The golf schism is palpable at The Country Club. The field that hosts the 122nd edition of the US Open saw 156 players go out in the opening round on Thursday and for the final two rounds there are only 64 left. 92 golfers have not passed the cut and the comparison between the participants in the The premiere of LIV Golf, the alternative circuit to the PGA Tour financed with Saudi Arabian petrodollars, has not left the ‘deserters’ who played at London’s Centurion Golf Club in a very good place.
Thirteen were registered, despite being expelled from the American organization, and only two (15.3%) have been able to continue playing at Brookline this weekend: Dustin Johnson and Richard Bland. The American, former number one in the world and winner of the 2016 US Open and the 2020 Augusta Masters, is 31st with +1, six strokes behind the leaders; and the Englishman, who has a victory in the European Tour, is 40th with +2. Along the way have been Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio García, Talor Gooch, Branden Grace, Sam Horsfield, Jinichiro Kozuma, Jed Morgan, Shaun Norris and James Piot.
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“I wish I had played better,” said Mickelson, one of the big names to have chosen the Saudi series despite having the glory of six majors under his belt. Two other very impressive players, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, who have also decided to go to LIV Golf but who were not in the initial tournament, did make the cut. Both will start their Saudi career at the New Jersey event from July 29-31.
