the times | Saturday June 11 2022 2GS 15
Golf Sport
on the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV
Invitational Series in golf.
Hearn, who took Joshua to Riyadh,
the capital, in 2019 for his rematch with
Andy Ruiz Jr, said the 32-year-old will
not be worried about criticism over the
decision to return to the kingdom,
where Amnesty International, the
human rights group, reported in March
that 81 people were executed in one day.
“I am very comfortable with
decisions like that,” Hearn said. “Firstly,
we’ve done it before and it was a huge
success. We have to go to the venue that
ultimately creates the most amount of
revenue. It is not like there is a little bit
of difference [financially with] London.
It is a whole stratosphere.”differently,” he said of his latest signing.
“The power and energy that he brings
to the course will deliver added electri-
city to our competition in Portland and
beyond.”
In February DeChambeau had said:
“I want to make it very clear that as long
as the best players in the world are play-
ing the PGA Tour, so will I.” It is prob-
ably best, considering this week’s feet in
mouths, if golfers refrain from saying
anything definitive for a while.
Take Graeme McDowell. When he
said he was staking a claim on the “mor-
al high ground” he was entering largely
unchartered territory. In golf the moral
topography is often more a lowland
thing. The moral of the story, then, is
don’t go there.
This week players have been grilled
on human rights and, by and large, have
made an almighty mess of it. Whether
you agree with the questioning or not, it
should not be beyond the wit of a man
such as Lee Westwood to realise saying
that he would not have played in apart-
heid South Africa would do no harm.
Yet sources say players have looked
on and liked what they have seen. The
LIV Golf team appear delighted. When
the top brass have left today and the
brass necks harp on about growing the
game, there will be another event back
at Centurion Club next week. This is
also backed by Saudi money and sanc-
tioned by the Ladies European Tour.
The Aramco Team Series, named in
honour of Saudi Arabia’s oil company,
has what it calls a unique draft system
and teams. Sound familiar?
What we know for sure is that some
players will get very rich today. And
with every player named by LIV Golf,
the sound of silence from the DP World
Tour becomes more of a problem.Tiger Woods has joined the
basketball icons Michael Jordan
and LeBron James in the elite club
of sportsmen with a net worth of
more than $1 billion.
The 15-times major champion
has made about $1.7 billion (about
£1.4 billion) in prize money,
endorsements and business deals
over his 27-year career, according
to Forbes magazine — with less
than 10 per cent of that having
come from golf winnings.
He ended a 14-month injury layoff
in April at the Masters but still made
$68 million in off-course income
over the past year, Forbes reported.
Woods, 46, has said that he will skip
next week’s US Open, but plans to
play in the Open Championship at
St Andrews next month.
Greg Norman, commissioner of
the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf
Invitational Series, which started in
St Albans this week, said Woods had
been offered a sum in the “high nine
digits” to join but had rejected it.Woods joins $1bn club
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLANDSergio García’s
2023 Ryder Cup
participation in
Rome remains
in doubtanother $4 million would be welcome
given he has not won anywhere for more
than six years. Meanwhile, Phil Mickel-
son is 13 off the lead, but there is no cut
and money is guaranteed.
The hardy local protesters were
quickly moved on yesterday and LIV
Golf will hope the greater noise around
this series fades quickly. Soon after,Greg Norman, the chief executive,
walked into the press conference but
said he was not speaking to the media.
Who knows where this is heading, or
where Norman thought he was going?
Still, he did sign off a few quotes about
DeChambeau for a press release. “He’s
not afraid to think outside the box and
supports our mission of doing thingsJoshua set for Saudi rematch
BoxingEddie Hearn says he is ready for a
backlash after deciding that Anthony
Joshua’s world heavyweight title bout
with Oleksandr Usyk will take place in
Saudi Arabia.
An official announcement about the
rematch is expected next week, with
August 20 the most likely date. Joshua
lost on points to Usyk in September at
the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and
will be bidding to win back the WBA,
IBF and WBO titles. Hearn said he was
comfortable that the fight would be
held in Saudi Arabia, a controversial
choice after the recent scrutiny placedToday
Football
Kick-off 7.45 unless stated
Uefa Nations League A: Group three
England v Italy (at Molineux Stadium);
Hungary v Germany. Group four
Holland v Poland; Wales v Belgium.
League B: Group one Ireland v Scotland
(5.0); Ukraine v Armenia (2.0). Group
three Montenegro v Bosnia-
Herzegovina; Romania v Finland.
League C: Group one Faroe Islands v
Lithuania (5.0); Luxembourg v Turkey.
European Under-21 Championship
qualifying: Group five Wales v Holland
(5.0).
Cricket
Second LV= Insurance Test match:
Trent Bridge: Second day of five (90
overs minimum): England v New
Zealand.
Rugby league
Betfred Super League Catalans
Dragons v Hull (5.0).
Betfred League One West Wales
Raiders v London Skolars (3.0).
Rugby union
Gallagher Premiership: Semi-finals
Leicester v Northampton (4.30);
Saracens v Harlequins (1.30).
United Rugby Championship: Semi-
final Stormers v Ulster (2.0).
Other sport
Cycling: Women’s Tour of Britain: Sixth
stage (Chipping Norton to Oxford).
Golf: Centurion Club, Hemel
Hempstead
LIV International Series.
Tennis: Nottingham Tennis Centre
WTA Rothesay Open.
TomorrowFootball
Kick-off 7.45 unless stated
Uefa Nations League A: Group two
Spain v Czech Republic; Switzerland v
Portugal. League B: Group four Norwayv Sweden (5.0); Slovenia v Serbia.
League C: Group two Greece v Kosovo;
Northern Ireland v Cyprus (2.0). Group
four (5.0): Georgia v Bulgaria ; North
Macedonia v Gibraltar. League D:
Group two Malta v San Marino.
Cricket
Second LV= Insurance Test match:
Trent Bridge: Third day of five (90
overs minimum): England v New
Zealand.
LV= Insurance County Championship:
First day of four (11.0; 96 overs
minimum): Division One: Ageas Bowl
Hampshire v Yorkshire. Canterbury
Kent v Gloucestershire. Taunton
Somerset v Surrey. Edgbaston
Warwickshire v Lancashire. Division
Two: Chesterfield Derbyshire v
Middlesex. Emirates Riverside Durham
v Worcestershire. Sophia Gardens
Glamorgan v Sussex. Leicester
Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire.
Rugby league
Kick-off 3.0 unless stated
Betfred Super League St Helens v HullFIXTURES
Kingston Rovers; Toulouse v Castleford
Tigers (2.30); Wakefield Trinity v
Warrington Wolves.
Betfred Championship Batley Bulldogs
v Newcastle Thunder; Dewsbury Rams v
London Broncos; Sheffield Eagles v
Bradford Bulls; Whitehaven v Halifax;
Widnes Vikings v York City Knights;
Workington Town v Barrow Raiders
(2.0). League One Cornwall v Keighley
Cougars (1.0); Hunslet v North Wales
Crusaders; Oldham v Midlands
Hurricanes; Swinton Lions v Rochdale
Hornets (4.30).
Women’s international Wales v
England (1.0, at Cross Keys).
Women’s Super League: Group two
(2.0): Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers
Featherstone Rovers v Wakefield
Trinity; Leigh Miners Rangers v Barrow
Raiders.
Other sport
Golf: Centurion Club, Hemel
Hempstead
LIV International Series.
Tennis: Nottingham Tennis Centre
WTA Rothesay Open.The silence
from Europe
is a growing
issue for golf
Rick
Broadbent
There was a time when Bryson
DeChambeau was going to change golf
all by himself. He won the US Open and
hit the ball over canyons. He said he
planned to live until he was 130 and play
until rendered obsolete by seven-foot
giants, but as three lonely Extinction
Rebellion protesters held “blood golf”
placards on Hemel Hempstead Road,
the end of the American’s PGA Tour
career provided a sign of shifting times.
The world No 28 may have had blood
on his hands in recent years from a flag-
ellating training regime but he has fall-
en from his 2020 zenith. Nevertheless,
confirmation of his defection from the
PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed LIV
Golf Invitational Series was another
noteworthy development on day
two of the inaugural $25 million
(about £20 million) event at
Centurion Club. Not quite a
torrent yet, but certainly
another big drip.
DeChambeau lost Rocket
Mortgage as a sponsor as a result.
The DP World Tour, formerly the
European Tour, is still to say how it
will punish its members who have
joined the Saudi-backed breakaway
but the PGA Tour has gone all in
and banned its 17 players at Centu-
rion. The reason they are banned,
at least publicly, is because they
were not granted the releases to
play in an event clashing with the
RBC Canadian Open. Of course,
the wider reason is that the
PGA Tour does not want a
rival tour with $2 billion
in backing.
The DP World Tour faces more prob-
lems in acting tough. The clue is in the
title — DP stands for Dubai Port. Com-
ing down hard on the Middle East when
your owners are from the UAE is a
dilemma. The tour stages five events in
the region and a punishment could
have an impact on sponsors. One op-
tion being considered is to use the
Ryder Cup as their stick and ban players
from playing and captaining in that if
they take part in the breakaway series.
One unresolved issue is next month’s
Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned
by both main tours as part of their
strategic alliance. A DP World spokes-
person admitted that they were still
considering whether the PGA Tour ban
would affect players who hold cards on
both tours and plan to play at The
Renaissance Club.
Meanwhile, DeChambeau’s arrival
was warmly welcomed by players at
Centurion. “The more the merrier,”
Martin Kaymer, a former world No 1
and a two-times major winner, said. “It’s
proof that this tournament and this
tour is going in the right direction. It
does not matter where you play. We
should focus on the big picture.”
Branden Grace said he thought
the arrival of players like De-
Chambeau would soon force
the PGA Tour into a climb-
down. “You would think so,”
he said. “But I don’t really
care what they do.” The
importance of DeCham-
beau? “It’s huge. He is one
of the top ten guys for
bringing crowds.”
Meanwhile, the South
African Charl Schwartzel
leads the tournament by
three strokes from his
compatriot Hennie du
Plessis, with Peter Uih-
lein and Oliver Bekker
also in with a chance to-
day. Schwartzel is a Mas-
ters winner and has career
earnings of $21 million
from the PGA Tour alone buttfDeChambeau
yesterday defected
from the PGA Tour