Another big name in golf has reportedly left the PGA ship for the new LIV Golf league.
Bubba Watson, a two-time Masters winner, will become the sixth Masters champion to leave the PGA Tour and join Saudi-backed LIV Golf. And he will reportedly earn more than $40 million in guaranteed money. reported.
The newspaper added that Watson, 43, will join Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who has won three green jackets, as well as Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwarzel and Dustin Johnson, each with one-time Masters winners.
Phil Mickelson from the USA, Old St. Andrews Course on July 15, 2022 in St. Andrews, Scotland. (Stuart Franklin/R&A via Getty Images)
No official announcement has been made yet, but insiders say Watson is signing up for the next LIV in September and will even captain one of the new league’s 12 teams next year.
Watson, who is 86th on the PGA rankings, has played very little this year with a torn meniscus and missed two major titles in 2022.
Bubba Watson and son Caleb Watson get into a golf cart during the PGA TOUR Champions Thursday Pro-am at the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, December 16, 2021. (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Watson may have signaled his interest in LIV when he said in February that Saudi Arabia was slowly taking steps to improve human rights in the Kingdom.
“They started with women’s golf, they started to support women’s golf. [through a series of events on the Ladies European Tour] And then they started supporting men’s golf,” Watson said. “They have women’s tournaments that they sponsor. [They’re] I’m trying to develop a game. They are trying to change the industry there, to bring golf, to bring tourism to Saudi Arabia with the beautiful beaches they already have.”
“It will be interesting to go out there and play and also see the beauty of the rest of the world God has created,” Watson added. “I can’t wait to get there.”
The third LIV Golf tournament starts tomorrow at Trump Course in Bedminster.
Source: Breitbart
