf circuit or those who are tempted to join them by the new tour’s enormous appearance fees and a format that guarantees every entrant six-figure payouts at each event. Additionally, the memo did not make clear how it would deal with those players who have already committed to playing on the LIV Golf circuit.
According to a statement released by the organisation, “today’s news by the PGA Tour is spiteful and it furthers the separation between the Tour and its members.” “It is perplexing that the Tour, an organisation whose mission is to provide possibilities for golfers to participate in the game, is the one that is preventing players from participating. This is most likely not the final time we will discuss this issue. The beginning of the free agency period has here, and we are pleased to announce that we will have a complete roster of players competing for us in London and beyond.
