Rory McIlroy has been nominated for the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award alongside world number two and recent LIV Golf recruit Cameron Smith.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who won four tournaments in the 2021-22 season, has also been shortlisted.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy last month became the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times.

Smith won the Players Championship and Open Championship before defecting to the LIV series last week.

The 29-year-old Australian, who also won the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, tied for fourth on his debut in the Saudi-backed LIV circuit in Boston on Sunday, earning $1.5m (£1.3m).

Smith joined LIV Golf following the culmination of the FedEx Cup, becoming the highest-ranked player to link up with the controversial tour.

Players competing in the LIV series are currently barred from playing in PGA Tour events, although the DP World Tour has temporarily lifted suspensions.

World number three McIlroy, who has been one of LIV’s most vocal critics, won the season-ending Tour Championship to claim his third FedEx Cup having also won the CJ Cup and Canadian Open.

American Scheffler won the Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play before clinching his first major title at the Masters.

The Player of the Year award will be determined by a vote of tour members who played in at least 15 FedEx Cup events during the season, with voting to close on Friday.

Tiger Woods turned down an offer worth approximately $700-$800 million to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, according to the tour’s CEO Greg Norman.

During an interview on Fox News that aired on Monday, former world No. 1 Norman was asked by Tucker Carlson if it was true that Woods was offered $700-$800 million to join the LIV Golf series.
“That number was out there before I became CEO,” Norman replied. “So, that number’s been out there, yes. Look, Tiger’s a needle mover, right?

“So, of course, you’re going to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO, so, yes, that number is somewhere in that neighborhood.”

Norman with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (left) and Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi (middle).
Previously, Norman had told the Washington Post in June that Woods was offered huge money to participate but turned it down. Norman said the Woods proposal was “mind-blowingly enormous; we’re talking about high nine digits.”

The controversial tour has attracted some big names from the golfing world to leave the established PGA Tour and the DP World Tour to participate for vast sums of money.

Major winners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer have all joined the breakaway venture, which has offered players huge money to join.

The LIV Golf series is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia — and has pledged to award $250 million in total prize money.

However, it has led to criticism from many players, including Rory McIlroy and Woods, that players have abandoned golf’s traditional set up and accepted money from a country with a dismal human rights record.

Before July’s Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, Woods said he disagreed with the players who had left.
“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” the 15-time major winner said.

“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet. It’s up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination. But that is a possibility, that some players will never, ever get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this right here, walk down the fairways at Augusta National.

“But what these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt? You’re just getting paid a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes. They’re playing blaring music and have all these atmospheres that are different.”

Woods added: “I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long term for a lot of these players, especially if the LIV organization doesn’t get world-ranking points and the major championships change their criteria for entering the events.
“It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get a chance to experience it and experience what we’ve got a chance to experience and walk these hallowed grounds and play in these championships.”

Woods even went as far to criticize Norman himself for his role in the splinter tour. “Greg has done some things that I don’t think is in the best interest of our game, and we’re coming back to probably the most historic and traditional place in our sport.”
On Sunday, Henrik Stenson won the third event of LIV Golf’s debut season at Bedminster, New Jersey.

Nearly two weeks after he was stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy for joining the series, the 46-year-old Swede shot 11-under par at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to win $4 million.

He accepted the trophy alongside former US President Donald Trump, who was present throughout the three-day competition and who owns the course.

Day 1 of the LIV Golf Invitational Series’ event at North Plains, Oregon’s Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club is complete, and Carlos Ortiz sits atop the leaderboard after shooting a five-under 67.

Dustin Johnson is in second place four under in second place. Pat Perez, Hineto Tanihara and Branden Grace reside in third at three under.

Brooks Koepka, who made his LIV debut Thursday, is sixth after carding a two-under 70.

He’s joined by Wade Ormsby and Hennie du Plessis, who is looking to follow up his second-place finish from LIV’s London debut.

Louis Oosthuizen, Jinichiro Kozuma, Yuki Inamori, Martin Kaymer and Scott Vincent round out the top 10 and ties after they all shot a one-under 71.

Other notables include LIV debutantes Matthew Wolff, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau (all even par) as well as Abraham Ancer (one over).

Sergio Garcia is three over, as is six-time major winner Phil Mickelson (three over).

It was a rough day for Mickelson, but he did sink this long putt for birdie to move back to two-over at one point.

The team competition is also close this week, with the Johnson-led 4 Aces GC pacing the way at seven-under. This shot from DJ helped the effort.

Torque GC and Stinger GC are tied for second at five under.

Captain Hideto Tanihara, who sunk this shot from the bunker, leads Torque.

Oosthuizen guides Stinger. That team also features 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who won LIV Golf Invitational Series’ first-ever event with a six-under score. That tournament took place in London’s Centurion Club from June 9-11 from London’s Centurion Club.

Schwartzel’s team (Stinger GC) crushed the competition at 20-under, or 14 strokes better than second-place finisher Crushers GC. He has not been as fortunate this time around with a two-over 74 thus far.

Round 2 will begin with a shotgun start at 4:15 p.m. ET on Friday. Round 3 will conclude the tournament on Saturday.

Future Ryder Cup participation has been one of the big considerations for many players when weighing up a switch to LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour has already moved to suspend those jumping ship – meaning they will be unable to earn qualification points for the biennial clash.

However, Lee Westwood, a veteran of 11 European teams and one of the highest-profile defectors, hit back at the exclusion of LIV players.

“Why should it be threatened?,” he said when asked about his future participation.

“I’ve been playing Ryder Cup golf since 1997, and the criteria has been to be a member of the European Tour. Now, the criteria for being a member of the European Tour is to play four events. Why should they change that now?

“I’ve been a member of the PGA Tour and still played four events on the European Tour, and why would the European Tour change their rules so dramatically because another tour doesn’t like it or feels financially threatened? There’s just a bit too much protection going on for my liking and not enough transparency.

“I think as long as you fulfill the criteria to be a European Tour member, then you should still have the opportunity to try and qualify for the Ryder Cup team.”

As it stands, LIV golfers are not banned from the DP World Tour.

However, they have been excluded from next week’s Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, and have been handed £100,000 fines.

Chief executive Keith Pelley has also threatened further punishments for those who continue to play in the Saudi-funded league.

The European circuit has also extended its “strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour until 2035, with the top ten players each year earning cards on the US setup.

Earlier this week US captain Zach Johnson confirmed rebels would effectively be excluded from his team, revealing they would not be eligible for captain’s picks.

The DP World Tour and PGA Tours have strengthened their alliance to try to fight off an “existential threat” posed by Saudi-funded LIV Golf, who stage their second tournament this week.

The move brings the two circuits closer together until at least 2035.

It comes as three-time major champion Padraig Harrington expressed fears for the future of the European Tour, now rebranded as the DP World Tour.

“It looks like the European Tour is the one that could be squeezed,” he said.

Harrington, Europe’s most recent Ryder Cup captain and winner of last week’s US Senior Open, added: “LIV looks like it’s going to be here to stay.

“In three, four, five years’ time, all of this could be very normalised – and there could be the US Tour and the LIV Tour contending for the hearts and minds of the players.

“Let’s hope that the European Tour can keep up. We do need a very strong European Tour.”

Members of the Wentworth-based DP World Tour were briefed by chief executive Keith Pelley, who revealed they will be able to earn PGA Tour cards if they finish among the top 10 players not already exempt on the European Tour’s money list.

They will also guarantee growth in annual prize funds to its membership for the next five years.

Pelley branded the latest deal, which strengthens a strategic partnership that was originally struck in November 2020, as “a historic day for both our tours and for golf fans around the world”.

Critics will regard the move as turning the DP World Tour into a feeder circuit for the more lucrative and powerful PGA Tour. The Florida-based outfit are also increasing their stake in European Tour Productions from 15% to 40% – thought to be worth £120m.

Both organisations stage their first co-sanctioned tournament at next week’s Scottish Open, when 14 of the world’s top 15 players will be in the field.

“I believe unequivocally that this deeper partnership will now lead to even greater strategic opportunities for both our tours in the future,” said Pelley.

Insisting that such a move had already been in the pipeline, he admitted it had come about more rapidly because of LIV Golf, which has signed up big names such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood to its fledgling circuit.

“This was always the road map,” added Pelley. “This escalated it, the existential threat in LIV Investments escalated what we had already planned.”

Pelley also revealed his organisation were approached by Performance 54, a marketing company acting for Saudi Golf in July 2021.

“In our September board meeting that year we showed the details of that presentation to the board,” he said.

At Tuesday’s briefing to his players, Pelley stated: “You have to trust myself and the board that materially this was not a good deal for the European Tour and its members.

“Most importantly, it was nowhere near the figures being bandied about in the media and in the players lounge over the past couple of months. We have had no further conversation with them since last summer.”

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan added: “We’re on a journey here together as two organisations.

“When you look at the commercial impact, the scheduling impact, all the things that have been delivered in a relatively short period of time by virtue of this alliance, this was the right step at the right time.”

He also did not rule out a full merger between the two bodies. “That day may come in the future,” he said.

Appearing at the same news conference, Pelley suggested the Greg Norman-fronted LIV Golf series would need to alter their business model for his organisation to do business with them.

“Unfortunately Golf Saudi has elected to play outside the ecosystem,” he said.

“They play inside the ecosystem in Formula 1, they play inside the ecosystem in Premier League football, as they do in women’s golf – and I’m a board member of the LET (Ladies European Tour).

“I’ve been consistent that if, in fact, they are interested to play inside the ecosystem, and not launch a rival tour that I think is detrimental to the game at large, then I personally, from DP World’s perspective, would be open – and they know that – to having a conversation.

“But I’m not interested, and that’s why there has been no conversation since the summer of 2021, because they are convinced and they seem compelled to play outside the ecosystem as opposed to inside.”

Pelley confirmed he has refused permission for DP World Tour players to compete in this week’s second LIV Golf Invitational event at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon.

The tournament begins on Thursday, the same day as the Irish Open.

DP World Tour officials have yet to decide whether to escalate punishments, which included £100,000 fines and a ban from the Scottish Open and corresponding tournaments in America, for those rebels who played the opening event at the Centurion Club in London earlier this month.

Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and World No.2 amateur Eugenio Chacarra have been added to the LIV Golf roster

Matthew Wolff’s move to LIV Golf has been made official, with the 48-man field for the $25m second event of the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit now finalised.

As well as Wolff, LIV has also confirmed the signatures of Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and World No.2 amateur Eugenio Chacarra.

The trio will join the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka at Pumpkin Ridge for the LIV Golf Invitational Portland that runs from June 30 – July 2. It’s the second event of the controversial Greg Norman-fronted tour and first in the United States.

“Our impressive roster of LIV golfers continues to grow with incredible young talent and international stars,” said Greg Norman, CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf. “Matthew Wolff and Eugenio Chacarra have both made a name for themselves as two of golf’s most promising talents, exhibiting impressive success at an early age.

“I’m eager to watch them play alongside Carlos Ortiz, one of Mexico’s most consistent pros who along with many of our other golfers represents LIV Golf’s continued commitment to growing the game on a global scale.

“LIV Golf is providing new opportunities for the best players in the world to compete, and our field in Portland reflects that. We can’t wait to kick off our first U.S. event with these incredible golfers.”

The Portland line-up is significantly stronger than the field for the Centurion Club opener, with a total of nine of the last 21 major winners, four former World No.1s and almost half of the competitors currently ranked in the top 100.

The 12 captains have been decided, with the teams set to be finalised on Tuesday.

American Xander Schauffele has won the Travelers Championship by two shots in Connecticut.

Schauffele, who led going into the final round, birdied the 18th for a two-under-par 68 to finish on 19 under.

Sahith Theegala had taken the lead on the 17th but saw his challenge falter on the final hole as he finished with a double bogey to sit tied for second.

US amateur Michael Thorbjornsen fired a second consecutive 66 to finish in fourth place on 15 under.

“It’s incredible,” world number 15 Schauffele, 28, said. “I was looking at birdie just getting into a playoff. I saw a little hiccup for Sahith and I knew I had to get it into the cup.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler finished on 10 under alongside Scotland’s Martin Laird, while world number two Rory McIlroy, who was joint-leader after the first round, shot a 67 to finish on nine under

The DP World Tour has taken action against those who played in the break-away event.

The Saudi-backed tour held its first event in London earlier this month, with some top players taking part despite objections from traditional tour organisers.

The PGA Tour acted swiftly to ban anyone who participated in the break-away event, but the US Open allowed them to enter and the 150th Open at St Andrews will also permit everyone who has qualified to compete for the Claret Jug.

The DP World Tour has now made its stance official, fining all of its members who played in the LIV, and banning them from the Scottish Open at Renaissance Club and the Barracuda Championship, as well as fining each individual £100,000.

Keith Pelley, chief executive of the DP World Tour, said: “Every action anyone takes in life comes with a consequence and it is no different in professional sport, especially if a person chooses to break the rules. That is what has occurred here with several of our members.

“Many members I have spoken to in recent weeks expressed the viewpoint that those who have chosen this route have not only disrespected them and our Tour, but also the meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century and which will also be the foundation upon which we build the next 50 years.

“Their actions are not fair to the majority of our membership and undermine the Tour, which is why we are taking the action we have announced today.”

The Scottish Open takes place at Renaissance Club in North Berwick from July 7 to 10.

If there was any doubt about the venom brewing between the PGA Tour and the rival LIV Golf Invitational Series, the latest salvo was delivered by the breakaway circuit on Wednesday.

Just as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was unveiling increased purses, a revamped schedule and dramatic changes to the FedEx Cup Playoffs, LIV Golf sent a news release confirming that four-time major champion Brooks Koepka had defected to the new circuit being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“As I also said to the players [on Tuesday], let me be clear: I am not naive,” Monahan said during a news conference at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. “If this is an arms race and if the only weapons here are dollar bills, the PGA Tour can’t compete. The PGA Tour, an American institution, can’t compete with a foreign monarchy that is spending billions of dollars in an attempt to buy the game of golf.

“We welcome good, healthy competition. The LIV Saudi Golf League is not that. It’s an irrational threat, one not concerned with the return on investment or true growth of the game.”

Koepka, an eight-time winner on tour who has earned nearly $38 million during his career, is the latest PGA Tour member to be lured away by a signing bonus of more than $100 million, sources told ESPN. He joins other major winners Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed among the defectors.

“Currently, no one organization owns or dominates the game of golf,” Monahan said. “Instead, the various entities, be it Augusta National or the USGA or the LPGA or the PGA Tour or the PGA of America, work together to meet our own respective priorities, but with the best interests of the game overall at heart.

“But when someone attempts to buy the sport, dismantle the institutions that are intrinsically invested in its growth, and focus only on a personal priority, that partnership evaporates, and instead we end up with one person, one entity, using endless amounts of money to direct employees, not members or partners, toward their personal goal, which may or may not change tomorrow or the next day. I doubt that’s the vision any of us have for the game.”

In a memo sent to players on Wednesday, the PGA Tour detailed about $54 million in purse increases for eight existing tournaments: Sentry Tournament of Champions (from $8.2 million to $15 million), The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and The Memorial Tournament ($12 million to $20 million), the Players ($20 million to $25 million), FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship ($15 million to $20 million).

“These increases will be funded by sponsor support and supplemented in the short term by the operating reserve,” Monahan said in the memo. “Please note these amendments to the Resource Allocation do not affect previously announced prize money increases at other events.”

The PGA Tour is reverting back to a calendar-year schedule, with the FedEx Cup season taking place between January and August.

The tour also plans to add three events in a global golf series that will feature purses worth as much as $25 million and fields consisting of the top 50 players from the previous season’s FedEx Cup points standings. Those events, which will rotate in cities in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, might be added to the schedule in 2024.

The tour is also adjusting the field sizes for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with the top 70 players qualifying for the first event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 50 at the BMW Championship and the top 30 at the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. Previously, the top 125 qualified for the first event, 70 in the second and 30 in the third.

Going forward, only the top 70 on the points list will be fully exempt the next season, including the invitationals with increased purses. Those who finish outside the top 50 in the future can play in fall events to earn a spot in the invitationals or remain in the top 125 to keep their tour cards and priority status.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler said he was impressed with the changes the PGA Tour has proposed.

“The money that we have on the PGA Tour, I never dreamt of playing for this much money as I do now,” Scheffler said. “I don’t know how much money I’ve made this year, but it’s definitely more than I deserve for whacking a little white golf ball around. For me, the memories that I have playing on this tour and the dreams I have of wanting to be on this tour, it can’t be replaced by anything financial.

“Money’s money, and it’s not something that I’m trying to let control how I live my life.”

American Brooks Koepka is set to quit the PGA Tour and join the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf series.

The four-time major champion, 32, is expected to play in the second 54-hole, 48-man tournament that runs from 30 June to 2 July in Portland, Oregon.

The Ryder Cup player will join compatriots Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in the new $250m (£200m) eight-event series.

The PGA Tour suspended 17 members who played in the inaugural LIV event.

On Tuesday it was announced that 31-year-old Mexican Abraham Ancer, the world number 20, has signed up to play on the LIV Golf series.

Koepka has withdrawn from Thursday’s PGA Tour event, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

Speaking at the US Open, where he finished 55th on 12 over, Koepka complained that questions over the LIV event were throwing a “black cloud” over the major.

The former world number one won the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and is also a two-time US PGA Championship champion, claiming the Wanamaker Trophy in 2018 and 2019.

Koepka rose to the summit of the game at that period, but he has been hampered by injuries in recent years and is ranked 19th in the world.

His brother Chase is already signed up to the LIV series and played in the opening tournament at Centurion Club on the outskirts of London, which had a £20m prize fund and was won by South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.

Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa took to social media to deny rumours he was also planning to join LIV Golf.

“To state for the record, once again, you are all absolutely wrong,” the American, 25, posted on Twitter.

“I’ve said it since February at Riviera that I’m here to stay on the PGA Tour and nothing has changed.”

Newly-crowned US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick said he too wanted to keep playing on the PGA Tour.

“I know that the PGA Tour is not going anywhere, the DP World Tour is not going anywhere and I feel like that’s the important thing for me, that I’ve got a place to play and that’s where I want to play,” added the Briton.

“I think whenever you’ve got Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy – I saw Collin Morikawa’s come out and made a statement today – Scottie Scheffler, I feel like you’ve got some great players there.

“For me, they’re more than good enough to compete with any rival tour that might want to try to take hold of golf. I’m not really concerned about it.”

The PGA Tour refused to allow requests for waivers to play in the first LIV Golf event, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman believes the series, which does not currently carry any world ranking points, has a “compelling” case to be allowed to award world ranking points in the future.