The golf world is paying attention to the Asian Tour Saudi International, which will be held on the 2nd of next month. Cameron Young (26, USA), who was the rookie of the year on the PGA Tour last season, and Cameron Champ (28, USA), who has three wins on the PGA Tour, challenged the tournament. The background of interest is the suspicion that participation in this tournament will lead to a transfer to LIV Golf, which is operated with Saudi Arabia’s ‘oil money’. 스포츠토토
According to Golf Week on the 12th, multiple players, including Young and Champ, have requested approval to participate in the Saudi International on the PGA Tour. The Saudi International is held at the Royal Greens Golf & CC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the same time as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (total prize money of $9 million), a PGA Tour event. This is where the 7th LIV Golf Tournament was held last year. The PGA Tour stipulates that if a player wants to compete on another tour during the tournament, he or she must obtain prior approval.
The reason why the golf world is keeping an eye on players who have advanced to Saudi International is that this tournament is held under the sponsorship of the Saudi Arabian Sovereignty Fund (PIF), which is behind LIV Golf. The Saudi International was originally a DP World Tour (European Tour) competition, but recently changed its affiliation to the Asian Tour. PIF has been investing more than 200 million dollars in Asian Tour events since last year. This is to create opportunities for LIV golf players to gain world ranking points and expand their influence in the golf world. Last year’s winner Harold Varner III (32, USA) and World No. 3 Cameron Smith (30, Australia) will participate in this tournament as well.
The character of the gateway to go through before transferring to LIV Golf is also strong. Phil Mickelson (53, USA), Dustin Johnson (39, USA), and Bryson DeChambeau (30, USA), who are now playing LIV Golf, were regular players in this tournament.