LIV Series set to crash Canadian Open party

TORONTO: After a three-year, COVID-19 forced hiatus the Canadian Open makes its PGA Tour return this week only to face another challenge with disruptive outsiders, the LIV Golf Invitational Series, crashing the party.

The Canadian Open and the LIV event at Centurion Club outside London, being staged almost simultaneously, will mark the first head-to-head showdown between the PGA Tour and the controversial big-money, Saudi-backed venture that is looking to shake up golf's status quo.

The PGA Tour and the Canadian Open, the third oldest continually run tournament on the Tour, are offering up established prestige.

The LIV Series is offering super-sized prize money, the Centurion's US$25 million purse almost triple the Canadian Open's $8.7 million.

But for those looking for the big payday, Rory McIlroy, the Canadian Open champion, cautioned there are some things money can't buy.

"Any decision that you make in your life that's purely for money usually doesn't end up going the right way," McIlroy told reporters after his practice round on Wednesday.

"Obviously money is a deciding factor in a lot of things in this world, but if it's purely for money it never seems to go the way you want it to.

"You look at the Canadian Open trophy and you look at the names that are on that.

"You're putting your name in history by winning these national championships. It's something that money can't buy or it's something that money can't give you."

With the field at stately St. George's Golf and Country Club headlined by McIlroy, world number one Scottie Scheffler and newly-minted PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, the Canadian Open easily trumps the LIV event for pure star power.

Major winners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia will