Saudi Super Golf League: The stars slam the door to the Golf Super League | sports

Little is known about the project, except that it calls itself the Saudi Super Golf League (SSGL), its visible face is Greg Norman, 67, a star golfer in the 1980s and 1990s, and intends to create with Saudi money a closed circuit with the best players in the world and thus keep the economic cake that the American golf circuit, the PGA Tour, now distributes.

The promoters of this Super League have not been presented publicly, they have not officially told about their project or given figures, but the siren songs have been sounding more and more strongly in recent weeks. No one talked about it (in public) but everyone commented on it (in private). Until Jon Rahm, World’s number one, has taken a step forward to cause a powerful domino effect: “This is the first and only time I will talk about this. I officially declare my allegiance to the PGA Tour. I’m a member of the Player Advisory Council and I’m a big believer in (commissioner) Jay Monahan and the product they’re going to give us in the future. There has been a lot of talk and speculation about the Saudi Super League. It’s just not something I think is best for me and my future in golf, and I think the best legacy I can achieve is going to be with the PGA Tour. I don’t play for the money, which is the only reason to go there. They throw numbers at you and think they impress you. I play for the love of golf and to become a champion. I grew up watching a lot of amazing players, there is a history, a legacy, and that appeals to me a lot. The other doesn’t seem smart to me”, Rahm, winner of some 30 million euros in prize money at the PGA, commented a few days ago.

The resounding message of the Basque has generated a cascade of reactions, the majority against of the Superliga. “The project is dead. Who’s left to go play there? No one. Who’s gonna fill the field, Greg Norman? I don’t think they’re going to get 48 players,” Rory McIlroy said. “It is time to put an end to speculation. I am fully committed to the PGA Tour,” added Dustin Johnson. “As long as the best are on the American circuit, I will be too,” added Bryson DeChambeau. “Super League? I stay in the PGA”, settled Brooks Koepka. And Tiger Woods commented: “Come to an agreement and we will all win.”

The controversy has risen in temperature after coming to light some statements by Phil Mickelson, winner of six majors, collected in the writing of a biography: “They are sons of bitches (the Saudis) with whom it is scary to get involved. We know that they killed (journalist Jamal) Khashoggi and that they have a horrible human rights record. There they execute people for being gay. Knowing all this, why would he consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the way the PGA Tour works, which is a dictatorship that uses divide and rule because they know that the interests of the top players are not the same as the rest.” Mickelson, at the center of the hurricane, has fueled the conflict. The Super League has lost the first battle, but it is not known if the defeat will be final.

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