The Asian Tour and its new flagship tournament, the Saudi International, announced their early commitments to the planned February event on Monday.
With that announcement, the PGA Tour and European Tour members who committed to the event have laid down the gauntlet to the tours, daring them to enforce their previously promised punishments for those who chose to compete in this controversial event.
The PGA Tour and European Tour have both previously said they would not grant a competing-event waiver for their members who wanted to play in this tournament. That news was made before the Asian Tour signed a 10-year deal with the Saudi International for it to become that tour's flagship event, meaning it comes with additional minimum points toward the Official World Golf Ranking.
However, that didn't stop these PGA Tour and European Tour players from apparently committing to the event:
- Abraham Ancer
- Adri Arnaus
- Rafael Cabrera Bello
- 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
Under PGA Tour regulations, the Tour does not have to decide on competing-event waiver requests until 30 days prior to the tournament. And it's at that point that the game really begins.
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