Former Masters champion Patrick Reed has become the latest golfer to join the lucrative LIV Golf Invitational Series, the Saudi-backed league said on Saturday.
Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, has 12 wins on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. LIV announced Reed as its newest member on Twitter.
The 31-year-old American joins former world number one Dustin Johnson, six-times major champion Phil Mickelson and former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau in joining the LIV Series which had its inaugural event in London this week.
The big-hitting DeChambeau jumped ship from the PGA Tour on Friday and will make his debut in the second event of the series in Portland, Oregon, later this month.
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The PGA Tour said on Thursday it would suspend players who turned out for the LIV event but some golfers had already resigned from the Tour before the sanctions were announced.
“The growing roster of LIV Golf players gets even stronger today with a player of Patrick Reed’s calibre,” LIV chief executive Greg Norman said in a statement.
“He has a proven track record as one of the most consistent competitors in pro golf and adds yet another big presence at our tournaments. He’s a major champion and he’ll bring another impressive dynamic to our team-based format.”
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The eight-event LIV Series, bankrolled to the tune of $250 million by the controversial Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) began this week at the Centurion Club north of London. Events, with fields of 48, take place over 54 holes with no cuts and shotgun starts. As well as an individual event, players also compete for teams with huge prize money at stake.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel held off compatriot Hennie Du Plessis to claim the biggest pay cheque in golf history at the opening event of the LIV Invitational Series on Saturday.
The 37-year-old led by three strokes going into the third and final round, and consolidated with a round of 72 to seal the $4 million prize.
Schwartzel, whose previous highest pay cheque was the $1.4 million he scooped for winning the 2011 Masters, ended up on seven-under with Du Plessis finishing one stroke back. Another South African, Branden Grace, finished third on five under.
