Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Lee Westwood are among those who have expressed interest in joining the new league, know the LIV Golf series 2022 players list and contracts
The highly controversial LIV Invitational Series, sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has arrived, bringing with it a slew of golf’s biggest names. LIV Golf’s cash package has already enticed Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and many more, with more greater stars expected to follow suit.
LIV Golf Saudi Arabia Series 2022 Players Full List, Contracts, Signing Bonus And Purse Breakdown
LIV Golf’s latest signing 🖊️ #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/NnvhDxTXSc
— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) July 22, 2022
LIV Golf can be the first truly global elite golf tour.
The PGA Tour has been a complete failure, they do not care about international fans.
For too long, global superstars like Matsuyama and Cam Smith have played all their golf in the US. The fans want a global tour!#LIVGolf
— LIV Golf Latest (@LIVGolfLatest) July 27, 2022
Mickelson allegedly received $200 million (£159 million) merely for showing up, while Johnson, the highest-ranked player to have entered thus far, received $150 million (£119 million). Johnson resigned from the PGA Tour to focus only on the new tournament hosted by former World No. 1 Greg Norman, but the PGA has subsequently banned all players who have made the transition.
Players List Of LIV Golf: Everyone Who Has Left The PGA Tour And The DP World Tour To Compete In The Saudi-Backed Series
Aside from the exorbitant signing-up costs, the cash prize on offer is astonishing. The payout for the eight-event series is $25 million (£19.9 million), with the winner taking home $4 million (£3.2 million) and the loser taking home $120,000 (£95k). During the build-up, athletes faced concerns about “sports washing” and if Saudi Arabia is using the sport to divert attention away from its own human rights record. Mickelson originally named the Saudis “scary motherf**kers,” but later apologized.
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, past US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, and former Masters champion Patrick Reed are the newest big names to join the breakout tournament and will compete in the second tournament in Portland. In early July, Paul Casey was also appointed.
Henrik Stenson, the most latest prominent player to swear his loyalty to LIV, was removed from the Ryder Cup leadership. The Swede, along with Americans Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III, was among the recruiters before the third LIV Golf tournament at Bedminster.
DeChambeau is set to make more than $125 million over a four-and-a-half-year deal and that means he is making, at minimum, $27.8 million per season and $3.5 million per event on the schedule.
Mickelson has been offered a whopping $200 million to play in the LIV Series. The league is dangling a $54 million bonus for any player who shoots a round of 54 or better during an event.
Each regular season event will have a prize fund of $25m and every player in the field receives a cut, with a guaranteed $4m for first and $120,000 for last place. Of the $25m, $5m will be split between the top three sides.
So far, the following players have joined up:
- Abraham Ancer
- Oliver Bekker
- Richard Bland
- Itthipat Buranatanyarat
- Laurie Canter
- Paul Casey
- TK Chantananuwat
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Hennie Du Plessis
- Oliver Fisher
- Sergio Garcia
- Taylor Gooch
- Branden Grace
- Justin Harding
- Sam Horsfield
- Charles Howell III
- Yuki Inamori
- Dustin Johnson
- Matt Jones
- Sodom Kaewkanjana
- Martin Kaymer
- Sihwan Kim
- Ryo Kinoshita
- Phachara Khongwatmai
- Brooks Koepka
- Chase Koepka
- Jason Kokrak
- Junichiro Kozuma
- Pablo Larrazabal
- Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
- Iraj Madappa
- Graeme McDowell
- Phil Mickelson
- Jediah Morgan
- Kevin Na
- Shaun Norris
- Andy Ogletree
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Wade Ormsby
- Adrian Otaegui
- Pat Perez
- Turk Petit
- James Piot
- Ian Poulter
- David Puig
- Patrick Reed
- JC Ritchie
- Charl Schwartzel
- Travis Smyth
- Ian Snyman
- Henrik Stenson
- Hudson Swafford
- Hideto Tanihara
- Peter Uihlein
- Scott Vincent
- Lee Westwood
- Bernd Wiesberger
- Blake Windred
- Matthew Wolff
- Kevin Yuan