PGA Tour Issues Ban on Players Participating in Saudi International... Full-Scale Conflict with Super Golf League?

The power game between the PGA Tour and the Super Golf League (SGL) is becoming increasingly intense.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "Ban on participation in the Saudi International."

This marks an all-out war between the U.S. Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour and the Super Golf League (SGL). On the 29th (Korean time), Golfweek reported, "The PGA Tour has decided not to allow its affiliated players to participate in next year's Saudi International." The Saudi International gained the spotlight last February when then world No. 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) won the tournament. After becoming the inaugural champion in 2019, he successfully reclaimed the title after two years.

Contrary to early concerns at its inception in 2019 that "players would avoid the tournament because Saudi Arabia, a state accused of human rights violations including involvement by its intelligence agency in the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey," it has been thriving for three consecutive years. The organizers have invested enormous costs, including invitation fees exceeding $1 million and accommodations at 7-star hotels, achieving remarkable results. In fact, even top three players like Justin Rose (England) and Brooks Koepka (USA) attended.

Last year, Phil Mickelson joined, and this year, the 'Autumn Masters Champion' Johnson and 'US Open Champion' Bryson DeChambeau (both USA) clashed, shaking up the global golf scene. The issue is that this tournament is seen as a precursor to the Super Golf League. The World Golf Group (WGG) in New York is launching the new professional golf tour, the Super Golf League, in January 2023, and Saudi Arabia is suspected to be behind it. This is why the PGA Tour has issued a warning.

The Super Golf League holds 18 events per season, smaller in scale compared to the PGA Tour. However, the total prize money per tournament ranges from $10 million to $20 million (approximately 22.93 billion KRW), with the winner's prize as high as $4 million (approximately 4.59 billion KRW). Currently, on the PGA Tour, there are fewer than 10 events with prize money exceeding $10 million, including the four major championships, the 'fifth major' The Players Championship, and the World Golf Championships (WGC) series. The WGC series initially increased prize money to attract world stars, a strategy similar to this.

Another point of interest is the PGA Tour's countermeasures. It has already adopted a tough stance, stating, "Players who participate in the Super Golf League will be permanently banned," and has introduced various incentives such as the 'Player Impact Program,' which distributes $40 million (approximately 45.84 billion KRW) among popular players. The European Tour has also supported this by announcing it will not sanction the Saudi International next year. The power struggle between the PGA Tour and the Super Golf League is intensifying.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.