DeChambeau officially joins LIV | No Johnson application for DP World Tour

Former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau has officially joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, tournament officials have announced.

DeChambeau confirmed his intention to join to the breakaway circuit on Wednesday and will play in the second event in Portland which starts later this month.

The big-hitting 28-year-old will join the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter who are playing in the inaugural event at the Centurion Club in St Albans this week.

Minutes after the first shots were struck on Thursday, the PGA Tour suspended all 17 players in the field who were taking part, despite having been turned down for the required releases, and said "the same fate holds true" for players participating in future LIV Golf events, so DeChambeau, an eight-time PGA Tour winner including the 2020 US Open, will now also be suspended.

Back in February, DeChambeau denied he was offered £100m to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, and wrote on his official Twitter account: "While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding my support for another tour, I want to make it very clear that as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I."

The world No 28, who has struggled with a hand injury in recent months, also distanced himself from the tour as recently as last Thursday, claiming he would not "risk" joining at this stage of his career.

However, he has now had a change of heart with his agent Brett Falkoff saying earlier in the week: "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. Pro golf as we know it is changing and it's happening quickly."

The second