LIV Golf

Former president Donald Trump took part in the pro-am to kick off LIV Golf's third tournament, which is being staged at one of his golf courses in New ...

“I’m going to find a more comfortable tee,” he said, settling back into his cart, which featured a presidential seal and a red, white and blue golf bag on the back. They are misguided thinking that they can just now say what they want to say about the kingdom.” Trump has aligned himself with the Saudi regime, which is bankrolling the LIV series, and his remarks in the days leading up to Friday’s opening round revealed no reservations about the partnership. Thursday’s round was not a competitive affair, and there was no reported score. Later, when DeChambeau scraped out a meaty divot, Trump remarked: “That’s not a divot. On the course, Trump kept his focus on golf. He was ostensibly promoting a rogue tour that his private golf club will host this weekend but also sending a pointed message to the sport’s power brokers who have rebuked him in recent years — and making sure to dash his outing with some Trumpian controversy. The Bedminster tournament begins in earnest Friday and will feature 48 professional players from across the world. But Thursday morning’s pro-am, which included an assortment of celebrities, social media influencers and conservative voices, unofficially opened the event. The banter in Trump’s foursome remained light. An adviser said Trump remains upset the PGA Championship was relocated from Bedminster following the Jan. 6 insurrection. While Trump’s presence surely invited attention to the event, it also underscored that the chatter surrounding the breakaway league has rarely focused on the actual competition.

Trump spoke about the LIV Golf Series at the tour's pro-am event, which is taking place at his Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey.

“Money is going to charity—a lot of money’s going to charity—and you have really the best players in the world, many of the best players in the world. And soon, you’ll probably have all of them. What they’re doing for the players is so great, the salaries are gonna go way up.”

Just miles west of New York City, former President Trump hosts LIV Golf event as his club in New Jersey. Family members of 9/11 victims are upset.

“Keeps it a little exclusive,” Trump said. “This course blows every other course away,” he said. “Nobody has COVID, right?” he asked. “You’re doing a great job,” Trump said to him. “You’re going to be so happy,” Trump said. “We’ve all made mistakes,” he said. “Nice shot, Mr. President,” they said, a lot. The Who song “I Can’t Explain” blared over the loudspeakers at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on Thursday morning. Trump mentioned how the tournament was raising money for charity, and how LIV Golf would soon attract all the world’s top players. LIV Golf, the operation backed by Saudi Arabia, will hold the third event of its inaugural season starting tomorrow at Trump National in Bedminster a facility which, during Trump’s years as President, earned the “Summer White House” designation because of how much time Trump spent there. And we’re going to celebrate.” Not all that long ago, it would have been almost unimaginable to find ourselves where we are today, in the world of golf (and the world at large, really). Who would have bet, say, a decade ago, that come 2022, a breakaway golf tour financed by the Saudi Arabian government would be hosted in the shadows of New York City by former President Donald Trump. Who would be the subject of widely-watched prime-time House Committee hearings examining his role in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump is benefitting from his professional relationship with LIV Golf, especially after officials at PGA of America pulled the 2022 PGA Championship from ...

During his presidency, he frequently criticized the National Football League for allowing players to protest during the national anthem. Trump himself seems to be relishing the damage to the PGA Tour, with which he's had a rocky relationship. the ire of some survivors and families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "Frankly, what they're doing for golf is so great. "So nobody's really been there. During his presidency, however, Trump publicly downplayed allegations that bin Salman was involved as his administration strengthened US ties with the Saudis.

The former president's barge-ahead style and whim for scooping up shots too hard to make wouldn't fly on the LIV Golf series or the PGA Tour.

He had also not finished a hole after his blast from a bunker had failed to reach the green and was nestled in some nasty rough. Instead, he had his caddie pick up the ball and march to the next tee. It often made it impossible to assign exact scores for any player, but on the par-4 first hole, Trump needed five strokes to get his ball in the hole for a bogey. After hitting his second shot to the green, Trump ignored other players in his group who had yet to hit and jumped into his cart and roared ahead. On another hole, when a birdie putt rolled nearly six feet past the hole, he casually scooped the ball up to end the hole, apparently conceding himself a par. Often, Trump had putted out on a hole while his playing companions were still 125 yards away in the fairway. The format for the pro-am was that each group would select the best tee shot and then play their second shots from that spot. While Trump played a plethora of golf rounds as president, other than his guests, few were able to witness his golf game during his four years in the White House. The news media was kept at a removed distance. Finally, it was time to start the round, and Trump’s opening drive bounded into the left rough. To be fair, at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, which has little shade, no one walking the grounds on a humid day with temperatures in the mid-90s was comfortable. Stepping onto the tee, Trump quickly became the focal point of more than a handful of photos. About 15 minutes late for his 10 a.m. tee time, Trump stepped onto the first tee dressed in a white shirt and black pants and sweating profusely under his signature MAGA hat.

Former President Donald Trump praised the controversial, Saudi-backed LIV Golf ahead of tournament at his Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J..

“And you have really the best players in the world, many of the best players in the world, and soon you’ll probably have all of them because remember this, [when] there’s a merger, the people that didn’t come, they will never get anything except a thank you from people that took advantage.” “Frankly, what they’re doing for golf is so great, what they’re doing for the players is so great,” Trump told ESPN of the Saudi-backed LIV during Thursday’s event. One group of 9/11 victim family members launched an ad campaign criticizing Trump for hosting an LIV event so close to the former World Trade Center site where many of them lost loved ones. Trump and his son, Eric, were teamed with LIV golfers Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, who have played golf with the former president in the past. “So nobody’s really been there.” The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time.

Charles Barkley didn't receive an offer to join the LIV Golf broadcast and said TNT is his "number one priority."

I wish I could give somebody an answer, but I don’t know anything.” “I’m gonna support LIV, I’m gonna support the PGA Tour. But like I say, as of now, I don’t know anything. He will, however, continue to support LIV and its players, as well as the PGA Tour.

Despite the controversy trailing the Saudi-backed golf series, there is a growing expectation that LIV will eventually secure wider distribution in the ...

“We are excited to find a partner that sees the value from a rights fees standpoint, but also will engage with us to grow the property.” A Sinclair spokesman declined to comment on the company’s interest in LIV. “We believe the product will command a premium in the marketplace.” “It would seem to be counter to Fox’s strategy of going all-in on the biggest sports and not investing in streaming,” Crakes said. LIV has already hired White, who used to call the Premier League on NBC, and Feherty, also formerly of NBC; Barkley would be a novelty that would at the very least attract huge buzz. Spokesmen for both networks declined to comment on their interest in LIV; two people familiar with the matter said no substantive talks have occurred. The league is geared to be a better TV golf product, both Hill and Staeger said. And even with those tweaks, golf is not viewed necessarily as a ratings juggernaut. David Hill, a pioneering producer and executive who helped launch Fox Sports in the 1990s, is advising the league. LIV’s schedule has only recently been finalized, too, and finding hours of weekend time on TV is difficult to do at the last minute. (The YouTube broadcast averaged around 100,000 viewers for most of the first event, according to the Athletic.) Several leading sports networks have long-term partnerships with the PGA Tour, which is battling the new league and has banned defecting players from PGA events.

The former president, who is hosting two LIV Golf events, including one this week at his course in Bedminster, N.J., made the remarks before teeing off in ...

During a brief interview with a handful of reporters before he went to the practice putting green, Trump was asked about protests involving the families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world, so nobody’s really been there.” It is not known how much LIV Golf organizers paid Trump for the use of his club for the 54-hole tournament, the tour’s third event. “The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time,” Trump said. “Now they have an alternative and nobody ever would have known it was going to be a gold rush, like this. The salaries are going to go way up.”

Champions Dinner it sure as hell wasn't. On Wednesday, golf's glitziest, glammiest, and, depending on who you ask, greediest gathered at Trump Bedminster ...

Whether you love them or hate them or somewhere in between, it’s hard not to stop and stare. Mike Stobe/LIV Golf If you weren’t lucky enough to be on the gold-encrusted guestlist, here’s a sampling of what you missed.

Bryson DeChambeau played with President Donald Trump alongside Eric Trump and Dustin Johnson for the LIV Golf Bedminster pro-am.

Very lucky to have a relationship with him, and he’s always been generous to me.” I mean, anytime you get to play with a president, whether passed or sitting, it’s just an honor, no matter who it is. “He’s actually a really good golfer.

Fans of “Inside the NBA” on TNT can sleep easy tonight, because it appears Charles Barkley is staying put. The fan-favorite analyst who had a Hall of Fame ...

I wish I could give somebody an answer, but I don’t know anything.” “I’m gonna support LIV, I’m gonna support the PGA Tour. But like I say, as of now, I don’t know anything. He will, however, continue to support LIV and its players, as well as the PGA Tour.

Before teeing off on Thursday, former President Donald Trump defended hosting a controversial Saudi-backed golf tournament at his Bedminster club in New ...

"The 9/11 community has had to grow a really thick skin over the last 21 years," he said. "It's anger beyond comprehension," McGinley told CBS News. "This has been a David-versus-Goliath fight. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Trump's assertion is a contradiction of his prior comments implicating the Saudi government in the terrorist attacks.

Trump has a history of making outlandish statements about Sept. 11, baselessly claiming that he witnessed “thousands” of Muslims in Jersey City cheered on the attacks in 2001. Bedminster is roughly an hour drive from the World Trade Center. The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, finances LIV Golf, drawing stiff controversy from both Sept. 11 victims’ families and press groups concerned about the 2018 murder of journalist and Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has publicly backed LIV Golf for several months, urging golfers last week to “take the money” and defect from the PGA Tour. Trump’s endorsement of the new circuit comes after the PGA Tour publicly shunned him, moving the 2022 PGA Championship away from his Bedminster course in January 2021 following the Capitol riot. Some 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, were Saudi nationals, and, though the U.S. has previously found the Saudi government played no direct role in the attack, documents declassified by the FBI last year offered new details about two of the hijackers’ encounters with a Saudi government employee.

Love it or hate it, one thing that has become glaringly clear about the controversial LIV Golf series, which tees off with its third event beginning Friday.

His Bedminster course was to host the PGA Championship earlier this year. That week, Donald Trump, then president of the United States, spent much of his time lording over the proceedings from a large, glass-enclosed balcony. This is clearly competitive to the other tours out there.” “I think we’re all extremely excited about the team format of it, so I think you’ve got a very structured product going forward,” added Charles Howell III, who is making his LIV debut this week. The PGA Tour has banned players who have participated in the rival circuit, yet more players continue to join. The format is the same as the others, too — 54 holes, no cut, a shotgun start and hefty guaranteed paydays for individual and team performances.

The controversy that has come to define the Saudi-financed breakaway tour at the heart of professional golf's civil war has redoubled this week as the LIV ...

And the cost of a $75 grounds pass for Friday, Saturday or Sunday was down to a scant $3 on the secondary market as of Wednesday afternoon, denoting a paltry demand even among the Maga faithful itching for a glimpse of the former president in the flesh. And there he was on Wednesday night at the LIV Golf welcome gala at Manhattan’s Gotham Hall, taking in a performance by Nelly and kibitzing with Caitlyn Jenner and a cadre of the PGA Tour defectors whose adulation he craves. As the walls closed in during the final days of his presidency, his Twitter account neutered and reputation stained for his role in inciting the US Capitol attack in 2021, Trump’s critics saw a certain poetic justice in the rejection he experienced from his favourite sport. It remains unclear how much the former president’s company will earn for hosting this week’s event and LIV Golf’s October season finale at Doral, another Trump club outside Miami, but the move has attracted plenty of criticism. There was a time this marriage of convenience would have been considered improbable. The former US president has always placed a premium on sport as an inextricable stripe of American life and bought in accordingly.

LIV Golf's third event begins Friday in New Jersey at Donald Trump's golf course.

Here is the breakdown of each captain and team for LIV Golf Bedminster. David Feherty, who has been in broadcasting since 1997, will make his LIV Golf debut this weekend. They will all begin play on different holes and complete the 18-hole course in order from there. LIV Golf doesn't have a full-fledged TV deal at this time and is instead hoping to build its popularity through accessibility. Player 2 Here is the complete broadcast guide by country.

How much money is at stake this weekend at LIV Golf Bedminster? And how much does the winner stand to gain? Sporting News has you covered.

Every participant at LIV Golf Bedminster will earn at least $120,000. All eight LIV Golf events feature a $25 million purse. The Saudi-backed tournament offers far bigger rewards than even the highest-profile golf majors.

Donald Trump was spotted using the presidential seal on multiple items during the third event of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series on Thursday.

This is not the first time the display of the seal has been reported at Trump properties. “No, no regrets. This week marks the third event of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, which Trump has joined forces with in Bedminster in the face of criticism, and its second in the United States.

The outcomes of Justice Department investigations are often nearly impossible to predict, said Gabe Feldman, director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, who ...

Typically, he said, if the DOJ finds that an organization like the PGA Tour committed a violation, the two sides would consent to “a deferred prosecution or a non-prosecution agreement where the PGA would enter into some sort of compliance agreement, implement remedial measures and pay a fine. “As a PGA Tour participant, they also agreed to certain standards, not just standards of the organization but standards of personal conduct. “… They want to see all the best at the same time, and the only way they can accomplish that, [the PGA Tour] would argue, is by having these rules in place.” The Justice Department is probably exploring whether there’s enough evidence to determine “whether some of the actions that the PGA Tour is taking are designed to harm competition as opposed to designed to make their product more attractive,” Feldman said. “Proof of an objective and valid business justification should defeat any allegation of a violation of the antitrust laws. It regularly grants releases for players to enter tournaments outside of North America — particularly events held by the DP World Tour in Europe, with which the PGA Tour has an operating agreement — but has denied permission for LIV events.

TNT basketball analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley says he's sticking with the network and ending his flirtation with joining the LIV Golf broadcast ...

LIV Golf on Wednesday announced plans to expand in 2023 to 14 events, with 48 golfers competing for an unprecedented $405 million in purses. Any inclination he had to join LIV was complicated by the golf series' financial support from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. "I want to thank Greg Norman and LIV for their interest in me," Barkley told the New York Post. "I wish those guys great success and nothing but the best.

LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed league that has the blessing of former President Trump and Phil Mickelson, aims to build franchises.

Family members of those who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are protesting the league. LIV is spending top dollar to lure golf pros from the PGA Tour, offering equity in the league, generous prizes and guaranteed money. "We're building 12 teams with franchise values, just like any other sport that we fully expect down the road to have a valuation to be sold," he said. "The team concept is really resonating with our fans," he said. Khosla says the company came to the conclusion from their first two tournaments in London and Portland, Oregon, that fans love golf as a team sport. The organization is holding an event this weekend, starting Friday, at former President Donald Trump's namesake golf club here.

Former President Donald Trump has come under fire recently for his connection to the controversial Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour a departure from Trump's ...

Declassified U.S. intelligence has not implicated the Saudi government in providing direct backing to the attacks, a theory backed by several 9/11 activist groups and previously backed by Trump, though documents released by the FBI last year provided details on two of the hijackers’ interactions with a Saudi government employee. Trump came under fire Thursday after he responded to the protests by explaining “nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” despite claiming himself in 2016 that there’s evidence of the Saudi government playing a role in the attacks. Former President Donald Trump has come under fire recently for his connection to the controversial Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour a departure from Trump's previous claims about the Saudi Arabian government's alleged role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, leaving him to give a back footed defense of his new partnership.

After much speculation, meetings with LIV officials and a pro-am round on Thursday, the Hall of Famer said he's staying with basketball broadcasting.

“I want to thank Greg Norman and LIV for their interest in me,” Barkley told the Post. “I wish those guys great success and nothing but the best. And my sponsors are stressed out. “And clearly the people I work for are a little stressed out.

Barkley has ended any future contract talks with LIV Golf and will stay with TNT's "Inside The NBA", Barkley told The Post Friday morning.

I don’t want to decay on television.” “I’ve not talked to Turner, to be honest with you,” Barkley said. “That had nothing to do with it,” Barkley said. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I’m not going to be unfair to Turner. I’m not going to be unfair to my sponsors. “My number one priority is to be fair to Turner and my sponsors, to be honest with you,” Barkley said.

Charles Barkley said he has ended discussions with LIV Golf and will remain an NBA broadcaster, the Basketball Hall of Famer told the New York Post.

On Wednesday, LIV Golf officially unveiled its plans for 2023. But, in my best interest, and being fair to Turner — because Turner and basketball have given me every single thing in my life — It is best for me to move on and I’m staying with Turner for the rest of my TV career.” “I wish those guys great success and nothing but the best.

The third tournament of LIV Golf's inaugural season begins at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. Follow for complete results from the opening ...

Chase Koepka Brooks Koepka Player 4 Player 2 He'll finish off for par on the hole. He'll have to go up and down for par. 1:39 p.m.: Pat Perez is now in sole possession of the lead as he's scored birdies on his first two holes. 1:47 p.m.: Johnson's putt at the 18th hole rolls just around the edge of the cup on his chance for birdie. 2:09 p.m.: Scott Vincent joined a number of golfers tied for second at 1 under with a birdie on the seventh hole. Charles Howell III ties Vincent, Chase Koepka, Stenson and Ortiz at 2 under, while 11 golfers are tied for sixth place at 1 under. He's now 2 under. South African golfers have won each of the first two LIV Golf events.

Barkley told the New York Post he'll remain at TNT for the remainder of his broadcasting career after the Saudi-funded golf tour failed to make him a ...

LIV Golf does not have a rights deal with a major broadcaster or streaming service, and streams its tournaments on YouTube, Facebook and its website. Charles Barkley Cozies Up To LIV Golf And Its ‘Serious Money’ (Forbes) Charles Barkley cut off contract negotiations with LIV Golf to join its broadcast team Friday, he told the New York Post, a surprising end to a public courtship that looked promising given the basketball Hall of Famer’s willingness to overlook criticism about the tour’s Saudi funding for a massive payday.

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has turned down an offer to join LIV Golf as a television personality – and decided to stay with Turner Studios' ...

It is best for me to move on and I’m staying with Turner for the rest of my TV career.” But, in my best interest, and being fair to Turner — because Turner and basketball have given me every single thing in my life. “I want to thank Greg Norman and LIV for their interest in me,” Barkley said in a phone interview with The New York Post.

That is the ultimate insult to the families that are sitting here going, 'what are we doing'?" Esiason fumed on the WFAN radio show he co-hosts.

But it’s also an insult to all the people that have died since 9/11 because of all the toxic carcinogens that they ingested while they were trying to clean this place up.” “It’s an insult to all the people that died on 9/11 and how their families were affected. We’re hosting a Saudi Arabian golf tournament with the Public Investment Fund from the government of Saudi Arabia at Trump Bedminster, right in the shadow of where these two buildings once stood?’ That’s what we’re doing here?” Esiason said on "Boomer and Gio" the WFAN morning radio show he co-hosts.

Charles Barley met with tour CEO Greg Norman to discuss broadcast role with LIV Golf and played in the pro-am before an LIV event on Thursday.

I don’t want to decay on television.” “I’ve not talked to Turner, to be honest with you,” Barkley said. “That had nothing to do with it,” Barkley said.

He joins the group of Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia as the green-jacket winners who now play for LIV. LIV ...

And in Saudi Arabia, they're trying to change. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist. LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record.

Watson is the sixth Masters champion to join LIV Golf as the tour continues to target the sport's establishment.

Watson last played on the tour in May due to injury, and is now the 86th-ranked player in the world. A former world No. 2 once considered the most marketable player in golf, Watson has struggled in recent years, and hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2018. Bubba Watson is joining LIV Golf, the polarizing Saudi-backed tour announced Friday afternoon, confirming reports earlier in the week that the 2012 and 2014 Masters champion will become the latest big-name American to join the circuit.

“What's (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay Monahan doing right now? Crying!” yelled another fan. The former president has faced a great deal of criticism for hosting ...

When asked if the same could be said for former President Trump and Jared Kushner’s connection to Saudi Arabia, he said, “I don’t know that much about that to be honest with you.” “I’ve been to other PGA tour events and it seems way less stressful and players seem to talk to each other. “But it’s still fun to come out here, see the players, it’s local, which is great, which brings the money into the local economy. “This actually opens the game up to more people who can’t get out and see it.” “My first message to my brother was, ‘I think I’d rather watch it on TV,’” said Bob Teed, a local New Jersey resident with a laugh. The former president has faced a great deal of criticism for hosting the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed series, especially from a group of 9/11 families, who held an emotional protest Friday morning before the round began.

9/11 families protest outside Trump golf course as Saudi-backed LIV kicks off · Why it matters: Victims of the September 11 attacks have been protesting the LIV ...

The golfers and the former president are cowards." Trump defends hosting LIV Golf event: "Nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11" Driving the news: "Nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11 unfortunately, and they should have," Trump said, calling the people who carried out the terrorist attack "maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world." Former President Trump told ESPN Thursday that "nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11" after he was asked about 9/11 survivors and their families who are protesting a Saudi-backed LIV Golf event at one of his golf courses. - Trump defends hosting LIV Golf event: "Nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11" - Trump this week toldESPNthat "nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11."

Watson, who is rehabbing an injury, likely won't be on the course until next season.

Despite LIV Golf's growth, the PGA Tour has been able to retain a big chunk of its top talent, including every top-10 player in the latest Official World Golf Rankings. However, Watson's experience as a former major champion and one of the most recognizable names on Tour is a notable loss. "Bubba Watson is a tremendous addition to LIV Golf – another major champion joining the growing list of stars on our teams. While his jump to LIV may come as a surprise, it's been rumored for weeks after the league featured -- then deleted -- Watson in promotional material on social media earlier this year.

The third tournament of LIV Golf's inaugural season is underway at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. Follow for complete results from the opening ...

3:12 p.m.: Schwartzl moves up to a tie for third at 2 under with a birdie putt on the ninth hole. 1:47 p.m.: Johnson's putt at the 18th hole rolls just around the edge of the cup on his chance for birdie. 2:09 p.m.: Scott Vincent joined a number of golfers tied for second at 1 under with a birdie on the seventh hole. He'll finish off for par on the hole. Stenson just misses a difficult uphill putt for birdie to stay in sole possession of the lead, and the two will be tied with 12 holes to play. 1:39 p.m.: Pat Perez is now in sole possession of the lead as he's scored birdies on his first two holes. Kozuma makes his birdie putt to move up the leaderboard. 4:59 p.m.: With his birdie putt on the 11th hole, Stenson is tied for the lead with Reed again. 4:40 p.m.: Johnson sinks the birdie putt, and he's now moved up to a tie for fifth place. He'll have a short putt to save par. 3:44 p.m.: Stenson is the latest golfer to have issues on the seventh hole. He then sinks the birdie to drop to 6 under.

The third event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series is under way in New Jersey. Follow here all day for the latest from Trump Bedminster.

Feherty will be counted on to deliver humor to the broadcast. After Round 1, players will be paired by score for the remaining two rounds. The team champions of the first two events remain intact. The top three teams are paid from the $5 million team purse. On the course, the story is more positive. But three months after surgery on the injured hand, his game appears to be coming back. Perez, 46, shot 69 in his first round in Portland, which counted for his 4 Aces team. "And still, the decision was made that I was to be removed." Reed is 5 under and leading on the par-71 course, having birdied the 10th for his sixth birdie in seven holes. The first half of 2022 was all but lost for Bryson DeChambeau, as hip and hand injuries limited his starts. Stenson's teammate on the Majesticks, Lee Westwood, is 2 under, so that team leads early. Paul Casey, the other newcomer, is 2 over.

The controversy over the new golf series, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, isn't going away. But on the course, fans enjoyed the ...

But in the end, there is an overriding reason that the LIV golfers may feel more at ease, and more collaborative: Each player, in a sense, is guaranteed to be a winner. Those payouts have been made possible by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which has led critics to accuse the players of selling out to a country that is trying to paper over its poor human rights record. Before the crowds were thin and scant at many holes. That has bred an us-against-them mentality that was evident on Friday. As the players walked the fairways, there was much more casual conversation among their groups than is customary at a PGA Tour event. “You’re out there grinding on every shot to try and do well for the boys.” There were other noticeable ways in which the atmosphere was different than one at a PGA Tour event. The team competition element may be a factor. While he played the 18th hole, a large luxury box overlooking the green was empty. Denny McCarthy, 29, of Kearny, N.J., was delighted with his unobstructed view of the 18th green. Appearing unnerved, Mickelson returned to his stance and finally struck the ball, which sailed 60 feet off-line and landed in a cavernous bunker. The crowds at the event, LIV Golf’s third tournament, were too sparse to hear any ovations wafting around the course. And Mickelson was hitting next to a large clubhouse balcony and patio.

The Hall of Famer, arguably the face of the Saudi-backed league, continued to sing its praises after Round 1 at Bedminster — where he shot 75.

When a fan yelled out something about the Saudi backing of LIV Golf, Mickelson calmly stepped back, and regrouped – although he missed the fairway. We’ll open up a lot of opportunities to get the younger generation, which again, for 30 years we’ve tried to do and it’s gone the other way.’’ “We as a game and a sport, the viewership has gone up five years to the average age, I believe, of 64, and we have to target a younger generation,’’ he said. He’s had a tumultuous two weeks after his signing with LIV was announced and his subsequent loss of the European Ryder Cup captaincy. “I think the way that is going to happen is two things. It’s the best I’ve played all year and I’ll take a lot of credit from that.’’ He hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens to shoot 64. There’s also been a lot of chatter about players getting to play less, and that might be true this year as the LIV Golf Invitational Series is just eight tournaments. And then they have the ability to move professional golf throughout the world. I think that’s a really big thing as we try to grow the game of golf throughout the world. Meaning LIV has a chance to bring professional golf throughout the world. BEDMINSTER, N.J. – In many ways he is the face of LIV Golf, the first player to publicly give it legitimacy – with plenty of assaults on his own legacy.

The families are furious that former President Donald J. Trump once blamed Saudi Arabia for the terrorist attacks, but is now allowing his golf course to be ...

When asked what else the group had planned, Eagleson broke down while explaining the exhaustion he and others in the organization felt. On Friday morning, at a nearby Marriott serving as headquarters for the tour on its Bedminster stop, members of the group approached David Feherty, the former CBS and NBC golf analyst who has defected to join the tour even though it has no American broadcast television contract yet. “He was really open to working with us and having a partnership with us, as opposed to being combative. “It’s simple,” said Tim Frolich, who was in the South Tower on 9/11. “The Saudis did it. “LIV Golf?” he said. They say Trump urged them to continue their work, which they did with vigor on Friday. “We are pleased that people are refocusing attention on this issue,” said Jay Winuk, one of the protest’s organizers. BEDMINSTER, N.J. — A somber and tearful group of protesters stood between two American flags behind a public library, in stark contrast to the festivities at a golf tournament three miles down the road. But Eagleson was far less conciliatory about Trump, who he said was more culpable than the golfers, because, as the former commander in chief, he should know better. The group, 9/11 Justice, seeks to bring Saudi Arabian government officials, whom they assert supported the terrorists, to judgment. Many accused the golfers of cowardice for proclaiming sympathy with their cause while still accepting LIV Golf’s money. It’s deplorable.”