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Martin Kaymer on starting at the Saudi tournament: "I'm not a politician, I'm a professional golfer"

2022-06-01T08:38:35.587Z


A controversial new golf series is now starting with money from Saudi Arabia, and the German Martin Kaymer is part of it. The US tour is threatening participants in the new format with exclusion from their tournaments.


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Martin Kaymer: "It's just another option to play professional golf"

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Andy Lyons/AFP

Golf pro Martin Kaymer wants to compete in the opening tournament of the controversial new Tour LIV Golf Invitational Series from June 9th to 11th in London.

"Yes, I signed up to get a picture of this tournament with my own eyes," said the 37-year-old from Düsseldorf in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung".

The new series, which is also to be played in several of former US President Donald Trump's seats, has been criticized for its financing from Saudi Arabia.

The accusation: The country, which is accused of human rights violations, is trying to improve its image with lucrative sporting events ("sportwashing").

"I'm not a politician, I'm a professional golfer," said Kaymer.

He simply sees this series as an opportunity to make golf more interesting with shorter tournaments, especially for young people.

The invitational tournaments of the competition series for the North American PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour are played over three days instead of four.

$20 million in prize money

The events come with very high prize money.

The tournament in London alone is endowed with 20 million US dollars - the winner gets four million dollars.

And that's more than most PGA tournaments.

»Money is a motivator for everyone.

You don't have to deny that finances also play a role at LIV Golf," said the former world number one.

The opening tournament will also feature two-time Major winner Dustin Johnson.

Also included are Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Talor Gooch and Louis Oosthuizen, as well as Branden Grace.

“I think there is a misunderstanding in the media that entering this tournament is against the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

It's just another option to play professional golf," says Kaymer.

The PGA had already threatened to exclude participants in the opening tournament from their tournaments.

How the DP World Tour will react is still open.

bka/dpa/Reuters

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2022-06-01

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