Washington (AFP) – James Piot will be teeing off in this week’s PGA Tour Rocket Classic in Detroit on a sponsor’s exemption, the first in a PGA event for an ex-LIV Golf player. The 26-year-old American, a Michigan native, is one of the few players to play events on the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed upstart series, whose players are banned from PGA events.
“Coolest thing in the world,” Piot told the Detroit News. “It’s awesome. It’s a dream come true.” Piot, the 2021 US Amateur champion, missed the cut in his 2002 PGA Tour starts, so he signed a reported $6 million two-year LIV Golf deal and played in the first LIV event in June 2022 at London. He stayed until he was relegated off the series in 2023.
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After shoulder surgery in 2024, Piot was ready to try and qualify for the PGA event in his home state before getting a call saying he had been given a spot, becoming the first former LIV player to get a sponsor exemption into a PGA Tour event. Piot, eligible for the PGA since he has not played in a LIV event since 2023, will tee off alongside fellow Americans Frankie Capan and Braden Thornberry on Thursday afternoon at Detroit Golf Club.
England’s Laurie Canter became the first former LIV Golf player in a PGA Tour event in March when he teed off in The Players Championship. Two years after a “framework agreement” to unite the PGA and LIV, the deal remains unfinished and talk of LIV’s backers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, investing in the PGA Tour has grown silent as months have passed.
Major winners in the field include Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, and Keegan Bradley, the US Ryder Cup captain coming off a victory on Sunday at the Travelers Championship.
© 2024 AFP
