Liv golfers' pressure at the 2022 Open

The Open, hosted by the Royal and Ancient (R&A), is playing its 150th match. This year's competition was held at Old Par72 of St Andrews Club in Scotland, and just finished the second round on July 15th.

But none of the 23 golfers from LIV Golf who took part in the competition were invited to the pre-opening media outreach event. It was not until the end of the second round that former world No 1 Dustin Johnson met and became the first Invitational Series delegate to speak publicly to reporters at St Andrews this week.

The R&A cannot interfere, as it is Johnson's natural responsibility when he is at the top of the table at-9 points and the second round is not over yet. Johnson shook off the public opinion and pressure off the field after answering several questions about the new arena through a megaphone. "I don't care, and I don't read anything. I just focus on my work. Everyone has a voice and I have my own opinion," he said.

At the end of the second round, Johnson dropped to fifth, and Cameron Smith won the first place with-13 points.

The award recognises 23 faces from the Invitational Series-a growing team that receives most of its funding from Saudi Arabia through major developer Liv Golf Investments. All were listed as separatists by the PGA Tour and banned or fined indefinitely, and suspended a few shots on the DP WorldTour. This group of 23 golfers boasts veterans or former A-listers such as Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Johnson, Bryson Deschambeau and Brooks Koepka.

The day before the first round of the 2022 Open, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers "shot" the Liv Golf Invitational Tournament. He says the two games organized by Liv Golf show that the system is entirely money-driven. "I don't think they bring long-term benefits to golf, or even undermine the lofty values and the spirit of open competition that set the game apart," Slumbers slammed Liv Golf at the start of the conference.

However, when talking about the "nightmare" R&A might have if Liv Golf's players win the 2022 Open, Slumbers politely said: "I think who is crowned will also be recorded in the history of the tournament. I will wait for congratulations at Green Hole 18. The Open always brings together the best players in the world, and I want to see who will be the best."

The R&A also discriminated against Liv golfers in groupings for the 2022 Open.

In the first two rounds, none of the Invitational had been scheduled to compete with their prominent colleagues at last year's tournament or last month's major U.S. Open, hosted by the U.S. Golf Association.

Mickelson has 45 PGA Tour titles, including six Grand Slam titles, including the first place in the 2013 Open, and is eligible to participate in two traditional events before this year's championship. The events included a championship celebration that interacted with young talent and private dinners for current and former champions.

But after the first round, Mickelson revealed that the R&A had advised him directly to drop both activities. "They said I could attend if I wanted to, but that's not a good idea. I could, too, as they want, because I don't want to create problems."

Despite his carefree attitude, the American golfer made it through two rounds at +5 and was knocked out when the line was at par.

The R&A's approach to Mickelson is considered more "polite" than Greg Norman-legendary golfer but leader of the Invitational Series. The R&A corrected the former champion's special qualifications to prevent Norman from entering the race list and directly denied him a ticket to the championship celebration.

Also on the opening day, Poulter, a veteran of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, was booed and ridiculed by the audience at the competition site. After almost crossing the baseline on the first shot, Poulter kept par and continued to play calmly before scoring the Eagles with a putt about 50 meters from the hole on the 9th. After the game, although Poulter insisted that he didn't care about things outside his profession, he added in an ironic tone: "I thought I would be warmly welcomed. Then when I went on stage, I only heard applause." Poulter also said that this may be his last time to participate in the Open.