Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson among field in ’22 Saudi International
The PGA Tour will allow at least 25 of its members to play next year’s Saudi International after the circuit initially balked when the event was relocated to the Asian Tour schedule.
Among the players set to compete Feb. 3-6 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club near Jeddah are world No. 3 Dustin Johnson, No. 4 Xander Schauffele and seventh-ranked Bryson DeChambeau.
Players are required to obtain a conflicting-event release to play tournaments that aren’t sanctioned by the Tour and there was speculation that when the European Tour dropped the Saudi International from its schedule earlier this year the PGA Tour might deny the releases.
Earlier this fall, the Saudi International was added to the Asian Tour schedule along with a 10-year investment into that circuit by LIV Golf Investments, the largely Saudi-backed fund that’s behind a proposed start-up super league that’s being led by Greg Norman.
The Saudi International, which was won by Johnson this year, will also include Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood and Louis Oosthuizen.
The Tour did not immediately return a request for comment.
Here’s a look at the full list of notable players scheduled to participate, according to an Asian Tour tournament release:
- Abraham Ancer
- Paul Casey
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Jason Dufner
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Sergio Garcia
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Dustin Johnson
- Jason Kokrak
- Shane Lowry
- Graeme McDowell
- Phil Mickelson
- Kevin Na
- Joaquin Niemann
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Ian Poulter
- Xander Schauffele
- Adam Scott
- Henrik Stenson
- Harold Varner III
- Jhonattan Vegas
- Bubba Watson
- Lee Westwood