Who are the latest PGA golfers to defect to LIV Golf?
Little by little the Saudi backed Tour continues to syphon off players from the PGA Tour, but who are the most recent to join up? Let’s take a look.
As the list of defectors grows, one has to wonder where will this all end and what if anything can the PGA do about an increasing number of golfers who are jumping ship.
Cameron Smith joins LIV Golf but who else is coming with him?
Possibly one of the worst kept secrets in recent memory, was finally ‘disclosed’ earlier this week when British Open champion Cameron Smith finally joined LIV Golf. Yet, it didn’t stop there as Smith was soon joined by Marc Leishman, Harold Varner III, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Tringale and Anirban Lahiri according to reports. Interestingly, a Golf Channel report confirmed the first four of those names and later added Mito Pereira to the list of defectors.
Major changes to the PGA Tour structure in response to LIV. Basically everything the defectors wanted, other than the massive signing bonuses they got from the Saudis to leave. https://t.co/eiNY3cr3gj
— Steven Shepard (@POLITICO_Steve) August 24, 2022
As we now know, all of the above-mentioned players are set to compete in LIV Golf’s fourth tournament which will get underway this coming weekend at the Oaks Course which is located at the International in Boston, Massachusetts. This is not to say that the PGA Tour has taken this lying down. Indeed, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at the forefront of the Tour’s defense, the PGA recently announced a number of changes to its format and above all its purses. With that said, the number of stars around the iconic duo has continued to decrease.
A look at the PGA defectors
Where Smith is concerned, the six-time PGA Tour winner most recently claimed victory at The Open completing a sensational year, but it was perhaps his win in The Players back in March which will be remembered as it earned him $3.6 million, the biggest purse in professional golf history.
👋 Farewell, PGA Tour
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 30, 2022
🤝 Hello, LIV Golf
Cameron Smith becomes the highest-ranked player to join the Saudi Arabian-funded series.
Read 👇 #BBCGolf
Where the rest are concerned, Niemann is currently the 18th-ranked player in the world and saw his last victory back in February in the Genesis at Riviera. It was his second title on the PGA Tour. This brings us to Varner who is currently ranked 44th and has never won on the PGA Tour, but he did manage a win in the PIF Saudi International in February. Then we have Tringale and Lahiri, both of whom have never won on the PGA Tour, however, Lahiri has claimed seven victories on the Asian Tour and twice on the DP World Tour.