Tag: Pumpkin Ridge

Bryson DeChambeau wants to move on from LIV Golf drama after his ‘personal business decision’ to join Saudi Arabia-backed series

“I have personally made that in my own — as my own decision, and I won’t say any more on that. There’s no need.”

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Bryson DeChambeau has heard and seen the criticism he and his fellow competitors have faced for joining the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series that’s backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. He even said he respects those comments.

But after his press conference Tuesday ahead of the LIV Golf Portland event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, he’s done talking about it.

“I understand people’s decisions on their comments and whatnot. But as it relates to me, I have personally made that in my own — as my own decision, and I won’t say any more on that. There’s no need. We’re golfers at the end of the day, and I think that I respect everybody’s opinion,” said DeChambeau. “That’s the most important thing people can hopefully understand out of me is I do respect it, but golf is a force for good, and I think as time goes on, hopefully, people will see the good that they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish rather than looking at the bad that’s happened before.

“I think moving on from that is important, and going and continuing to move forward in a positive light is something that could be a force for good for the future of the game.”

DeChambeau ended the press conference alongside fellow LIV Golf debutants Matthew Wolff and Abraham Ancer by saying, “Looking forward is the most important thing we can do in regards to this game of golf.”

In other words, DeChambeau wants to get back to sports and wash away the negativity surrounding the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman. Yet when asked about their motivations to join LIV Golf, the sport itself was rarely mentioned. More opportunities outside of golf, whether it be business or family, were the talking points.

“One of the things for me it was a personal business decision. For me, I run and operate my golf as a business as well as wanting to be one of the better players in the world,” explained DeChambeau. “Second off, it was going to give me more resources and opportunities to reinvest in my local community, in Dallas, and back at my original home in California where I can do things for junior golf tours, improve my foundation, and also build the multi-sport complex I’m going to build here shortly in Dallas, and also give me more time to rest, the ability to have weeks off and recover my body in the way I want to so that I can be prepared to give it my all when it comes time, not be depleted every week and continuing to get depleted over the course of time.

“And then the last part is I saw that first event in London and how much fun everybody was having. That was exciting to me. And I wanted to be a part of something like that.”

[vertical-gallery id=778067171]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Reports: Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio Chacarra round out final spots in Liv Golf event in Portland

LIV Golf reportedly has continued its signing spree with three new names for this week’s Portland event.

LIV Golf reportedly has continued its signing spree over the weekend with Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio Chacarra expected to join the upstart circuit for its event this week at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland.

LIV Golf previously announced 45 players for its 48-man field at the second of a scheduled eight events in the series.

Wolff, 23, claimed the individual 2019 NCAA Championship title as a sophomore at Oklahoma State, turned pro that June and won the PGA Tour’s 3M Open in just his third event. Playing as a sponsor’s exemption, Wolff canned a 25-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the final hole to edge Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa. Wolff further showed his potential by finishing fourth at the 2020 PGA Championship and shot 65 at Winged Foot in the third round of the U.S. Open later that year to assume the 54-hole lead. He finished second to DeChambeau and rose as high as No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

With his unorthodox swing and charismatic presence, he appeared to be on the verge of being the Tour’s next breakout star. However, Wolff struggled adjusting to Tour life and took two months off from golf last year, citing the need to address his mental health. Wolff has missed the cut in seven of his last 12 starts this season, without a single top-25 finish, and has plummeted to 77th in the world ranking. He shot 66 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, where he made his PGA Tour professional debut in 2019, and finished T-55.

Wolff’s jump to LIV was first reported by The Telegraph of London. It has been rumored for weeks, most notably after his image was included in a LIV Golf sizzle reel promoting the fledgling circuit that is backed by Saudi Arabia’s PIF Investment Fund.

Sports Illustrated reported that Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz has decided to join LIV Golf, too. The 31-year-old Ortiz won the 2020 Houston Open. He is ranked No. 119 in the world. Last week, Mexico’s top-ranked player, Abe Ancer, also made the leap to LIV, giving the circuit a viable Latin American presence.

As noted on Golfweek on Saturday, Chacarra, the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world, was reported to have signed with LIV and planned to forgo his senior year at Oklahoma State and turn pro to compete in the 48-man field in Portland.  Writing in Spanish, he noted that he had “received an opportunity I could not turn down,” adding, “it is one of those trains that pass once in a lifetime.”

Some Portland-area officials, residents not exactly thrilled that LIV Golf is coming to their area

LIV Golf holds its second event this week but there are many who aren’t exactly welcoming it with open arms.

The LIV Golf Invitational Series is holding its second event this week but there are several people in the Portland, Oregon, area who aren’t exactly welcoming Greg Norman’s breakaway tour with open arms.

According to a story by the Associated Press, the North Plains, Oregon, mayor, as well as officials from surrounding cities, have written Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s owner, Escalante Golf, expressing some concerns. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is also speaking out against the tournament.

“We oppose this event because it is being sponsored by a repressive government whose human rights abuses are documented. We refuse to support these abuses by complicitly allowing the Saudi-backed organization to play in our backyard,” said a letter signed by North Plains Mayor Teri Lenahan and 10 other mayors from nearby cities.

Wyden accuses the Saudi government of “sportswashing”.

“It’s just a page out of the autocrats’ playbook covering up injustices by misusing athletics in hopes of normalizing their abuses,” he said.

John Canzano, a longtime Oregon-based sports journalist, wrote two weeks ago that about 20 members quit the club. The head pro also resigned, although it’s unclear if it’s due to the pending LIV Golf event.

“A lot of members are like stuck between a rock and a hard place right now where politically they don’t agree with it at all,” Pumpkin Ridge member Kevin Palmer told the AP. “But I also joined last year and put down like $12,000, and if I leave I don’t get any of that money back.”

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit has its detractors for several reasons, key among them Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, including the murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In Oregon, however, there also is anger over the hit-and-run death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart in 2016. The AP story states:

Saudi student Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah was facing a trial on first-degree murder charges when he removed a tracking device and vanished. U.S. authorities believe the Saudi government helped arrange for a fake passport and provided a private jet for travel back to Saudi Arabia. The case was featured on “60 Minutes.”

“It’s wrong to be silent when Saudi Arabia tries to cleanse blood-stained hands, in the fight for Oregonians to get justice — Fallon Smart was killed very close to our house in Southeast Portland, and the person charged with the crime, a hit-and-run death, was, based on all the evidence, whisked out of the country by the Saudis before he stood for trial,” Wyden said in an interview with the Associated Press.

The city of Portland is known as a hot spot for activism and protests and residents are expecting more this week but fans who buy tickets will be prohibited from displaying any political signs.

Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson are the headliners of the circuit but the Portland event will mark the LIV Golf debuts of Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Abraham Ancer, who all defected from the PGA Tour after the first event in London.

There will be 48 players in the field competing for $20 million in prize money. There is also a team aspect which can earns players even more money. Charl Schwartzel pocketed $4,750,000 for winning the London event.

PGA Tour players who competed for LIV Golf have been suspended by the PGA Tour. Some of them voluntarily gave up their PGA Tour membership.

The LIV Golf Portland event, which will feature three rounds, 54 holes and no cut, is is June 30-July 2. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Illinois is June 30-July 3.

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, about 18 miles north of Portland, was the site of Tiger Woods’ third straight U.S. Amateur victory in 1996. Hilary Lunke won the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge.

[listicle id=778276354]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

From Saudi Arabia to Portland, get to know the courses hosting the LIV Golf Invitational Series in 2022

Greg Norman’s Saudi Arabia-backed 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Series will start June 2022.

After countless rumors and speculation, we’re one step closer to a golf league rivaling the PGA Tour.

Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf Investments, announced on Wednesday the plans for the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a eight-event circuit starting in June that boasts $255 million in prize money. The events will feature 48 players and 12 four-man teams. They will be 54 holes with no cuts and shotgun starts.

The series will begin at Centurion Golf Club in London and end at a yet-to-be-determined location with a lucrative Team Championship. Four of the events will be held in the United States, with the others in Thailand, Saudi Arabia and London.

Get to know more about the courses hosting LIV Golf Invitational Series events.

More: Premier Golf League plan to partner with PGA Tour features massive paydays, ownership stakes for tour members