PGA Tour bans rebels | LIV Golf: It's vindictive and troubling

Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are among the players suspended from competing on the PGA Tour following their involvement in the controversial Saudi-funded LIV International Golf Series.

Graeme McDowell, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch, Branden Grace, Matt Jones, Martin Kaymer, Andy Ogletree, Peter Uihlein and Turk Pettit are other players now no longer eligible to compete in PGA Tour events, including Korn Ferry Tour, Canada Tour and Tour of Champions.

The DP World Tour is yet to comment on whether players playing in the LIV series will also be banned from their events.

Just 30 minutes after the opening tee shots of the first LIV Golf Series event at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire, the PGA Tour released a letter to its members in which Jay Monahan said the players now suspended did not receive releases - or did not apply for them at all - to participate in the LIV Golf Series.

Monahan said the players in question had "decided to turn their backs on the PGA Tour by willfully violating a regulation" and that "the same fate holds true for any other players who participate in future Saudi Golf League events in violation of our regulations".

LIV Golf quickly hit back with a statement, which read: "Today's announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members.

"It's troubling that the Tour, an organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing.

"This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond."

PGA