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with US Open begins on ThursdayUnited States Golf Association (USGA) CEO Mike Wan explains why he decided to allow LIV golf competitors to play in the year’s third major.
LIV golf competitors shook the PGA Tour’s wings when they broke away from the organization to play in the Saudi-backed league, and their return to the Majors has been put under the microscope.
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USGA CEO Mike Vaughan speaks to the media at a press conference during a practice round ahead of the 122nd US Open Championships at The Country Club on June 15, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts.
(Rob Carr/Getty Images)
“Whether we all like it or not, in February, 30 people played for the same promoter in Saudi Arabia with an acceptable release from the PGA Tour, and over the years the DP World Tour has had an event there, the same promoter, Wan said Wednesday, via Golf.com, “We also had to ask the question, if you’re going to put the kind of clause that comes in, we’re going to have to go back to 9,300 people and played last week, but who played, where, sponsored. 9,300 Trying to force it on people turns out to be quite a slippery slope.”
The USGA was put in a difficult position whether to ban players who had already qualified for LIV golf after their last-minute jump. Ultimately, Vaughan said he did not think the players had disqualified themselves from the US Open.
For the foreseeable future, Whan said it could be more difficult for those golfers to get into.
Dustin Johnson hits the seventh hole during the practice round of the US Open golf tournament at The Country Club on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 in Brookline, Mass.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bucati)
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“By the time we’re talking about this next year, it’s going to be a lot of hypothetical for me to know what LIV is going to be, but as we would any year, we’re definitely going to have to follow the field norms. Going to reevaluate. We will any year,” he said. “We’ll take a look at what the landscape looks like.”
When asked if LIV golfers could be banned from US Open In the future, Whan simply replied, “Yes.”
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzell and Bryson DeChambeau are all competing in the tournament.
Phil Mickelson watches his shot on the 15th hole during the practice round of the US Open golf tournament at The Country Club on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 in Brookline, Mass.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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Mickelson has never won the US Open – the only major tournament missing in his trophy case. DeChambeau won the US Open In 2020, Johnson won it in 2016 and Reid’s best performance at the Open was fourth.