Golf 's biggest names will reunite at the U.S. Open this week as the sport calls a temporary ceasefire amid the hostilities stemming from the inauguration of the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The controversial, Saudi-funded competition got its start in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, where Charl Schwartzel was the first to pocket one of the £3.86million first-place prizes on offer. He was also one of 17 Tour players participating in the event who was officially suspended by the PGA after teeing off at the Centurion Club.
But those names will be permitted to rub elbows with their old colleagues at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts this week. That's after the United States Golf Association (USGA) confirmed it does not plan to uphold the PGA's ban against any LIV rebels.
That will include those who didn't feature in Hertfordshire last weekend but have announced their intent to join the Saudi-funded breakaway. The 2020 U.S. Open champion, Bryson DeChambeau, and 2018 Masters -winner Patrick Reed have each announced plans to play in the new Invitational Series.
"We pride ourselves in being the most open championship in the world and the players who have earned the right to compete in this year’s championship, both via exemption and qualifying, will have the opportunity to do so," read a USGA statement in the build-up to last week's golf furore.
"Our field criteria were set prior to entries opening earlier this year and it’s not appropriate, nor fair to competitors, to change criteria once established. Regarding players who may choose to play in London this week, we simply asked ourselves this question — should a player who had earned his way into the 2022 U.S. Open, via our published field criteria, be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event? And ultimately we decided that they should not.”
Who do you think will win the U.S. Open? Let us know in the comments section.
That explanation accounts for all those players who had already qualified for the tournament prior to the LIV Golf controversy. However, it's uncertain if such exceptions will be made in future years, assuming the Invitational Series becomes a long-term fixture.
The U.S. Open appears on both the PGA Tour and European Tour but is structured and organised by the USGA. It seems highly unlikely those LIV rebels will be permitted to play the PGA Championship, while the organisers of the Masters and The Open will have their own decisions to make.
Jon Rahm is the defending U.S. Open champion and hopes to become the first back-to-back winner in this major since Brooks Koepka in 2017/18. Phil Mickelson has finished second in the U.S. Open six times but will be free to attempt breaking that duck come Thursday.
