PGA Tour disciplines golfers 'who have decided to turn their backs' on organization to play for LIV Golf

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Golfers participating in LIV Golf tournaments will no longer be eligible to compete in PGA Tour events and the Presidents Cup, Commissioner Jay Monahan told members in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

The memo to PGA Tour members was sent as LIV Golf’s first tournament teed off in London. The Saudi-backed league will feature stars like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Lee Westwood and others. Monahan thanked those who committed to this weekend's RBC Canadian Open and addressed his letter to "those players who have decided to turn their backs on the PGA TOUR by willfully violating a regulation."

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The memo specifically singled out Johnson, Mickelson, Na, Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Talor Gooch, Branden Grace, Matt Jones, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Andy Ogletree, Louis Oosthuizen, Turk Pettit, Ian Poulter, Charl Schwartzel, Hudson Swafford and Peter Uihlein. Monahan said either these players didn’t receive releases to play in LIV Golf or didn’t apply for the releases at all.

Players who resigned their memberships, including Garcia, Grace, Johnson, Kaymer, McDowell, Na, Oosthuizen, Pettit, Schwartzel and Westwood, would be removed from the FedEx Cup Points List following the conclusion of the RBC Canadian Open, according to the memo. Those players who resigned will not be allowed to play in PGA Tour tournaments as a non-member via sponsor exemption or any other eligibility category.

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Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA