In its third year of existence, the Saudi International Championship is emerging as one of the strongest on the European Tour. The tournament, which will be played from February 4 to 7 in Saudi Arabia during the same week as the Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, will have a luxury poster, as the organizers announced the participation of seven of the members of the last European team in the Ryder Cup more americans Dustin Johnson, winner of the last Augusta Masters, and Bryson de Chambeau, winner of the US Open.
Johnson won the inaugural edition of Saudi International in 2019 and was runner-up last year behind Graeme McDowell, while DeChambeau he also played the first year. Along with them, his compatriot Phil Mickelson, which was third last year, is also entered for the 2021 edition.
Saudi International will feature three of the last four Masters champions, as in addition to Johnson the American is also registered Patrick Reed, winner in 2018 and current leader of the Race to Dubai, a tournament that will bring together the 60 best players on the European Circuit in two weeks, and the Spanish Sergio garcia, winner in 2017.
The surprise will be the presence of English Paul Casey, who in 2019 assured that he would never play this tournament pointing out his sponsorship of UNICEF, which is in his golf bag. “It has been a really strange year for Covid, so we are all looking forward to a new start in 2021,” he said Casey.
American players who participated in that inaugural edition were criticized for going because the tournament took place about three months after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote critically about the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman en The Washington Post. Dustin Johnson He then defended himself by assuring that he was going to play golf, not to support the government. “I am not a politician. I’m a golfer, ”he said.
For the Europeans, the tournament could be of great help in their attempt to make the team of the Ryder Cup earn points for the world ranking. The qualification process for the Europe team was frozen when tournaments were postponed until September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed in January. “With the Ryder Cup qualification at stake, I’m obviously looking to start my campaign fast and to achieve a decent finish or win the International Saudi on such a stellar field would be huge,” said the Englishman. Ian Poulter.
Casey, Poulter Y Garcia they won the last Ryder Cup with Europe in 2018 and with them will also be in Saudi Arabia four of the teammates who were part of that team: Justin rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton Y Henrik Stenson.
