LIV Golf last week announced an eight-event invitational series that begins in June with a tournament in London. On Thursday, invitations were sent to potential players for that opening event.
The invitation was sent to numerous PGA Tour players with a link to register “for the opportunity to be considered.” Applicants will be confirmed based on qualification criteria, and formal invitations will be sent in May.
The 54-hole event will feature 48 players on 12 four-man teams and a $20 million individual purse. Criteria will be based on leading players in earnings or points from the Asian Tour (three), DP World Tour (three) and PGA Tour (three) followed by the top two players from the PGA Tour Australasia, Sunshine Tour and Japan Golf Tour (six), the leading three players from the Asian Tour’s international series and top 22 players from the world ranking.
The invite also noted that players would not have to commit to future events in order to compete in London. A snake draft will be held June 7 as the 12 team captain will fill out their rosters.
It remains to be seen if any Tour players agree to be a part of the Saudi-backed series, which according to various sources is a scaled down version of LIV Golf’s original super league plans. Two weeks ago at TPC Sawgrass, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan doubled down on the notion that players would not be allowed to play both the Tour and LIV Golf events.
“I'm confident in our rules and regulations, my ability to administer them, and that's my position on the matter,” Monahan said. “We're confident in our position.”
The opening event for the invitational series will be held June 9-11 at the Centurion Golf Club followed an event in Portland (July 1-3), New Jersey (July 29-31), Boston (Sept. 2-4), Chicago (Sept. 16-18), Bangkok (Oct. 7-9) and Saudi Arabia (Oct. 14-16) with a team championship scheduled for Oct. 28-30.