Loyalties will be tested with RBC Canadian Open-LIV conflict

TSN Senior Reporter

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The PGA Tour will decide in the coming days whether to give releases to players who have asked for passes to compete in the first LIV Golf Series event, slated for June 10-12 in London, England.

So far, the only golfers who have admitted to making the ask are Phil Mickelson, Robert Garrigus and, most recently, Lee Westwood. Many more, including some who are regulars on the DP World Tour, have requested leaves. Their names will be revealed if they get the pass, which is expected to happen.

That’s also the point at which those golfers will be giving a slap in the face to the RBC Canadian Open. The dates of the first LIV event go up against the national championship, being played for the first time in three years after a pause for the pandemic.

The three aforementioned players haven’t been integral parts to the Open in the past. Garrigus has played 11 times, the most recent in 2018. In 2017, he finished fifth after tying the course record at Glen Abbey with a Saturday 62. He’s a friendly and likeable guy but doesn't help sell tickets on his own.

Mickelson has made three visits north, the last in 2004. He never seemed to forgive the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada) for disqualifying him for a bad drop in 1993. Westwood has never played in the national championship.

It’s the names yet to come that may raise some eyebrows – higher-profile players who have been regulars at the Canadian event, cashed cheques from RBC and who will instead chase bigger bucks across the pond this year.

“I don't think it looks great for someone who maybe has played their entire career on the PGA Tour, but it's going to happen,” said Webb Simpson at a press conference at this week’s Wells Fargo