Matt Jones – his USPGA Tour rights perhaps in jeopardy but playing anyway – file photo Bruce Young
The much maligned, much discussed, and, yes, much anticipated LIV Golf Invitational series becomes a reality on Thursday when the first event of eight in 2022 gets underway at the Centurion Club in St Albans near London.
48 players will take part in a 54-hole individual event combined with a 12 team competition with a first prize for the individual winner of US$ 4 million in addition to any monies he might pick up in the team’s event.
Of the 48 players in the field each will pocket a minimum of US$120,000 even for last place amongst the 48 players.
The purse breakdown is best explained in an article courtesy of www.sportingnews.com .
“Each regular-season event (the first seven events of the season) features a $25 million purse; $20 million to be split over the 48 golfers who played a part in the tournament (winner earns $4 million, last place earns $120,000). The remaining $5 million is dispersed among the teams that finished in the top-three places ($3 million for the winner, $1.5 million for second-place, $500,000 for third place).
At the end of the individual events, players who have participated in at least four events will divide what amounts to a top-heavy $30 million bonus pool. The individual champion will net $18 million, the second-place golfer $8 million, the third-place finisher $4 million, and on down the line.
The winning team after the season finale will receive a cool $16 million. However, all teams that take part will bring home a pretty penny (the last-place team, for example, will bring in $1 million in tournament earnings).”
The figures are staggering and for players such as Australians Travis Smyth, Jed Morgan, Blake Windred and Kevin Yuan, the opportunity exists to significantly bolster their fledgling careers.
When Jed Morgan surprised the golfing world with a runaway win at the Australian PGA Championship in January he earned a cheque for $A180,000 which was the catalyst for him winning the Order of Merit and earning starts here and in events such as next week’s US Open and others.
Just by teeing it up this week Morgan is guaranteed the equivalent of $A165,000. He will become a member of the DP World Tour later this year as a result of his Order of Merit success but while still a non-member he is unlikely to suffer any of the consequences others might incur.
Five Australians are confirmed to tee it up on Thursday. Two-time Australian Open Champion, Matt Jones, Asian and European Tour winner, Wade Ormsby, Australian PGA Champion Jed Morgan, last week’s runner-up in the Asian Tour’s International Series event in England, Travis Smyth, the runner-up in the recently completed Australasian Tour Order of Merit, Blake Windred and one of those playing their way in via the Asian Tour’s International Series, Kevin Yuan, are all in the field and guaranteed to walk away with at least US$120,000.
The field is headed by current world number 15, Dustin Johnson but the man who has created so much discussion and at times angst in the lead-up, Phil Mickelson will also take his part.
Phil Mickelson – the biggest name in the field – photo Chris Trotman Getty / Liv Golf
That the series will even take place has been the subject of so much controversy over the past few months and the eyes of the golfing world will be firmly fixed on just how this first event succeeds and may lead to others joining in once they become aware of its success or otherwise.
The PGA and DP World Tours have suggested that any of their members taking part in the event will be subject to penalties of yet to be determined extent but it is interesting that in a statement today the USGA who stage their flagship event next week at the US Open had this to say on where those in this week’s field and qualified to play next week’s US Open now stand.
“Regarding players who may choose to play in London this week, we simply asked ourselves this question — should a player who had earned his way into the 2022 U.S. Open, via our published field criteria, be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event? And we ultimately decided that they should not.
“Our decision regarding our field for the 2022 U.S. Open should not be construed as the USGA supporting an alternative organizing entity, nor supportive of any individual player actions or comments. Rather, it is simply a response to whether or not the USGA views playing in an alternative event, without the consent of their home tour, an offense that should disqualify them for the U.S. Open.”
