The German professional golfer Martin Kaymer has made his decision: The two-time major winner wants to compete in London in the first tournament of the controversial new Saudi tour LIV Golf Invitational Series. The 37-year-old, who has fallen out of sport, also accepts sanctions for this.
Grossest human rights violations, highly controversial "sportswashing", i.e. a lot of money for the sport to improve its own miserable image - and Martin Kaymer still has no scruples at the premiere of the new Saudi tour, which is equipped with unprecedented prize money, next week in London to knock off. "I'm not a politician, I'm a professional golfer," said the 37-year-old in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". The only thing that could stop the Rhinelander was an inflammation of the tendon capsule in his wrist. Because of this injury, Kaymer canceled his start at the European Open in Winsen, just outside Hamburg, at short notice on Thursday.
The "LIV Golf Invitational Series", which competes with the PGA Tour, is a divisive factor in the golf scene. The fact that he and the other renegade professionals are threatened with being kicked out of the established tournament series leaves the former world number one cold for the time being: "We just have to wait and see what happens after London." It will certainly happen that the two-time major winner, who has now fallen to 210th place (!) in the world rankings, will collect a lot more money for less work and less stress. Two billion dollars are available for Saudi Arabia's dubious image campaign on the finest golf courses in the world.
And for that, the "golf rebels" around Kaymer, currently only the fifth best German professional, are showered with almost obscene sums: The premiere is about 25 million dollars, which will be distributed to 48 invited professionals after three instead of the usual four game days. There is no cut after two rounds, even the last player in the final ranking is paid $120,000. The most prominent "defect" is the two-time major winner Dustin Johnson from the USA, currently number 13 in the world rankings. The Englishman Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia from Spain also reported, among others.
Kaymer, without a win on the tour for eight years, does not deny the financial incentive, but explains his main motivation differently: "I see the possibility of making golf more interesting for young people with shorter tournaments. I just want to see how a such a tournament feels like." But he could have just watched.
After all, the posh Centurion Golf Club on the outskirts of the British capital advertises with picturesque pine forests, dramatically curved fairways and a spectacular view of the English countryside. There is nothing to read about how much blood money there is in this event. The dubious propagandist and face of the new tour is Australia's golf idol Greg Norman. The 67-year-old Queenslander brushes aside all political reservations about his Arab financier.
"Every one of us makes mistakes," the former "Great White Shark" commented on references to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on behalf of the government. And even after the many executions in March, friends and acquaintances encouraged him to "just keep going". Because the former number one in the world, who has long been a multimillionaire himself, sees himself on a remarkable mission with the project: "Tell me the last time someone managed to get a two billion dollar investment in the Gulf." The priorities are crystal clear.
