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Harold Varner III, Adri Arnaus atop leaderboard at Saudi International; Dustin Johnson 6 shots back

• Associated Press

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia -- Defending champion Dustin Johnson shot a 1-over 71 to fall 6 strokes behind co-leaders Harold Varner III and Adri Arnaus at the Saudi International after a windy second round on Friday.

Varner and Arnaus carded 66s to reach 10 under overall, while Johnson finished his front nine with back-to-back bogeys and dropped another shot on No. 16 -- to go with his two birdies -- in pursuit of a third victory at the event.

Cameron Smith (66) and Matthew Wolff (67) were 2 strokes off the lead at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, and Tommy Fleetwood 's 67 left him a further shot back, alone in fifth place.

Arnaus, who was born in Spain and played at Texas A&M, had seven birdies. His three bogeys came on the front nine.

"You have some opportunities that you want to take advantage of but definitely the most important thing is to keep the ball in a good spot for you to be able to score and try to have your game as complete as possible and we were able to do that today so pretty happy," the 27-year-old Arnaus said.

With the wind gusting up to 30 mph (48 kph), "You just have to commit to your shots," he said, adding that the talented field has pushed him to play his best.

"It motivates me to play with these guys," Arnaus said. "I'm certainly enjoying it and I'm ready for the weekend."

The No. 5-ranked Johnson is one of a slew of high-profile players from the U.S. PGA Tour and European tour on big appearance fees at the opening event of the Asian Tour, and he's looking to back up his titles from last year and 2019. He finished second in 2020.

Bubba Watson (70) was 4 strokes off the lead for a share of sixth place. Phil Mickelson and Tyrrell Hatton both shot 69s to join Johnson 6 strokes back.

Varner started on No. 10 and was 1 over on the day after his second and last bogey, on No. 16, before he rattled off four straight birdies among his six overall.

Bryson DeChambeau withdrew before the second round because of left hand and left hip injuries. He opened Thursday with a 3-over 73.

First-round leader Matteo Manassero (73), a onetime prodigy in European golf who fell off the main tour and now competes on the second-tier Challenge Tour, slipped 5 shots off the lead.

04 - 07 Feb 2021

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Dustin Johnson eases to another victory at Saudi International

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KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia -- Top-ranked Dustin Johnson won the Saudi International for the second time in three years on Sunday after shooting a 2-under 68 in the final round to finish two strokes clear of Justin Rose and Tony Finau.

The reigning FedExCup champ, who was also runner-up in 2020, recorded his highest scoring round of the tournament at Royal Greens Golf Club but still finished top of the leaderboard on 15-under overall.

Scotland's Calum Hill eagled the par-five 18th to finish in a tie for fourth with France's Victor Perez.

Johnson took a two-shot lead into the final round but the Masters champion struggled on the greens and was caught by Finau when his fellow American made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th.

However, Johnson edged back in front with a birdie on the 13th and was given some welcome breathing space when Finau dropped shots on the 16th and 17th and Perez double-bogeyed the 16th.

Johnson also dropped a shot on the 16th to see his lead cut to one, but responded in style with a massive tee shot on the next and a pitch to two feet to set up a decisive birdie.

"I saw the leaderboard a little bit, the guys were playing well but I kept giving myself a lot of chances," Johnson told Sky Sports. "I didn't hole many of them but finally holed a really nice putt on 13.

"Seventeen was a really nice birdie, hit a great drive there and a nice little chip but it was tough all day today.

"I don't get to play around the world as much as I'd like to but it's definitely nice to get a win not on my tour and after Augusta, to get my first win again, obviously the game is still in really good form and I'm really excited about the rest of the year."

Rasmus Hojgaard, Ryan Fox, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton finished in a four-way tie for sixth on 11 under.

The Saudi International is the last of three events in the "Gulf Swing" that launches 2021 on the European Tour.

02/04 – 02/07/2021

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Tournament information - Saudi International 2021 - European Tour

The Saudi International in the season 2021 is being played in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi-Arabien at the Royal Greens G&CC. The tournament starts at the Thursday, 4th of February and ends at the Sunday, 7th of February 2021.

The Saudi International is part of the European Tour in the season 2021. In 2021 all players competing for a total prize money of $ 3.500.000.

The course for the tournament at Royal Greens G&CC plays at Par 70.

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PGA Tour’s Monahan describes ‘constructive’ meeting with Saudi leader of LIV Golf

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 15, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

FILE -Tiger Woods, left, watches his son Charlie, right, putt ball during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. Charlie Woods, 15, will be playing a pre-qualifier on Thursday in Hobe Sound, Fla., the first step before a full qualifier for the Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski, File)

Viktor Hovland, of Norway, left, and Jordan Spieth wait to putt on the 14th green during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Adam Scott, of Australia, hits from the rough on the fifth hole during a practice round at The Players Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, March 13, 2024, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — The PGA Tour took a first step in sparking negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund with a meeting in the Bahamas that Commissioner Jay Monahan described as “constructive” without offering many more details.

In a memo late Monday night to players, Monahan said the player directors on the PGA Tour Enterprises board met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund that provides the money behind rival LIV Golf.

It was the first time player directors, including Tiger Woods, met with Al-Rumayyan. Woods played nine holes with him at Albany Golf Club, according to a person informed of the meeting who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the day.

The other player directors are Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati. Golfweek first reported the meeting was likely to take place Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach. It shifted to the Bahamas, where Woods often keeps his yacht.

“The conversation throughout was constructive and represents an important part of our due diligence process in selecting potential investors for PGA Tour Enterprises,” Monahan said in the memo. “This mirrors the approach we employed earlier this year as we evaluated an investment offer from the Strategic Sports Group.”

The PGA Tour, European tour and PIF reached an agreement announced June 6 to form a commercial partnership. The deal was to be finalized by the end of 2023. But amid government inquiries, and interest from private equity groups, the deal wasn’t done.

The PGA Tour selected SSG, a consortium of U.S. sports owners, in December. A month later, SSG pledged an initial $1.5 billion investment , which could increase to $3 billion. The next step is getting PIF as a minority investor or risk more players defecting to LIV Golf.

As the tour was negotiating with U.S. private equity, LIV Golf lured Masters champion Jon Rahm , along with Tyrrell Hatton, in a move that took more big names away from the PGA Tour and further splintered the golf landscape.

“During the session, Yasir had the chance to introduce himself to our player directors and talk through his vision, priorities and motivations for investing in professional golf,” Monahan said.

He told players he would keep them updated as much as possible, “but please understand that we need to maintain our position of not conducting negotiations in public.”

Malnati had said over the weekend there was “massive resistance” to Saudi involvement because of the surprise June 6 announcement — Monahan, board members Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne were the only ones involved.

“As I’ve learned more, I think I understand better and I’m very open-minded to learning what involvement they want, what they want out of this and how they think they can help,” Malnati said. “On the surface, I think there are players who have resistance to that relationship, for sure. So that’s why I do think it’s important that maybe our next step is to meet at some point.”

Cantlay said without PIF investing in PGA Tour Enterprises, he could see golf going down a path of two rival leagues whose top players meet only four times a year at the majors.

Rory McIlroy is no longer on the board, giving up his seat in November and since being replaced by Spieth. He is among those who have met with Al-Rumayyan. McIlroy had said on a British soccer podcast at the start of the year that he returned from his visit and encouraged the tour to meet with the Saudi leader behind LIV Golf.

“I don’t think this is an overnight solution,” McIlroy said. “But if we can get the investment in, then at least we can start working towards a compromise where we’re not going to make everyone happy, but at least make everyone understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah leaderboard: Brooks Koepka's 62 good enough for two-stroke lead in Saudi Arabia

The four-time major champion is starting to finally look like his former self.

A corner was turned at LIV Golf Bangkok for Brooks Koepka last week as he captured his first top-10 finish since becoming a member of the new golf circuit. Carrying that momentum, the 32-year-old was at it again at 2022 LIV Golf Jeddah on Friday and opened with a flawless round of 8-under 62 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

Beginning his day on the back nine, Koepka quickly ascended to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 16-17. Unable to take advantage of the gettable par-5 18th, the four-time major champion then caught fire on the front nine of Royal Greens making five birdies against zero bogeys. 

Koepka added another on the 10th and murmurs of 59 began to circulate around the broadcast as Koepka saw not only his name, but that of his brother atop the leaderboard. Letting a few scoring opportunities fall by the wayside coming home, Koepka ultimately signed for his 62. 

Good for a two-stroke lead over LIV London winner Charl Schwartzel, Koepka is now in position to raise his first trophy since the 2021 WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. His Smash GC team is also primed for its best effort of the season as Koepka's team owns the top spot on the leaderboard at 15 under.

1. Brooks Koepka (-8)

Koepka has always been a golfer to play his best golf in the second or third week of a competitive stretch. He mentioned this repeatedly when asked about his preparations for major championship and with the switch to LIV Golf, continuity has been hard to come by. With the tournament schedule spread out, Koepka has visibly struggled up until last week at LIV Golf Bangkok and the first round in LIV Golf Jeddah.

"I think last week was kind of a turning point for me," Koepka said. "I've worked pretty hard with Claude [Harmon], with Pete [Cowen] and Jeff [Pierce] over these last few months, getting back together with Claude and getting to see Pete a bit more. So this is the first time I've played back-to-back weeks since February. So tough to build a rhythm. I could see it coming. I'm very pleased with it, pleased with last week, and you know, hopefully just put together two more good rounds."

Other contenders

2. Charl Schwartzel (-6)

T3. Hideto Tanihara, Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed (-5)

T6. Turk Petit, James Piot, Carlos Ortiz (-4)

T9. Marc Leishman, Jediah Morgan, Anirban Lahiri, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson (-3)

A possible engagement bump is brewing for Turk Petit who popped the question to his now fiancée Thursday on the Red Sea. The former NCAA individual champion carded five birdies against just on bogey and is tied with his fellow Niblicks teammate James Piot. They are two of the younger competitors on LIV Golf and have struggled throughout their tenure, but perhaps this is the week where the former collegiate studs will finally find their footing much like Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra did at LIV Bangkok.

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LIV Golf's Talor Gooch Will Play PGA Championship Thanks to Special Exemption

• Author: Bob Harig

Last week Talor Gooch said he would not attempt to qualify for either the U.S. Open or British Open. But Monday Gooch learned he'll play at least one major this year: the PGA Championship, thanks to a special exemption.

The PGA had yet to confirm the news to SI but Gooch shared it via his social media account.

Looking forward to Valhalla next week! Thank you for the invitation @PGA 🙏🏼 See y'all there. pic.twitter.com/0Rcm652KMP — Talor Gooch (@TalorGooch) May 6, 2024

The year’s second major championship typically has numerous exemptions to give and often fills out its field by inviting those who are among the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking and not otherwise exempt.

But it has discretion to give spots to anyone it deems deserving, and Gooch—who was the No .1 player in the LIV Golf League standings in 2023—was given a spot in the tournament where he missed the cut a year ago. He is 644th in the OWGR.

Also given an exemption was LIV’s David Puig, a Spaniard who has played on LIV for a majority of the past two years. He has also won twice in the past year on the Asian Tour.

In his last 10 worldwide events outside of LIV Golf, Puig has nothing worse than a 15th-place finish, with six top-5s and two victories. He is 106th in the OWGR.

Gooch has become somewhat of a controversial figure in the game because last year the USGA changed its exemption criteria for the 2023 U.S. Open by tweaking wording that would have otherwise seen him exempt for the tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. He elected not to attempt to qualify, then missed the cut at the British Open.

None of the major championships give direct spots to the LIV Golf League, something the circuit has been seeking but which major-championship officials have pushed back against due to LIV Golf’s closed structure.

The PGA is expected to announce all of its exemptions and its full field soon.

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• LPGA Tour: JM Eagle LA Championship - Winner: Hannah Green
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Scottie Scheffler won The Masters, with a four-shot victory over Ludvig Åberg at Augusta National earning the world No 1 his second Green Jacket in three years.

Nelly Korda then claimed the first women's major of the year a week later, with victory at The Chevron Championship securing the American her fifth LPGA Tour triumph in a row, matching the records of Annika Sorenstam (2005) and Nancy Lopez (1978).

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The next men's major is the PGA Championship, at Valhalla in Kentucky, from May 16-19, while the second women's major of the year is the US Open in Pennsylvania from May 30-June 2.

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PGA Tour and DP World Tour's proposed deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund misses deadline

• Published 2 January
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Jon Rahm will not be defending his Tournament of Champions title in Hawaii this week after opting to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf

Trumpeted as the start of a new era, the 2024 PGA Tour season begins this week with its opening 'signature event' which comes at a time when men's professional golf remains mired in undermining uncertainty.

A framework agreement between the tour and its DP World Tour counterparts and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), should have been ratified by the turn of the year.

The deadline on the deal, which we were initially told would take only weeks to conclude, has come and gone. It was marked only by a memo to his players from the PGA Tour's commissioner Jay Monahan.

The American circuit's boss said that they are working to extend negotiations based on progress made in recent talks.

But the bottom line is that there is still no resolution to the shock announcement on 6 June last year of a potential alliance between the PGA Tour and the backers of the breakaway LIV setup.

Last month's talks were delayed while the PGA Tour busily tried to secure billions of dollars of investment.

The Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of billionaires headed by Tom Werner and John Henry's Fenway organisation that owns Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox are now on the verge of signing a deal.

"As you know, the [PGA Tour policy board] unanimously directed management to pursue exclusive negotiations with SSG," Monahan stated in the memo.

"I am pleased to report that we have made meaningful progress and have provided SSG with the due diligence information they requested."

Monahan said the tour is now in the final stages of securing an arrangement which is thought to be worth more than $3bn (£2.37bn) and will create a newly formed company, PGA Tour Enterprises, which will be a for profit entity.

They are looking for a similar sum from PIF to help create an organisation that could then potentially unite the game, bringing together LIV, the PGA Tour and the European based DP World Tour.

"Our goal for 2024 is to reach agreements with SSG, PIF and the DP World Tour, bringing them on board as minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises," Monahan wrote.

"These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of players, fans and sponsors."

For Monahan it is a Utopian vision. Reservations over doing business with Saudi Arabia and its questionable human rights record have long since been buried.

The imperative now is financing a slew of $20m tournaments brought in, ironically, to keep pace with LIV's lucrative schedule.

Money trumps everything, as the Saudis proved by luring Jon Rahm at the end of last year. The recruitment of the Masters champion was a massive statement at a crucial moment.

"The timing could not have been worse," a senior figure from the establishment side told me soon after the European Ryder Cup hero signed for a reputed $300m.

But, from the Saudi perspective, the timing could not have been better.

Just when the PGA Tour were looking elsewhere for investment, the disruptors dipped into their bottomless reserves to show that pretty much every golfer has a price - and they can pay it.

This suggests that, even after attracting billions of dollars of homegrown investment, the PGA Tour will still need Saudi money and influence if the game is to be reunited.

LIV's chief executive Greg Norman is in triumphant mood, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to highlight the achievements of his players last year.

The two times major champion pointed to Brooks Koepka's PGA Championship victory last May and five recent wins for Louis Oosthuizen, Jaco Niemann and Dean Burmester in tournaments co sanctioned with the DP World Tour.

Norman also boasted that the signing of Rahm meant they had secured "the best and most important player in the world today". He claimed others will sign.

But he also expressed hope that the framework agreement happens because it "would be good for golf, players and fans".

Certainly the fractured and therefore diluted current landscape does the game no favours. The majors are the only tournaments where the world's best come together, but without changing entry conditions they too will be weakened.

While technically there is arguable merit in denying LIV events official world ranking points, in practice the official world golf rankings have become a less effective measure of the sport's true pecking order.

And look no further than the official start of the PGA Tour's 'signature event' era in Hawaii this week for evidence of how men's pro golf is being adversely affected by the current situation.

Twelve months ago, the Plantation Course in Kapalua staged a captivating start to the year when Rahm fired a final round 63 as he charged from nine shots behind to land the first title of 2023.

The Spaniard is not allowed to defend his crown, just as was the case with Cam Smith at a denuded Players Championship last March.

Rahm is now banned from the tour, a circuit where he won three times in the first seven weeks of the year before securing his second major and first Masters Green Jacket in April.

Yes, there is a decent field in Hawaii this week as many of last year's tournament winners and top 50 finishers in the FedEx Cup contest the first $20m prize pot of 2023.

Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland head the roll call, but there is no Rahm, Smith, Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau. We will not see them all competing against each other until the spring trip to Augusta and so the intervening tournaments are not what they could be.

And they are, surely, not what heavy investors would want either because they short-change fans who buy tickets and TV subscriptions in the hope of seeing the best take on the best.

Not that this is prompting a stampede to watch LIV's 14 tournament schedule of 54-hole 48-man events. They have attracted massive names in their short existence and disrupted on an unprecedented scale but their competitions still barely nudge the needle.

Several of their stars deserve bigger audiences than their cash laden tournaments generate. It is an unsatisfying scenario on all sides.

There remains a pressing imperative for this valuable, but niche, game to come together. Only then might golf have a chance of maximising its potential and we get an era truly worth trumpeting.

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Liv golf continues to plan for future, hires longtime pepsi executive at chief marketing officer, share this article.

With the state of professional golf in flux, LIV Golf is ramping up for the future .

Last month the league announced a handful of new high-level hires that added experience and stability at the executive level, and on Monday morning LIV announced yet another addition. Adam Harter has been named LIV’s new Chief Marketing Officer, where he will lead all marketing activities, help develop league and team brands and contribute to growing a global fan base. Harter has already started working with the league and will report to Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman.

Harter previously spent 22 years at PepsiCo, where he most recently served as senior vice president of Media, Sports and Entertainment. He oversaw sponsorship deals with the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, and worked with athletes such as LeBron James, Kyrie Irving – remember those Uncle Drew videos? – Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He also worked with the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show for more than a decade and collaborated with music artists like Jay-Z, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez and Dr. Dre. His work in sport and entertainment should fit well with LIV’s festival-like atmosphere at events.

“Adam brings a unique, world-class set of skills and experience that will bolster LIV Golf’s ongoing work and create incredible new opportunities to develop our league and team brands,” said LIV Golf Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman in a press release. “The addition of executives like Adam will help expand and deliver on the league’s long-term goals as we continue to reach fans across the world in new and exciting ways.”

The hiring is yet another maneuver as LIV Golf continues to carve out and expand its corner of the sports landscape.

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