Apr 9, 2022; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Bubba Watson moves about the practice facility during the third round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY Sports

The PGA had itself quite a weekend when Tiger Woods played in the 2022 Masters and all of the golf world’s eyes were on Augusta National.

It wasn’t that long ago however that a strong push from some of the world’s top golfers to leave the PGA for the Saudi-backed Super Golf League (or LIV Tour). While league CEO Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson came out strongly in support of the move (in Phil’s case, a little too strongly), many other pro golfers opted to remain with the PGA, effectively cutting the nascent golf league off at the knees.

However, plans appear to be moving forward for the league and it’s expected that they will announce the initial list of golfers on board, including two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson as well as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Kevin Na.

“We’ve respected the Masters and let it go off, but now our journey is finally coming to fruition —for the players, not for me,” Norman told The Telegraph. “Their rightful place to have what they want. That’s why they are still very, very, very interested. We have players signed, contrary to the white noise you’re hearing out there.

“The interest level we’ve had… well, I had a player who’s won a couple of major championships sitting in my very office here 48 hours ago.”

According to the report, the league almost made an announcement a few months back that would have also included Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and Phil Mickelson. However, when Mickelson made some distasteful comments about the human rights violations of Saudi Arabia, the plan blew up and some of the golfers retracted their support.

The eight-event Super Golf League tour will start in about two months at the Centurion Club in St. Albans outside London and will include various U.S. courses as well, including Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.

Watson, for his part, says he still has plenty of PGA events on his 2022 calendar. That’s notable because the PGA has said that anyone who joins the Saudi league would not be allowed to participate in PGA tour events.

Watson’s public refutation of the report certainly has a lot of golf fans wondering what’s going on.

This would certainly make it seem as though Watson is, for now, still playing in the PGA, and refuting Norman’s reports. But we’ll see how this all shakes out as the golf world continues to make lots of headlines over these dueling interests.

[The Telegraph,, Bubba Watson]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.