A number of South African golfers, rumoured to run into double digits, have been linked to the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series set to tee off next month.
The series, headed up by former World No 1 Greg Norman, is a potential disrupter to golf’s established order with its promise of huge prize money and participation incentives for the game’s top exponents.
SA’s Louis Oosthuizen has reportedly been linked to the series, along with Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer. The series, however, is yet to reveal its list of participants.
The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have refused to release their players for the LIV series.
Sunshine Tour commissioner Thomas Abt could not confirm the figure or the names of the South Africans.
He did, however, outline the Sunshine Tour’s position regarding the series, which features eight events with huge $25m (R396m) prize pots for the first seven.
Obviously if they are members of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, then they would have to follow those regulations
“The regulation that guides us through this particular situation says that a player only needs to ask for a release to play in another event if it is a conflicting event in our territory,” explained Abt.
“Simply put, if we had a LIV event in Zimbabwe and a conflicting event in SA on the Sunshine Tour then the player would need to ask for a release because it is in our territory, which is Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean islands.”
The LIV series tees off next month with four tournaments scheduled for the US and one each in London, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The venue for the team event scheduled for October is yet to be announced.
“All the LIV events are outside our territory,” said Abt. “It means our players could go and play if they wanted to. Obviously if they are members of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, then they would have to follow those regulations. We will see how that unfolds.”
The LIV series arrives just as a sense of normality has been restored to the sport. In a SA context, however, Abt was keen to remind that while the game is back on the fairway, it isn’t there in regulation.
While golf was one of the first sports to have restrictions lifted, Abt said the Tour isn’t operating at full tilt yet. “I don’t think it is normal yet,” said Abt.
“From a playing perspective, we are able to host tournaments again. However, the number of spectators we are allowed to have on a golf course is as per department of sports, arts & culture regulations. It is still 50% of what your capacity is but that is difficult to judge on a golf course. Hopefully things will get back to some kind of normality.”
Abt admits they had gone through “a terribly difficult time”.
“We did everything we could. The pro golfers were practising in their gardens showing us trick shots. From an organisational point of view we had to think how we could keep our players busy and active. We had to try to generate some value for our sponsors.”
Gradually though things are on the mend and players’ graft through lockdown hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Last week the Tour announced Investec would be sponsoring the SA Open for the next four years. This year’s event carries a purse of $1.5m (R23m). “It’s absolutely fantastic. Investec has been supporting the ladies tour, and have been doing so for a long time. Now they’ve moved back across into the men’s space,” said Abt.
“They see the value in professional golf and what it brings to their brand. We’ve been positioning ourselves, promoting our brand and putting it out there for partners and sponsors to see. To have them on board is really exciting.”
Though the date is yet to be confirmed, the SA Open will likely be played in the first week of December.
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