Tour chief warns players over possible Saudi involvement

We've recently heard that 'a handful' of DP World (European) Tour players have submitted release applications to feature in the upcoming LIV Golf Series. A report in The Telegraph revealed that up to six Europeans have been in touch with the tour's headquarters to play in the new and much talked-about eight-tournament series.

So far we only know that one PGA Tour player, Robert Garrigus no less, has done likewise on the other side of the pond.

Now, in the same newspaper, it has been revealed that the tour's head honcho Keith Pelley has emailed around 200 players to share his thoughts on the prospect of joining up with the Saudi-backed league.

The players on the PGA Tour have until Monday (April 25) while the European players have until May 10, 30 days prior to the $25m opening event at Centurion Club, to apply for any releases with the chance of being banned if they do jump ship.

“Conflicting events, regardless of how attractive they might appear to you personally, potentially compromise our efforts in these areas and could significantly hurt your Tour in both the short and long term,” Pelley wrote.

“Please, therefore, continue to bear this bigger picture in mind, particularly considering some of these conflicting events in 2022 are scheduled directly opposite some of our most prestigious ‘heritage events’, including the Horizon Irish Open, the DS Automobiles Italian Open and the Acciona Open de España – three national Opens which combined have more than 300 years of history.”

Pelley also addressed the chat that his tour had turned down 'millions of dollars' from Golf Saudi and that they had received an offer from Raine Capital who were linked with the Premier Golf League in 2020.

“Although we had discussions with Golf Saudi about extending our relationship beyond the Saudi International tournament, we never received a formal written offer from them,” added Pelley.