Golf Saudi chief vows to “create own majors”

Defiant Golf Saudi boss Majed Al Sorour has promised to “create his own majors” for LIV Golf players – and said he will “celebrate” if they are banned from the game’s flagship events.

The will-they-won’t-they over world ranking points has proved a significant bone of contention for the Saudi-backed series given the obvious knock-on effect on its players’ ability to qualify for the Masters, US PGA, US Open and the Open.

So strong is LIV’s desire to get points it has attached itself to the little-known MENA Tour in an apparent attempt to force OWGR’s hand.

However, Sorour – a close associate of Yasir Al Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi government’s public investment fund which bankrolls the series – is in no mood for contrition.

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“For now, the majors are siding with the Tour, and I don’t know why,” he told the New Yorker.

“If the majors decide not to have our players play? I will celebrate. I will create my own majors for my players.

“Honestly, I think all the tours are being run by guys who don’t understand business.”

Sorour also revealed how close LIV came to folding in the aftermath of Phil Mickelson’s explosive comments earlier this year, where he branded the Saudis “scary motherf*****s”.

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“I called the boss (Rumayyan). I said, ‘Everyone’s walking away. Do you want to do it, or not?’”

According to Sorour, Rumayyan replied: “Get the biggest mediocres, get the ten that we have, get you and I, and let’s go play for twenty-five million dollars.”