On the weekend of the 5th of February and four thousand miles away from the iconic cliffs of the Isle of White, a golf tournament was being played in a place called the King Abdullah Economic City. You’re not alone if you had previously never heard of this place. For anyone still in the dark, it is in fact in Saudi Arabia and the event in question that was being played over the weekend was called the Saudi International.
Despite the seemingly bizarre location for the event, the Saudis successfully managed to entice the world’s best to the King Abdullah Economic City with the help of some eye-watering appearance fee cheques. The who’s who of the game were there. This included Dustin Johnson, who is one of the outright favourites for the Masters in April in the latest golf odds, which probably tells you a lot about the all-star cast. Indeed, there was no shortage of stardust in the desert as the Saudis made a strong statement about their pulling power.
1 year ago today. One of the greatest moments! pic.twitter.com/RqJgNKzTnt
Article continues below this advertisement — Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) November 15, 2021
Now, you may well be asking why the goings-on in an obscure competition affects you in the lush greenery of the Isle of White? Well, of course, there’s a chance that none of it will cause you to lose any sleep. But if you’re a golfer and hold dear the traditions of golf in the United Kingdom, then it will mean a lot. In a bid to get to the heart of the matter, we could say that, in essence, the Saudi International golf tournament was a dress rehearsal for the Super Golf League that the Middle Eastern kingdom wishes to launch through the Asian Tour.
Harold Varner III celebrated the biggest win of his career after a huge final-hole eagle saw him snatch victory from Bubba Watson at the Saudi International 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XVJckjpd6L
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) February 6, 2022
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Currently, and this is where the controversy lies, the game’s best players are being approached by the breakaway league’s financiers in a bid to sign them up to the competition. In some instances, players are being offered fees that must be virtually impossible to turn down, take Englishman Ian Poulter for example, who was offered as much as £22 million to join. The catch, however, is that should they do so then they will face lifetime bans from the PGA and European Tour whilst also being barred from taking part in the Ryder Cup.
We asked antitrust experts whether the PGA Tour will have the legal authority to permanently ban individuals for aligning with the Super Golf League 🤔: https://t.co/W2av1SQkq2 pic.twitter.com/q7HLu0J56X
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) February 5, 2022
In short, players will have a decision to make which involves either accepting these enormous sign-on fees and joining the Super Golf League or staying with the traditional tours. Understandably, it’s hard to say what will happen but you can imagine that a number of the world’s best players will decide to call time on their stay on the PGA and European Tour and join the new rebel league.
For UK golf lovers, this will mean that some of the world’s best no longer play in iconic summer events like the Open Championship, BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Scottish Open, Alfred Dunhill Links, and indeed the British Masters.
This will undoubtedly be a bitter pill to swallow for devout golf fans in the UK given that the impasse between the newly formed Saudi Super Golf League and the traditional tours will prohibit the game’s best from competing in the tournaments that golf lovers flock to every summer.
