What to know about controversial Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series

While many of golf’s top stars are either competing at this week’s RBC Canadian Open or preparing for next week’s U.S. Open, a handful of well-known golfers will instead participate in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event in London, England beginning Thursday.

This new outlet for pro golfers to earn lucrative paydays has made plenty of headlines and is shaking up the sport’s landscape, and not everyone is a fan of the potential fallout.

“It's just a shame that it's going to fracture the game,” Rory McIlroy told reporters Wednesday at a Canadian Open press conference. “The professional game is the window shop into golf. If the general public is confused about who is playing where, and what tournament is on this week … it just becomes so confusing. I think everything needs to try to become more cohesive, and I think it was on a pretty good trajectory until this happened.”

So why exactly are so many golfers and golf fans having passionate reactions to the PGA’s new competitor?

Here’s what you need to know about the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

WHAT IS IT AND WHY THE CONTROVERSY?

It is a new golf league founded in 2021 that is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and that is the main source of controversy.

That government’s involvement in a multitude of confirmed and alleged human rights violations, including the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, has been a primary source of backlash considering the same regime remains in power in Saudi Arabia.

“I don't condone human rights violations at all,” Phil Mickelson, the most accomplished LIV recruit so far, told reporters in England on Wednesday. “Nobody here does, throughout the world. I'm certainly aware of what's happened with Jamal Khashoggi, and I think it's terrible. I've also seen the good that the game of golf has done throughout history, and I believe that LIV Golf is going to do a lot of good for the game as well. I'm excited about this opportunity, and that's why I'm here.”

Two-time Open Championship winner and eight-time major runner-up Greg Norman was named CEO of LIV Golf back in October. “The Shark” is a spokesperson for the series and has been recruiting golfers to join.

WHICH NOTABLE GOLFERS ARE PARTICIPATING?

Seventeen golfers from the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 100, plus a handful of major winners and former world No. 1s are set to compete in the inaugural event.

Dustin Johnson is the biggest name joining the likes of Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Na, Talor Gooch, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel and Lee Westwood as the most recognizable names in the field.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced Thursday morning, as soon as the LIV Golf Invitational in London teed off, that 17 golfers had been suspended.

Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed will also reportedly join the LIV tour in the summer, however those reports surfaced prior to Thursday's suspensions, so who knows who else might jump ship later this year?

The PGA Tour doesn’t want its members competing in rival tournaments, so Johnson was among the golfers to officially resign his PGA Tour membership.

“I’ve resigned my membership of the PGA Tour and I’m going to play here for now, that’s the plan,” stated Johnson. “It was a difficult decision. The Ryder Cup is unbelievable and is something that has definitely meant a lot to me. I’m proud to say that I’ve played and represented my country. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to do that again. I don’t make the rules, but all things are things that are subject to change, and hopefully at some point they will. Ultimately, I decided to come do this and play out here. I’m excited about it.”

Na did the same over the weekend and put out a detailed statement explaining his decision.

This doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll never see Johnson or the others compete against the world’s best. In fact, Johnson remains eligible to play at next week’s U.S. Open, the penultimate major of 2022.

WHAT’S THE MAIN APPEAL?

You’re guaranteed to hear some regurgitated talking points about the competition or the exciting new opportunity yadda yadda yadda. At the end of the day, it’s quite simple: it’s about money.

The Public Investment Fund being used to fund LIV Golf is estimated to be worth more than half a trillion dollars and they are throwing large sums of money liberally in an attempt to grow that brand.

Johnson was reportedly offered more than US$100 million to join the new league. The 37-year-old’s career earnings on the PGA Tour are approximately $74 million to date, which is third-most all-time behind Tiger Woods and Mickelson.

The PGA’s top stars certainly haven’t been shy in voicing their opinions when asked about the moral implications of LIV Golf.

“Any decision that you make in your life that's purely for money, usually doesn't end up going the right way,” McIlroy added Wednesday.

Max Homa seemed to endorse Justin Thomas’s thoughtful remarks.

WHEN DOES IT DEBUT AND WHAT’S THE FORMAT?

There are currently eight events (five in the United States and three international) scheduled to take place over the remainder of 2022 with the inaugural event teeing off Thursday in the U.K.

-- June 9-11 at the Centurion Club in London, England

-- June 30-July 2 at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Ore.

-- July 29-31 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

-- Sept. 2-4 at The Oaks golf course in Boston

-- Sept. 16-18 at Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago

-- Oct. 7-9 at Stonehill in Bangkok, Thailand

-- Oct. 14-16 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

-- Oct. 27-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami (season-ending team championship event)

There will be 48 golfers competing in each event. They will be three-round tournaments instead of four, meaning 54 holes instead of 72, and there’s no cut to make. The reason it is named LIV Golf is because LIV is the Roman numeral for 54.

There’s also a team aspect to LIV Golf where 12 captains were chosen and they selected the remaining 36 players in a snake draft format.

Full snake draft results and team names (spoiler alert: they are objectively atrocious team names) can be found here.

WHAT ARE THE PAYOUTS LIKE?

Each of the first seven tournaments will have a purse of $25 million with $20 million dedicated to individuals and the remaining $5 million split between members of the top three teams.

Individual payouts are expected to range from $4 million for a tournament winner down to $120,000 for the 48th-place golfer. Whichever team ends up with the low score will split equal shares of $3 million; the second-place team does the same with $1 million and third-place divides $500,000.

The top three individual golfers after the first seven events will walk home with an additional massive cheque. The series’ individual champion will win an extra $18 million while the No. 2 and No. 3 golfers win $8 million and $4 million, respectively.

The eighth and final event is team-focused. There are no individual purses at this event but instead a $50 million purse will be split between all dozen teams with prizes ranging from $16 million for the first-place team to $1 million for the 12th-place team.

As you can clearly see, it’s mostly about money at the end of the day.