Cortney Weil
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And then there were two more.
The PGA has already recently lost some big-name players to the LIV Golf Series, backed by Saudi Arabia. Phil Mickelson first announced his departure on Monday, and Dustin Johnson quickly followed suit.
Now, Bryson DeChambeau and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed have jumped ship, according to the UK Guardian.
DeChambeau insisted just last week: “I personally don’t think that at this point in time I’m in a place in my career where I can risk things like that. I’m loyal to my family that I’ve created around me with sponsors and everything.”
However, the Saudis apparently coughed up enough oil money to overcome loyalty to family and sponsors.
Kevin Na has also joined LIV, and Rickie Fowler remains ambivalent about LIV, so he may soon join as well.
Though the PGA told LIV signees that they would not be eligible to participate in PGA events, the USGA will permit them to play in the US Open, which begins next week.
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PGA Tour has an issue on its hands. And considering that the PGA of American and the PGA Tour split at a corporate level a few years ago, is there anything stopping LIV golfers from maintaining their PGA of America card to they can enter the PGA Championship? PGA Tour would be looking at some tough anti-trust challenges if they tried to block that, or to keep them off the Ryder Cup.