Justin Rose will play at the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia, while Tiger Woods and Paul Casey have both declined to participate. Photos / Photosport
Justin Rose will play at the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia, while Tiger Woods and Paul Casey have both declined to participate. Photos / Photosport
Justin Rose, the world No 1, has defended his decision to appear in this week's Saudi Arabia International after one of America's leading golf analysts accused the top players of being "ventriloquists for an abhorrent regime".
Brandel Chamblee, the former PGA Tour winner did not hold back when asked aboutthe tournament that will feature four of the world's top five, pointing the finger not only at the Tour but at the golfers themselves for taking huge appearance fees.
And when unleashing his tirade, Chamblee praised another English golfer in Paul Casey, who has revealed he will not be at the kingdom's first top-flight event because of "human rights violations", including the killing and dismembering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi embassy three months ago. Telegraph Sport recently revealed that Tiger Woods also turned down more than £2 million to play.
"To turn a blind eye to the butchering of a media member in some way euphemises the egregious atrocity that not only took place with the Jamal Khashoggi murder but what goes on there all the time," Chamblee said on the Golf Channel. "It is a PR stunt… Non-participation — and I applaud Paul Casey — in some marginal way makes a statement about human rights. By participating, [the players] are ventriloquists for this abhorrent, reprehensible regime.
"I cannot imagine what economic incentive it would take to get me to go to a place that is so egregiously on the wrong side of human rights. I don't think they fully understand what they are doing. I don't understand it from an economic point of view, I don't understand it from a business point of view, and I don't understand it from a moral point of view. They are legitimising and enriching the rulers of this regime. I won't even watch it on the TV. They should not be there."
Golf analyst and former pro Brandel Chamblee. Photo / Photosport
It is understood that Rose, who on Sunday won the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open to cement his position at the head of the game's rankings, is receiving up to £1m to compete.
The 38-year-old will arrive at the course, two hours north of Jeddah, on Tuesday morning after a 27-hour journey, having left San Diego immediately following his success. But Rose claimed the trip is not just about the money.
"I'm not a politician, I'm a pro golfer," Rose said after the two-shot victory. "There are other reasons to go play it. It's a good field, there's going to be a lot of world ranking points to play for, by all accounts it's a good golf course and it will be an experience to experience Saudi Arabia."
Rose will be joined at the Royal Greens Country Club on the Saudi west coast by Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, as well as Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia. The prize fund is £2.7m, but in order to entice the big names, sources have revealed that more than £4m has been paid out in appearance fees.
The kingdom's mission to attract the headlines as it seeks to project the positive image of a modernising regime has also been evidenced by the announcement that singer Mariah Carey will perform a concert following the first day's play.
Keith Pelley, the European Tour's chief executive, has defended the tournament as well, saying on Sunday that he had "no second thoughts" about staging the event.
"We have an excellent relationship with the Middle East, and it's very important," Pelley said. "We can't play anywhere in Europe this time of year. The Middle East becomes very important to us, from a climate perspective, to the ease of travel, to the quality of golf courses.
"Our main focus is on the safety and security of our players and staff. Like many global companies who operate in the region, we monitored the situation. … Having looked at that – and having done our due diligence in terms of the safety and security – we're obviously moving forward and looking forward to this new chapter on the European Tour."
