PARIS: Guido Migliozzi hit a stunning birdie on the final hole as he stormed to a one-shot victory in the French Open at Le Golf National on Sunday.

The Italian started the day five shots off the lead but made nine birdies in a round of 62 to edge out Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard who led for three rounds. Migliozzi sealed his 16-under-par win on the last hole, clearing the lake on front of the green, almost going in before finishing six feet past the hole. The 25-year-old stroked the putt in for a 62 and a share of the course record to claim his third DP World Tour win and first in three years.

Hojgaard, who had seen a six-shot second-round lead reduced to just one heading into Sunday, had only two birdies after his eagle at the third. South African George Coetzee and Belgian Thomas Pieters’ hopes ended at the 14th as trips to the water resulted in a triple-bogey seven and double-bogey six respectively and the pair finished in a tie for third with Frenchman Paul Barjon on 11 under.

The Presidents Cup got off to the blowout start many had predicted as the US humbled a scrappy International team 4-1 in the opening foursomes on Thursday.

The powerful US team had looked poised for a sweep of the five matches until the Internationals snatched an unexpected point when South Korea’s Kim Si-woo and Australian Cam Davis took down the all-star American pairing of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2-up.

The US, who have dominated the biennial competition with an 11-1-1 record, came out with purpose, having never lost on home soil. Things had looked very grim for the Internationals after the hosts swept the opening three matches to power 3-0 ahead.

But salvaging a point ended a rough day on a positive note for captain Trevor Immelman’s men, limiting the damage heading into Friday’s fourballs, although the challenge ahead remains daunting.

“We’re going to keep fighting,” assured Immelman. “It’s what we do. Nobody here expects us to win. We’ve got to have that belief deep down.

“We’re up against maybe the strongest American team ever assembled on paper. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but like I said, we’ll keep going, man. We’ll keep going until they ring the bell.”

The Internationals, with a record eight Presidents Cup debutants in their 12-man team, started as massive underdogs against a US squad featuring nine of the top 15 in the world rankings.

With temperatures nudging towards 380C the event got off to a steamy and raucous start, with chants of “USA, USA” from the pro-American crowd echoing across the Quail Hollow Club.

US captain Davis Love III’s squad did not waste any time giving the crowd reasons to cheer as they quickly seized control.

Immelman sent out his most experienced pair of Australian Adam Scott, playing in his 10th Presidents Cup, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama first to face the US duo of world No 4 and 5 Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, hoping the veterans might set the tone for his young squad.

First point
But the Internationals’ two Masters champions failed to gel as Cantlay and Schauffele steamrolled to a 6&5 win, needing just 13 holes to clinch their team’s first point.

When it comes to foursomes, 2021 FedEx champion Cantlay and Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Schauffele have been bankers for the US, improving to 5-0-0 in the alternate shot format after going unbeaten at the 2019 Presidents and 2021 Ryder cups.

“We play so much golf together, we’re so comfortable, we’re good friends,” said Schauffele. “It’s just a lot of fun for us to do this. I told the guys last night we need to set the tone… and we did.”

The remaining four matches offered more drama and entertainment, but the pattern was the same.

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who took the first of his two PGA Championship wins at Quail Hollow in 2017, never trailed South Korea’s Im Sung-jae and Canadian Corey Connors on the way to a tidy 2&1 win.

Cameron Young, playing with Collin Morikawa, rolled in a long putt at the 17th to give the US another 2&1 victory over the South Korean partnership of Kim Joo-hyung and KH Lee.

Just when the US team appeared ready to end the first day of the biennial event perfectly, however, the Internationals dug in.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Davis Love III: LIV players not missed at Presidents Cup – even DJ”

Leading 2-up after 14 holes, Scheffler and Burns were poised to add to the US advantage but buckled as Kim and Davis won the last four holes.

“It was a brutal start on the front nine, and back nine, try to keep it positive and keep it tight to, like, 17, 18,” said Kim, one of a record four Koreans on the International team. “So, I think that works. Then, last five holes, we finally dropped some putt and it works.”

The Internationals nearly trimmed the deficit further in the final match between Americans Tony Finau and Max Homa and Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Chile’s Mito Pereira, which was tied heading to the 18th. This time it was the International pair faltering, however, as Homa and Finau secured the point.

The United States defend the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow this week in a match that has, indisputably, been affected by the advent of the breakaway LIV tour.

Trevor Immelman’s International side (the rest of the world outside Europe and US) are chasing what would be only their second win since the cup’s inception in 1994.

Ordinarily they might have been an attractive bet, had the likes of Open champion Cameron Smith, the exciting Chilean Joaquin Niemann and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer been available for selection.

But all three have moved to Greg Norman’s Saudi Arabian-funded start-up and with the Presidents Cup being a PGA Tour event, they are no longer welcome. Add to that list Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman and Branden Grace.

The US are also missing big hitters. Dustin Johnson, who won all five matches at the last Ryder Cup, is on the ineligible roster along with Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, but the effect on Davis Love III’s team is less marked.

“Our first 12 is really good, and our second 12 is really good,” Love noted ahead of the match which starts in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday.

“Trevor’s problem is his first 12 was really good and the second 12 was maybe not quite as good. We have always had the depth.”

Five of Immelman’s six wildcard picks are rookies, among eight debutants in the International team. There is no hiding the arrival of LIV has taken a heavy toll.

“LIV has been challenging, there’s no doubt about it,” Immelman told Golf.com. “But there’s not too much I can do about it.

“These players need to make their minds up and decide what’s best for them and their future. You have players who left, and I absolutely respect that.

“But on the other side, you also have players who decided to stay. From my side, as captain of the Internationals, the 12 that pitch up in Charlotte are the 12 that wanted to be there, and those are the 12 that I want to be there.”

Love, an outspoken LIV critic who has raised the prospect of players striking at future majors if they allow so called rebels to continue playing, does not hide his fury.

“The Presidents Cup is just one tournament on the PGA Tour that these guys (who joined LIV Golf) are taking a chance on never getting to play again,” the captain told the Charlotte Observer.

“So that’s both heart-wrenching, disappointing and sometimes infuriating that we’re having to deal with this…. It’s just very sad for the game.”

Love is an ardent PGA Tour loyalist and disputes LIV’s continuing claims to be a force for good in golf. “They want all the tours and the NCAA and amateur golf to feed them stars for their little select league,” Love added.

“And that’s their first priority. They want to be the number one league, which is a great goal. But it’s not going to be good for the game if the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are relegated to feeder tours for the LIV Golf tour.”

Some observers believe matches such as the Presidents Cup should rise above a dispute that is tearing apart men’s professional golf and allow both teams to field their strongest teams.

Indeed, Smith was still expressing his desire to play in this week’s match earlier in the summer, even when he knew he was destined to make his big money move to LIV. Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, is another feeling disappointed to be missing out on an event he has played on every occasion since his 2013 debut.

“I didn’t think I did anything wrong,” the South African, who resigned from the PGA Tour before joining LIV, told Sports Illustrated.

“I made my decision where I am playing golf. But I didn’t do anything wrong while I was a PGA Tour member.

“It’s always been one of my favourite weeks of the year. It’s a bit of a punch in the gut not to be able to play. More so, not being able to be one of the players who is with a South African captain.”

Fans will hope the contest is close enough to become a spectacle that can rise above then current politicking. This 14th edition is the first in three years and follows a narrow 16-14 US away win in 2019.

The homes side shows five changes from the team that thrashed Europe 19-9 in last year’s Ryder Cup. Along with the LIV defectors Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka there is no room for Daniel Berger or Harris English.

Max Homa, last Sunday’s extraordinary winner of the Fortinet Championship is determined to justify his inclusion. Despite four PGA Tour wins in the last 19 months, he says he will be “playing with a chip on my shoulder”.

Major winners Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler are making Presidents Cup debuts along with Sam Burns, Billy Horschel and Open Championship runner up Cameron Young. Averaging 29.6 years old, it is the youngest ever US team.

But the Internationals average almost a year younger, with 42-year-old Adam Scott the old man of the contest. Much will depend on the Australian and another Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama in such a youthful line up.

Japan’s Matsuyama has decent Quail Hollow memories after finishing tied fifth there at the 2017 US PGA Championship and has so far resisted highly lucrative LIV overtures.

Tom Kim, a 20-year-old South Korean who has risen to 22 in the world, is a potentially thrilling addition but Immelman will need to coax him in the way European Ryder Cup captains used to inspire lesser lights to greatness within a collective cause.

Can the likes of Christiaan Bezuidenhuot, Corey Conners, Sungjae Im and US PGA Championship runner up Mito Perreira find an extra level to trouble an inevitably strong US side?

If they do, then for a few days at least, the golf will emerge from the giant shadow LIV has cast over the build up to this Presidents Cup.

For Rory McIlroy, it’s a flat-out “no.”

U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is open to having LIV Golf players on Europe’s team at next year’s Ryder Cup because, he said, “I just want to make sure that we win.”

Europe captain Luke Donald, meanwhile, is toeing the official tour line when he says he’s in “limbo” waiting for the conflict to be decided in the courts.

As several of Europe’s top players prepare to play this week’s Italian Open on the Marco Simone course outside Rome that will host next year’s Ryder Cup, the pre-tournament discussion has been about who should and who should not be included on the 2023 team.

“I have said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I don’t think any of those guys should be on the Ryder Cup team,” McIlroy said Wednesday of the players who have joined the Saudi-backed breakaway series.

Litigation is ongoing on both sides of the Atlantic involving the PGA and European tours after LIV golfers were excluded from events, and the divide between the players sticking to the traditional tours and those who have joined the lucrative breakaway series is growing.

But Fitzpatrick, who won his first major title in June, is taking a more neutral stance.

“I just want to win the Ryder Cup. … I want the 11 best guys we can get,” said the Englishman, who lost all three of his matches when the U.S. romped to a record rout in Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, last year. “I’m not really too bothered about where they are going to come from.”

Fitzpatrick even went so far as to reach out to one LIV player at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last week.

“I told him I’d happily have him on the team,” Fitzpatrick said, without naming the player.

Donald was named captain last month after Henrik Stenson was stripped of the title because he joined LIV.

“Nothing that’s really changed since I was appointed,” Donald said. “We’re still a little bit in limbo. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the lawsuit so I’m trying to not really put too much energy into it. Once we get a clearer picture, I can give you better answers.”

While European Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were among the contingent of LIV golfers competing at Wentworth, none of those high-profile names came to Italy.

“I had already committed to playing in this event before Luke was the captain and it was someone else,” McIlroy said, refusing to mention Stenson by name again.

“I’ve had discussions with Luke, and actually a few of us are meeting for dinner tonight for a little bit of team bonding but also to have a talk about the course and how we think it should be set up to favor the European team.”

Located about a half-hour from Rome, the course owned and run by fashion designer Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna features hilly terrain, which should lend itself to a stadiumlike setting suited for the Ryder Cup.

“You’ve got two drivable par-4s [Nos. 11 and 16], you’ve got a few holes with water and you’ve got that wonderful closing hole which could be really exciting,” McIlroy said of the back nine.

The only time McIlroy previously played in Italy came when he won the European amateur championship in 2006 in the northern town of Biella.

“So I’ve got a 100% record in this country, and I’d like to keep that going,” he said.

McIlroy has been enjoying strolling around Rome with family, especially since his wife once studied in the city for seven months “and she knows her way around.”

McIlroy and his teammates’ main order of business, however, is strategizing how to reduce the gap from that 19-9 whipping by the U.S. in Wisconsin.

“The European team has a core of six or seven guys that I think we all know are pretty much going to be on that team, and then it’s up to some of the younger guys to maybe step up,” McIlroy said. “I think we were in need of a rebuild anyway. We did well with the same guys for a very long time, but everything comes to an end at some point. I think Whistling Straits is a good sort of demarcation.”

Donald is paired with rising Italian Guido Migliozzi and Adrian Meronk, the Polish player who won the Irish Open in July, for the opening two rounds this week.

Then there’s Nicolai Højgaard, the 21-year-old Dane who won at Marco Simone last year a week after his identical twin brother, Rasmus, won the European Masters in Switzerland .

Vice captain Thomas Bjørn is in a group with 24-year-old Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who is No. 11 in the world golf rankings.

“I’m excited to see their games,” Donald said. “I’ll be keeping my eye on some of the younger, exciting talent to try to make this team.”

Then there’s Francesco Molinari, the hero of Europe’s victory in 2018, who is looking to return to the team after missing 2021 because of back issues. He’s coming off a top-10 finish at Wentworth.

“Having an Italian on the team would be huge,” McIlroy said.

Molinari said the issues with LIV will take a back seat come the Sept. 29-Oct. 1 event next year.

“The Ryder Cup is such a big, important and fantastic event that I don’t think it will be damaged at all by the conflict,” Molinari said. “Even if the situation isn’t resolved, I think that for that week everyone’s attention will be on the Ryder Cup.”

Exclusive: State’s sport minister says NSW is ‘the perfect place’ for major tournaments, with Greg Norman believed to be scouting Sydney courses

The New South Wales government is “ready and willing” to have discussions with Greg Norman in a bid to bring the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour to Sydney, the state’s sports minister has said.

Amid increasing speculation Norman is seeking to bring the controversial breakaway tournament to Australia, the minister, Alister Henskens, confirmed he was open to hosting the multimillion-dollar rebel series.

“With some of the best courses in Australia, NSW is the perfect place to host major golf tournaments,” he told the Guardian.

“We are ready and willing to have discussions about bringing more professional tour events to NSW.”

On Wednesday Norman was quoted in the Daily Telegraph as saying unnamed state governments were “putting taxpayers’ money on the table” to lure the tour to Australia.

Norman told the Telegraph he had “already held talks with state ministers” in a bid to secure a course to host an event as soon as April next year.

He said “conversations have been had” and negotiations “will probably pick up here in the next week”.

The Guardian understands Norman has been shopping the prospect of hosting a LIV Golf event to a number of clubs in Sydney, but is yet to have formal discussions with Henskens, who has only been in the role since last month.

The rebel series has been highly controversial due to its financial links to the repressive Saudi regime, but Henskens said in a statement NSW wanted to “attract the biggest and best events to our state”.

“NSW has more than 166,000 registered golfers, upwards of 370 courses and the game has an economic impact of about $1.3bn annually to the NSW economy.”

Both the Queensland and Victorian governments told the Guardian on Wednesday they had not been approached by Norman, nor had any conversations with the breakaway league.

“Representatives of the LIV Golf Series have not made contact with my office, nor have any offers been made to hold a LIV Golf event in Queensland,” Queensland’s sport minister, Stirling Hinchliffe, said.

Hinchliffe’s office did not rule out the prospect of the state hosting the LIV tour, but his spokesperson said Tourism and Events Queensland “has a very good relationship with PGA Australia”.

A spokesperson for the Victorian sports minister, Steve Dimopoulos, said his state had not spoken to the rebel tour, no proposals had been submitted and the government was “getting on with delivering major international events that support local jobs and businesses”.

Norman has been the focus of substantial criticism within the golf world – as well as from human rights groups – for his involvement as a figurehead for LIV Golf.

The tournament has managed to attract some of the sport’s most high-profile stars – including the Open-winning Australian Cameron Smith – on lucrative deals.

But human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused Norman and the golfers who have signed up to the series of “sportswashing” – the use of sport by oppressive governments to legitimise their regimes and distract from human rights abuses.

Norman was fiercely criticised after describing the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as a “mistake”, adding the Saudi government “wants to move forward”.

BMW PGA final leaderboard

-17 S Lowry (Ire); -16 J Rahm (Spa), R McIlroy (NI); -15 T Gooch (US); -14 P Reed (US), T Detry (Bel)
Selected others: -12 L Westwood (Eng), M Southgate (Eng); -11 D Horsey (Eng), S Horsfield (Eng); -10 G Forrest; -9 I Poulter (Eng); -8 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -7 G McDowell (NI)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry said his victory over a BMW PGA Championship field featuring several LIV Golf Series players was “one for the good guys”.

Lowry, 35, birdied the 18th to beat Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy by one stroke.

Spain’s Rahm played the last 10 holes in nine under in a 62 but Lowry birdied 18 to sign for a 65 while McIlroy failed with a putt to force a play-off.

One of the 18 Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf players competing, American Talor Gooch, shot a 67 to take fourth place.

Lowry said at the start of a week that began with much talk about the LIV Golf players being able to compete that he “can’t stand” them being in the field.

The former Open champion reiterated his feelings after his victory at Wentworth, saying: “I made no secret how I feel about the whole thing.

“I wanted to go and win the tournament for myself and those who have stayed loyal and done everything for the tour. This is one for the good guys.”

The event in Surrey was suspended on Thursday evening following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch.

Players, caddies and officials paid tribute to the Queen with a two-minute silence when play resumed on Saturday, with the tournament reduced to 54 holes.

It was Lowry who finished at the top of a high-class leaderboard in the DP World Tour’s flagship event as he claimed his first win since the 2019 Open.

He told Sky Sports: “I am the happiest man in the world. It means a lot to win, it has been a good year, I have been close a few times and I really wanted to win one.

“This one was right at the top of the list, I love it here and contended in the past. The bad shots over the years started creeping into my head, but I am so happy.

“I got to 16 [Rahm’s score] then had to worry about Rory behind me, who can do anything on the last few holes. I am playing the best golf of my life.”

Like Lowry, McIlroy has also been a staunch opponent of LIV Golf and said in the lead-up to the tournament that competing against players from the breakaway would be “hard for me to stomach”.

On the course it was almost the perfect response from the FedEx champion but an eagle and four birdies in a final round that saw him hit several poor iron shots were not enough for the four-time major winner to win a sixth event of his season.

He had a good chance to eagle the 18th and tie Lowry but his putt missed by a couple of millimeters.

As the world stops to mourn Queen Elizabeth II’s loss, so, too, will professional golf.

The BMW PGA Championship suspended play on Thursday afternoon “until further notice” immediately following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

“Out of respect for Her Majesty and the Royal Family, play has been suspended at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club for the remainder of Thursday and flags at Wentworth Club will be lowered to half-mast,” a statement from the Tour reads. “Furthermore, no play will take place at the BMW PGA Championship on Friday and the golf course and practice facilities will be closed.”

The news of Elizabeth II’s death shocked much of the country, which learned only hours earlier that doctors were concerned about her health after placing her under “medical supervision.” Most Brits cannot remember a time before her reign as Queen, which began in 1952 and has served as part of the bedrock of the country through a turbulent half-century. Services for Elizabeth II are expected to last several days and will be staged across the whole of Britain, with a particular emphasis on London, where it is expected she will be laid to rest.

It is not yet known what the period of mourning will mean for BMW PGA, or if organizers will consider the extraordinary step of canceling the tournament outright. Updates about the resumption of play, the tour said, “will be provided in due course.” Wentworth Club, the tournament host, is in Surrey, England, just an hour’s drive outside of London.

It has been an eventful week already at the BMW PGA, a DP World Tour event that marks the controversial first gathering of both LIV and PGA Tour players at an tournament with some Tour affiliation (the PGA Tour and DP World Tour are “strategic partners,” and the PGA Tour owns a stake of the DP World Tour’s media apparatus). LIV competitors sued in British court to earn entrance into the event, winning a stay that allows them to compete on the DP World Tour until a judge rules more broadly on the topic of tournament bans. The legal victory allows LIV players to earn vital world ranking points by competing at the BMW PGA, which help to determine major championship eligibility.

The appearance of LIV competitors has not gone over well with PGA Tour mainstays, who see the presence of LIV competitors as little more than a points-grab.

“Even though Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have been stalwarts for the European Tour, I don’t think those guys really should be here,” Billy Horschel said. “I honestly don’t think that the American guys who haven’t supported the PGA Tour should be here. Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak — you’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour. Why are you here?”

Horschel was later spotted having a testy exchange with LIV competitor Ian Poulter on the practice green, presumably sharing a similar sentiment. But he wasn’t the only one to voice his criticism of the upstart league in his pre-tournament presser.

“They shouldn’t be here, but again that’s just my opinion,” said Rory McIlroy. “I’ll be trying to win a golf tournament regardless. They are going to be pretty tired on Sunday; it will be the fourth day.”

“I’m not going to name anybody, but the only reason they are here is for world ranking points, hoping they can finish in the top 50 to then play certain majors,” Jon Rahm agreed. “It’s clear as day. And if they are saying otherwise they are not fooling anybody, at least not me.”

Of course, those arguments remain dependent on the tournament reaching its conclusion, which was originally scheduled for Sunday.

As the dust settled on an extraordinary press conference by Keith Pelley, the European Tour Group’s chief executive, at Wentworth, Rory McIlroy admitted friendships had been ruined by defections to LIV Golf. An emboldened McIlroy took withering swipes at Sergio García, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and any LIV rebel who may contend at this weekend’s PGA Championship. Pelley had earlier castigated “the LIV propaganda machine”. Golf’s civil war shows no sign of abating.

McIlroy has been staunch in his defence of the PGA and DP World Tours against the Saudi-backed series, which now includes three of his Ryder Cup teammates. When asked whether his relationship with García, Poulter and Westwood can survive, McIlroy replied: “I don’t know. I have no idea. I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute. But if you’re just talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team.

“They have played in probably a combined 25 or 30 Ryder Cups. These 10 cards going to the US [qualification for the PGA Tour from the DP World Tour every year] and preparing guys to play at the top level of professional golf; that’s the future of the Ryder Cup, the [Rasmus] Højgaards, Bobby Mac [Robert MacIntyre], whoever else is coming up. They are the future of the Ryder Cup team. That’s what we should be thinking about and talking about.

“I haven’t done anything different. They are the ones that have made that decision. I can sit here and keep my head held high and say I haven’t done anything differently.”

McIlroy was deadpan when asked if there could be a route back to traditional tours for LIV converts. “They can always go through Q-School, yeah,” said the Northern Irishman.

McIlroy reflected on the “novelty” of 15 LIV golfers appearing for a potential 72 holes at Wentworth given the three-day nature of their new domain. He was questioned over whether there would be more incentive to win here should he find himself in final round battle with a LIV player. “I’ll be trying to win a golf tournament regardless,” said the 33-year-old. “They are going to be pretty tired on Sunday; it will be the fourth day.”

Pelley has largely kept his own counsel on LIV matters. How that changed on Wednesday. Having hit out at “irrational and ludicrous comments on social media” an impassioned Pelley said: “As I said to our partners and sponsors on a Zoom call last week, it is easy to get dragged down by the LIV propaganda machine, churning out negative news stories and misinformation about the poor state of the traditional golfing world, including our tour. It’s just not right. And let me make this perfectly clear; nothing could be further from the truth. We are in excellent shape and set to get even stronger.”

There have been suggestions Pelley walked away from a $1bn deal to partner with the Saudis. “There’s only one word to describe that claim and that is ‘fictitious’,” added the chief executive. “You can ask any member of our board of directors, and they will unanimously confirm that it was not an offer, it was not a deal, it was merely a marketing presentation put together on behalf of Golf Saudi.”

Pelley also took aim at García after the Spaniard had said the DP World Tour “is going to become the fifth best in the world”. Pelley clearly does not accept that. “One of our members who is playing here this week actually said that,” he remarked. “It’s unbelievable.

“Let’s look at the facts. If the metrics determining the top tours in the world is just money, then the No 1 tour is the PGA Tour. Always has been. You could argue that the LIV Invitational Series is No 2. But the Asian Tour, $22.5m Korn Ferry, $20m, Japan, $28m, Australia, $5.8m, Sunshine Tour, $7.4m. Totalling all their prize funds together comes to just half of our tour. So even if the only metric is money, how possibly could we ever become No 5?” Pelley, having brought playing opportunities, broadcast partners and national reach into the same debate. “Yet one of our players said we are on the way to being No 5. Wow.”

A number of LIV golfers believe they should be allowed to compete in that series as well as the DP World or PGA Tours. “I don’t believe it’s OK to break the rules and regulations without consequences,” Pelley argued. He has a key ally in McIlroy.

Smith had a reserved parking space and more at TPC Sawgrass

The latest chapter in the feud between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour revolves around the No. 2 player in the world, Cameron Smith, who just joined the Saudi-backed tour.

Smith won last year’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and one of the perks of that victory is a reserved prime parking space with the winner’s name in front of the clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

The win also earned Smith the right to play there whenever he chooses.

However, TPC Sawgrass GM Derek Sprague told Golfweek both of those privileges have been revoked.

“If they go to LIV, they don’t have any of their tour privilege at TPC properties,” Sprague said.

A replica bag of Smith’s winning clubs was also removed from the Sawgrass pro shop, according to Golfweek.

Smith has lived right down the street from Sawgrass since 2015 and has trained there. But he is entirely focused on LIV Golf.

Smith is confident LIV Golf is the future of the game, and, of course, the money’s pretty good.

“[Money] was definitely a factor in making that decision. I won’t ignore that or say that wasn’t a reason,” Smith told Golf Digest. “It was obviously a business decision, for one, and an offer I couldn’t ignore.”

Smith also said the schedule is “really appealing.” It’s been another big draw for the tour. There are only eight events per year, and coupled with the lucrative contracts these golfers are signing, it allows them more time to be with family.

“I’ll be able to spend more time at home in Australia and maybe have an event down there, as well. I haven’t been able to do that, and to get that part of my life back was really appealing,” Smith said.

Five other golfers joined LIV Golf with Smith prior to the tour’s event in Boston this past week — Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale and Anirban Lahiri.

LIV Golf was also recently added to an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, which Phil Mickelson and other golfers started. It claims players’ indefinite suspensions were aimed at hurting their careers.