The PGA Tour tees off against its new Saudi-funded rival by suspending top golfers, and throwing the game into chaos

Golfers, scratched… A huge controversy just teed off in pro golf. Yesterday the PGA Tour suspended 17 golfers, including major champs Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, for competing in rival LIV Golf’s first tournament (now underway in London). The PGA also told remaining members they’d get booted if they left, driving a sand wedge between the sport’s most bankable stars:

• Out of the club: LIV paid Mickelson and Johnson (the second- and third-highest earning PGA golfers ever) $200M and $125M, respectively, to join. That’s more than top-earning Tiger Woods has made playing golf in his career.
• Loyalists: Tiger reportedly declined a nearly $1B offer to join LIV, while top pros Rory McIlroy and reigning PGA champ Justin Thomas have committed to stay with the PGA.

Money talks… Saudi Arabia’s government funded the LIV with $400M, which led to accusations that the country is “sportswashing,” or using golf to boost its global image, despite a dismal human-rights record. With that kind of cash in play, the nonprofit PGA Tour could have trouble competing:

• Bigger prizes: LIV’s offering more prize money than the PGA Championship (which happens once a year) for each of its 10 scheduled tourneys this year.
• Guaranteed payouts: Unlike PGA tournaments, where dozens of golfers return home empty-handed, every LIV golfer gets prize $$.