Lahiri signs up to debut on ‘rebel’ LIV Golf Tour
ANIRBAN LAHIRI has become the first Indian to join the LIV Golf Tour and is set to make his debut on the rebel tour with the event in Boston this week.
Lahiri becomes the first Indian and the first Asian to sign up with LIV Golf. Viraj Madappa played in the opening event after qualifying through an International Series event in Asia.
The latest joinees on LIV Tour include The Open Cameron Smith of Australia, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Americans Harold Varner and Cameron Tringale.
The financial details of Lahiri’s LIV contract are not known yet. However, the figure being floated around in Smith’s case is around $140 million (£120m).
The PGA Tour is expected to take action against LIV Tour players, which would bar them from playing its events. Lahiri has been playing on the PGA Tour since 2015-16. He finished second at the Players Championships behind Smith.
Though Smith is the biggest catch for LIV, the signing up of Lahiri according to sources in Boston, seems to have been done with eye on the growing Asian golf market. LIV is also backing Asian Tour, which is where Lahiri came from and is a former Asian Tour No 1.
LIV Golf Series has been putting up record $25m (£21.4m) tournament purses with a 54-hole format and no cut. The purse includes $5m (£4.28m) set aside for a team event within the format.
Some big names in the series include Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter.