Players being used as ‘pawns’ in golf’s power struggle: McIlroy

RORY MCILROY (pix) believes players are being used as “pawns” in golf’s global power struggle and fears legal action could be required to resolve the issues.

Twenty five of the game’s biggest names have committed to play the 2022 Saudi Invitational, potentially placing them on a collision course with their home circuits.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau are among the players scheduled to compete in the £3.7m (RM21m) event from Feb 3-6.

The Saudi International was previously on the European Tour but is now the flagship event on the Asian Tour, which is also launching 10 new events spearheaded by former world No. 1 Greg Norman and backed by US$200m (RM860m) from the Saudi government’s Private Investment Fund.

The PGA Tour said in July that it would not grant players the required releases to play in “unsanctioned events” and that could see players being fined or even suspended if they opt to play rival events without permission.

McIlroy has made it clear he is not interested in playing in events backed by Saudi money but said: “I think we are independent contractors and we should be able to play where we want to play.

“I think the Tour should grant the releases because it’s an Asian Tour event, it has OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) points.”

Asked if he feared legal battles were on the horizon, McIlroy added: “Yeah, I think so. I think the professional game needs to get to a point where we as professionals know where we stand.

“I think the players feel like they’re pawns at the minute in this big global game of golf and we just know want to know where we stand.” – The Independent