Controversial golf stars set to join $3 billion breakaway league
Controversial golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed have caused a stir as they are both set to join the Saudi LIV Golf league in a huge blow to the PGA Tour.
Two more of the game's biggest names defecting to the breakaway tour represents another coup for Australian golf legend Greg Norman as his Saudi-backed series continues to gather huge momentum in its launch week.
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DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open champion, and Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, are set to compete in LIV Golf's first US event at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon, at the end of the month.
No-one from LIV Golf would comment on the multiple reports linking the pair to the lucrative tour which is offering $255 million of prize money in its first year.
But DeChambeau's agent, Brett Falkoff, told ESPN on Wednesday: "Bryson has always been an innovator.
"Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something unique has always been intriguing to him. Professional golf as we know it is changing and it's happening quickly."
The duo are set to join some of the biggest names in golf breaking away from the PGA Tour.
They are led by six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, two-time winners Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer, plus Sergio Garcia (2017 Masters), Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters), Graeme McDowell (2010 US Open) and Louis Oosthuizen (2010 British Open).
The LIV Golf tournament has a reported $3 billion backing to get it started.
DeChambeau and Reid divide golfing world
The pair are two of the most controversial figures in the sport.
DeChambeau has been dividing the golf world for quite some time.
His rather slow rate of play saw Brooks Koepka criticise him.
And the pair have traded barbs in one of golf's modern day rivalries.
DeChambeau berated a cameraman at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2020 and has entered in a number of spats with officials over the years.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, DeChambeau bulked up and continued his approach of using science in his approach to golf.
This helped him improve his monumental driving distance.
Patrick Reed is often criticised on the course.
Reed has been involved in a number of scandals involving his play.
In 2019, fans accused him of improving his lie in the bunker in the Bahamas.
In 2022, was again embroiled in controversy at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Reed's questionable antics on the course has prompted many in the golfing world to call him out.
Regardless, the drama that comes with both players is a big grab for LIV Golf.
with AAP
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