Former U.S. President Trump says Saudi-funded golf tour creates 'gold rush' for players

Former President Donald Trump played another round at his home course Thursday, this one different from so many others. He was part of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational pro-am, put on by a breakaway league he says is creating a "gold rush" for players.

The third LIV Golf event, which starts Friday at Trump National Bedminster, added four new players to the 48-man field that illustrated how the disruption goes beyond the PGA Tour.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden is among the newcomers, which led the European tour to strip him of the Ryder Cup captaincy for the 2023 matches in Italy.

"I don't feel like I've given it up," Stenson said. "I made every arrangement possible here to be able to fulfill my captain's duties, and I've had great help here from LIV to be able to do that. And still, the decision was made that I was to be removed. I'm obviously disappointed over the situation. But it is what it is, and yeah, we move on from there now."

By adding Stenson — the other three were Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Jason Kokrak — LIV Golf now has 12 former major champions on its roster, though only five among the top 50 in the world ranking.

"You have really the best players in the world, many of the best players, and soon you'll probably have all of them," said Trump, who played in the pro-am with Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, along with his son, Eric.

There is no conversation at the PGA Tour about a possible merger. Commissioner Jay Monahan said last month that while the tour welcomes healthy competition: "The LIV Saudi golf league is not that. It's an irrational threat, one not concerned with the return on investment or true growth of the game."

Trump felt slighted when a World Golf Championship left his Trump