Reed and Pi?ero "February Saudi International Participation"

'Huge Appearance Fees' Confirm Asian Tour Entry, Star-Studded Lineup Featuring Johnson, Mickelson, Garcia Completed

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed (USA, photo) will participate in the Saudi International (total prize money $5 million).

The Asian Tour announced on the 4th (Korean time) that "Reed and last year's runner-up Tony Finau (USA) will compete in the tournament." The participation of famous players such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson (both USA), Sergio Garcia (Spain), and Paul Casey (England) has been confirmed. The tournament will be held for four days starting from the 3rd of next month at the Royal Greens Golf Club near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A 'luxurious lineup' comparable to most PGA Tour events has been completed.

During the same period, the PGA Tour has scheduled the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (total prize money $8.7 million). Although the prize money is larger on the PGA Tour, the reason many top-ranked players flock to the Asian Tour is, of course, the 'money.' The amount of appearance fees for the Saudi Arabia tournament has not been disclosed, but when it was first held as a European Tour event in 2019, the 'Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA) was offered an appearance fee of $3.3 million, which Woods declined.

The Saudi International was held as a European Tour event for three years starting in 2019 and moved to the Asian Tour this year. The PGA Tour initially announced it would ban its players from participating in tournaments backed by Saudi Arabian capital, but when the Saudi Arabian capital partnered with the Asian Tour, which has a cooperative relationship with the PGA Tour, to hold the tournament, the PGA Tour permitted participation on the condition that players also compete in PGA Tour events held during the same period in the future.

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