USGA Will Allow LIV Golf Participants to Compete in 2022 U.S. Open

The battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia-financed league that starts play Thursday, won't impact which players are eligible to participate in the 2022 U.S. Open.

The U.S. Golf Association announced Tuesday that players who participate in this week's LIV event in London will be allowed to play in next week's tournament at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Kevin Na have all resigned their PGA Tour memberships in order to play for LIV Golf.

Phil Mickelson said in a statement Monday he will play with LIV Golf. He told Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig he hasn't resigned his lifetime membership with the PGA Tour and added, "I'm hopeful that I'll have the ability to play wherever I want, where it’s the PGA Tour, LIV or wherever else I want."

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan emphasized in a statement last week that tour members were not authorized to participate in LIV's London event and that "members who violate the tournament regulations are subject to disciplinary action."

It's unclear what disciplinary action means, but Na said in his resignation statement he would be subject to "legal action" from the PGA Tour if he tried to participate in the LIV event as a member of the tour.

Mickelson has been on hiatus since February when comments he made about the Saudi government to golf writer Alan Shipnuck in an upcoming unauthorized biography were made public (h/t NPR's Becky Sullivan):

"They're scary motherf****** to get involved with. We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."

Khashoggi was killed Oct. 2, 2018, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. A report released by the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2021 stated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill" Khashoggi.

The crown prince told CBS' 60 Minutes (h/t Saphora Smith of NBC News) in 2019 he took "full responsibility" for Khashoggi's death "as a leader in Saudi Arabia," but he denied ordering the attack.

LIV Golf has generated significant controversy because it is seen as another attempt by the Saudi Arabian government to improve its reputation around the world by essentially buying sporting events and professional clubs.

Thursday marks the first event for the new league. It consists of a 54-hole contest featuring 48 players. Events feature a shotgun start, with every player starting at the same time on different holes, and a team element.

The individual part of the event will be scored by traditional stroke-play rules. The team event will feature 12 groups of four players determined by a draft before the tournament starts. The top two stroke-play scores from the first two rounds count for each team. The three best scores in the final round will count with the lowest score after 54 holes declared the winner.

The 2022 U.S. Open is set to begin June 16. Jon Rahm is the defending champion after defeating Oosthuizen by one stroke at last year's tournament.