The field for the first of eight LIV Golf Invitational Series events was released late Tuesday with 42 players poised to participate in the tournament next week in London.
Among the field was former world No. 1 and two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, who pledged his allegiance to the PGA Tour earlier this year, saying in February that he was “fully committed to the PGA Tour.”
“Dustin has been contemplating the opportunity off-and-on for the past couple of years,” Johnson’s manager, David Winkle with Hambric Sports, said in a statement. “Ultimately, he decided it was in his and his family’s best interest to pursue it. Dustin has never had any issue with the PGA Tour and is grateful for all it has given him, but in the end, felt this was too compelling to pass up.”
Johnson, the highest ranked player in the field at 13th in the world, was not the only major champion to sign on to play the first event. Former U.S. Open champions Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer are in the field, as is former Masters winner Sergio Garcia and Open champ Louis Oosthuizen.
“As communicated to our entire membership on May 10, PGA Tour members have not been authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event, under PGA Tour tournament regulations. Members who violate the tournament regulations are subject to disciplinary action,” a statement from the PGA Tour read.
The Tour denied all requests for conflicting-event releases to play the first LIV event. The circuit’s Player Advisory Council met Tuesday at the Memorial, but according to one member of the PAC, the LIV field was not discussed.
The field in London will also include Tour winners Kevin Na, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Hudson Swafford and Branden Grace.
Phil Mickelson is not listed in next week’s field, although LIV Golf still has six spots available at the Centurion Club, five of which will go to players at this week’s Asian Tour event in England. Mickelson had been linked to LIV Golf but was quoted in a story earlier this year on the Fire Pit Collective website criticizing both LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, and he has not played since.
Here’s a look at the current field list (42 of 48 players announced):
Oliver Bekker, South Africa
Richard Bland, England
Laurie Canter, England
Ratchanon Chantananuwat (amateur), Thailand
Hennie Du Plessis, South Africa
Oliver Fisher, England
Sergio Garcia, Spain
Talor Gooch, USA
Branden Grace, South Africa
Justin Harding, South Africa
Sam Horsfield, England
Dustin Johnson, USA
Matt Jones, Australia
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Thailand
Martin Kaymer, Germany
Phachara Khongwatmai, Thailand
Sihwan Kim, USA
Ryosuke Kinoshita, Japan
Chase Koepka, USA
Jinichiro Kozuma, Japan
Pablo Larrazabal, Spain
Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland
Jediah Morgan, Australia
Kevin Na, USA
Shaun Norris, South Africa
Andy Ogletree, USA
Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa
Wade Ormsby, Australia
Adrian Otaegui, Spain
Turk Pettit, USA
James Piot (amateur), USA
Ian Poulter, England
David Puig (amateur), Spain
JC Ritchie, South Africa
Charl Schwartzel, South Africa
Hudson Swafford, USA
Hideto Tanihara, Japan
Peter Uihlein, USA
Scott Vincent, Zimbabwe
Lee Westwood, England
Bernd Wiesberger, Austria
Blake Windred, Australia
Article updated with PGA Tour statement, June 1 at 11:30 a.m. ET.