Famous golfer Dustin Johnson will be the most popular player to attend the event related to Saudi Arabia by participating in the first series of LIV Golf Invitational this month.
“Apart from the Masters and US Open champion Johnson, 48 players are not considered surprises,” the press office said. New York Post. “They include Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Kevin Na, Lee Westwood, Louis Osthuizen, Martin Kaimer, Charl Schwarzel, Graham McDowell and Talor Gooch.”
The addition of Dustin Johnson comes after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan threatened players with penalties and disqualification if they compete in the LIV series. The 54 hole event will take place at Centurion Golf Club outside London and will host 16 of the world’s top 100 golfers. Although 51-year-old Phil Mickelson is expected to participate, he is not on the announced list.
Mickelson, 51, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, shocked the golf world with his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi regime’s support of the new course. Mail. “The results were so severe that Mickelson withdrew from the competition.”
Phil Mickelson at the Tournament of Champions on Duty (Gregory Schamus/Getty Images)
Although Dustin Johnson initially said he would not attend the event, his manager eventually said he thought it was “in his and his family’s best interests”.
Dustin has thought about this possibility from time to time over the past few years. “In the end, Johnson’s manager decided it was in his and his family’s best interests. Dustin has never had a problem on the PGA Tour and was grateful for all he’s given him, but in the end he felt it was too compelling to deny it.”
When asked about the event during the PGA Championship, Johnson said, “I think golf is in good shape and I think what they’re doing is… it has the potential to be great for the game of golf. I can’t wait to see what happens here in a few weeks.”
LIV founder Greg Norman sparked controversy earlier this month when he revealed his ties to Saudi Arabia, saying the government-sanctioned assassination of Jamal Khashoggi was a simple mistake.
Greg Norman (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist and politician at the time, a former member and staunch advocate of the international Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood, and an ardent critic of the Saudi monarchy. He was assassinated by a group of Saudi agents in October 2018 at Turkey’s Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi government describes the murder as a fraudulent operation.
In December 2019, a Saudi court sentenced five defendants to death. But critics say the case is a whitewash that has allowed key players to escape, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who accused Khashoggi of ordering him. murder. In April, a Turkish court suspended the trial of 26 Saudi suspects in the murder. Instead, he shifted the case to Saudi Arabia, which Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancé, Hatice Cengiz, denounced as an attempt to bury the investigation.
Photographs of Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul (Getty Images)
Norman, owner of his new company, LIV Golf, backed by the Saudi government, told TMZ that “everyone accepts” the murder.
“We’ve all made mistakes. Everyone admits it, right? That’s been discussed in what I’ve read, continuing what you said,” Norman said. “Take responsibility no matter what. You see, we all make mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and learn how to fix them in the future.”
By New York PostNorman’s LIV Golf aims to “compete on the PGA Tour by promising golfers more money and guaranteed entry fees for less performance.” The PGA Tour recently pulled golfers from the inaugural LIV Invitational Golf Series.
“This whole story is about Saudi Arabia, about Khashoggi and human rights, talking about it, and also talking about the good things the country has done to change its culture,” Norman said.
“Very few countries can stand up and be proud of it. They cannot be proud of their past – there are many nations in this world who have to bear the cross – but they care about the younger generation,” he added.
Norman told the Financial Times last year that he believes Saudi Arabia is improving itself, in response to allegations of “sports laundering” in which powerful people allow despots to boost their reputations through sport.
“No, I wasn’t used to sports washing since I’m in Saudi Arabia and I’ve seen changes happen,” Norman said. “Every country has done terrible things in the past… Look at America with racism, for example, it’s so ingrained it’s just plain ugly.”
Source: Breitbart
