Reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young, Cameron Champ and Lucas Herbert are three players believed to have been granted permission to compete in next month’s Saudi International.
According to Golfweek, the three players sought and were granted releases from the PGA Tour although the Tour declined to reveal the exact number or names of those who requested releases to play in the PIF Saudi International.
Young is the standout name of the three having registered five runner-up finishes including at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews where a closing eagle saw him finish a shot adrift of LIV golfer Cameron Smith.
The Wake Forest graduate earned over $6 million in his rookie PGA Tour campaign and was heavily linked with a move to the Public Investment Fund backed LIV Golf.
Australian golfer Herbert has appeared in the last three editions of the Saudi International and his agent Davis Holman told Golfweek that his client enjoys the golf course at King Abdullah Economic City and the tournament fits in well with his plans to play the Dubai Desert Classic.
Herbert won the 2021 Irish Open before winning the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour in October of that year.
The 27-year-old, of course, would have not needed to seek a waiver to play in the Saudi International in previous years given it was once a sanctioned DP World Tour event having been established in 2019 and previously won by Graeme McDowell.
Champ, a three-time PGA Tour winner is a surprise inclusion given he has emerged as a prominent voice for racial equality in golf. The 2023 Saudi International is not listed as one of LIV Golf’s events, instead taking a spot on the Asian Tour schedule.
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