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The Seminole Pro-Member event, one of the biggest events of the year for the game of golf, has banned LIV Golf members. They are reportedly not welcome to the club anymore.
The club will no longer be honoring their membership if they have already chosen or choose in the future to defect from the PGA Tour.
Golf Weekly had the exclusive:
"Players who signed with LIV will not be welcome at next month’s Pro-Member tournament at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida... The decision not to invite LIV players was made by Jimmy Dunne, the president of Seminole. Dunne played last year with Dustin Johnson, who joined LIV in June."
According to them, Dunne said:
“We are doing what we have always done. PGA Tour players get the first priority. This event has always been supported by the PGA Tour. We try to make this a special and unique day for Tour players.”
Dunne refrained from calling any of the players out, though:
“Candidly, I have a pretty good relationship with most people. These guys had a choice to make, but they’ve made it. That’s it. I’m not going to say something nasty about guys who participated in the past.”
The Pro-Member began in 2004 and quickly became very popular. Tons of professionals sought out memberships and now some of them cannot keep them. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, and Louis Oosthuizen are among those no longer welcome at the club.
The president played last year with Dustin Johnson, but since he's with LIV Golf now, he cannot play anymore. He reportedly plans to play with Max Homa, the world number 16 golfer right now.
Can LIV Golf members play in PGA Tour events?
The decision to ban LIV Golf members from this event is likely the first in a long string of decisions. Augusta National elected to allow LIV players to participate in the Masters in 2023 and presumably will operate that way forever.
Other events and other tours on the PGA Tour aren't as kind. Many PGA players don't want them to participate, including Rory McIlroy:
"I hate what it's doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do. Like it's going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks' time and seeing 18 of them there.That just doesn't sit right with me."
He added:
"So yeah, I feel strongly. I believe what I'm saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you're saying is the right things, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line."
Currently, there's no legal allowance for these events to ban LIV members from playing. However, a court case is currently ongoing that will likely decide that.
It should be finished sooner rather than later, so there may be no more LIV Golf players in PGA Tour events in the near future. Some LIV players believe the courts will side with them, but that remains to be seen.
