If the Saudi Arabian organizers had their way, Jack Nicklaus would have been the face of the new circuit.
In a story published on the Fire Pit Collective website on Monday, Jack Nicklaus said he twice turned down offers to lead the Saudi Arabians efforts to start a new golf league that hopes to challenge the PGA Tour.
The Saudis offered me something in excess of $100 million to do the job, but I turned it down. Once in writing. I have to stay with the tour. I helped start the tour.
The first commissioner of the tour was Joe Dey, who was hired by the players who split from the PGA of America. He won a record 18 major championships.
The first event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series is scheduled to take place at the Centurion Club outside London in June. Five tournaments will be played in the United States. There will be seven regular-season events and a team championship match-play finale at Trump Doral in Miami.
The PGA Tour denied conflicting event releases for players who wanted to play in London.
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon is where the second Saudi event will be held. The deadline is Tuesday for requesting a release from the tour. The players who requested a release to play in the first LIV Golf event include the defending PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson. He is not in the field for this week's PGA Championship at Southern Hills and hasn't played since late January after his controversial comments about the tour and the Saudi Arabian monarchy.
My advice to Phil? Phil should be patient, according to the Fire Pit Collective. He has to decide where he wants to play and what he wants to do.
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