Billion madness in professional golf
Mickelson and Johnson bought by Saudis
The Saudis are serious about their rival series, as headliners Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were lured with crazy sums of money. How is the Pro Tour PGA reacting?
Published: 06/09/2022 at 00:30
Phil Mickelson (52) will return to his job as a golf pro this week for the first time since February. The six-time major winner disappeared from the scene for three months after excerpts from a biography caused a media earthquake. It revealed that Mickelson has long been involved in planning the Saudi-funded LIV series. At the same time, he verbally attacked the Saudi regime (“Scary Motherf…s”) and the PGA Tour (“A dictatorship of disgusting greed”). As a supplement, it was leaked that Mickelson accumulated $40 million in gambling debts between 2010 and 2014.
Tiger Woods is probably turning down half a billion
What was Mickelson’s price? According to US sources, Dustin Johnson (37) was freed from possible moral concerns with $ 125 million, the taciturn southerner from South Carolina has canceled his membership in the PGA Tour. But despite having Gretzky’s daughter Paulina at his side, he’s not suitable as the sole headliner, he lacks the charisma for that. According to LIV managing director Greg Norman, Tiger Woods turned down a “ludicrous nine-figure sum” (insiders suspect half a billion), Mickelson is likely to be there for about half. It’s all a piece of cake for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF, which finances sports washing on a large scale.
Will renegade pros get banned?
Starting Thursday, the LIV series will take on the American PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour as a competing event. The PGA refuses to release their players and is likely to face a legal dispute, but the legal situation is currently still uncertain. Professionals like Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter or the South African Louis Oosthuizen have nothing to lose but their reputation – apart from a few sponsors, and they are already gone.
The tournament at Centurion Golf Club near London is the first in a series of 8 events. The game is played over 54 holes and three days, the field of participants consists of 48 players, there is no cut. A prize money of 25 million dollars is offered for each tournament, the winner receives 4 million, for the last one 125’000 are still guaranteed. The tournaments will be streamed on YouTube and Facebook.