The PGA Tour grants release of players for the Saudi International

World No 3 Johnson won the Saudi International in 2019 and 2021. (Image Credit: Saudi International)

The PGA Tour announced over the Christmas period that it has granted conditional release to players to compete at the Saudi International.

The defending champion Dustin Johnson, USPGA champion Phil Mickelson and the innovative Bryson DeChambeau are on the 25 man list of players who have already been announced for the Asian Tour event that is scheduled from February 3rd-6th in 2022.

The tournament, previously held on the European Tour until this year, is being held at the same time and in the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California. The PGA Tour had previously said it would deny players waivers, forcing strict compliance to Tour rules.

However, players who have competed in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at least once in the past five years have been granted a release on the condition that they commit to play it at least once in the next two years. Finally, if a player has never competed at the event, he would be required to play it twice over the next three years.

The Saudi international, which pays appearance money, is now the flagship event on the Asian Tour, which has added 10 new events as part of a 10-year investment by LIV Golf Investments, the largely Saudi-backed group being led by Greg Norman. The PGA Tour added in their statement that the releases of the Tour players was not "precedent setting".

Is this situation another sign of golf’s global professional framework coming under increasing scrutiny?

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