Report: PGA Tour allows player releases for Saudi International

The PGA Tour has granted some players releases to play in the Saudi International, the flagship Asian Tour event sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

As reported by Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel, a "few" members of the PGA Tour have requested a release to play in the event held at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City.

This venue also hosted the Jeddah Invitational during LIV Golf's inaugural season, which was won by Brooks Koepka. The course also hosts the Aramco Saudi Ladies International.

There has been no exact number of players revealed, nor any names. The event is only in its fifth year of existence and has been won by Dustin Johnson, Harold Varner III and Graeme McDowell, who are coincidently all LIV Golf players now.

 

 

 

 

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Players such as Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele, Lucas Herbert, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton and Tom Kim all played in the event in 2022 which was won by Varner III.

The American dramatically rolled in an eagle putt from long range on the 72nd hole to snatch victory from his LIV Golf teammate Bubba Watson. Varner III joined the Saudi-backed series in August in an honest fashion, aiming to secure the future of his family with the riches on offer.

Last February, the event was seen as an opportunity for representatives of LIV Golf to speak to players and hold meetings in order to boost their roster for the season which eventually began in June.

DP World Tour sanctioned this event for the first three years. The Asian Tour took over in 2022, a circuit which has benefitted from $300 million of investment from LIV Golf.

The 2023 tournament is set to be held on February 2-5 when the golf world will find out which Tour players will continue to compete in Saudi Arabia. This is the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.