LONDON — The PGA Tour on Thursday said it had suspended the 17 players who have taken part in the first event of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour, a move that punished the rebel pros but also seemed aimed at dissuading further defections.
In a memo sent to his membership, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, said those golfers who teed off in the first LIV Golf event, which began Thursday outside London, were “no longer eligible to participate” in events on the American-based tour or any of its affiliated tours. He also vowed to apply the same suspension to any pro who joins one of the rival tour’s coming events.