Dustin Johnson to compete at LIV Invitational Series

American golfer Dustin Johnson ranked No. 1 in the world will compete at the LIV Golf Invitational Series backed by Saudi Arabia.

The host of the event announced on Wednesday a list of 42 players out of 48 who will compete at the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event to be held at the Centurion Club in Wentworth near London on June 9. The list included Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Korean-American golfer Kevin Na, Talor Gooch of the U.S., and Sergio Garcia who won the Masters.

As Johnson said he would focus on the U.S. PGA Tour when there was a rumor in February about him joining the Saudi Super Golf League, the news will have a big impact. Even though the PGA Tour said players who compete at the LIV Golf Invitational Series would face a fine, be banned from playing, and be disqualified, many top-level players decided to join the new series.

“Dustin has been contemplating the opportunity off-and-on for the past couple of years,” Johnson’s manager said. “Ultimately, he decided it was in his and his family’s best interest to pursue it.” Unfortunately, the series schedule overlaps with the RBC Canadian Open of the PGA Tour, for which Johnson is an ambassador. The Canadian Open is taking place for the first time in three years due to COVID-19.

The LIV Golf Invitational Series offers 20 million dollars for the individual portion of the event and five million dollars in bonus, which is about three times of a general tournament of the PGA Tour. Forty-eight golfers will compete for three rounds with no cut.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com