Wolff and Ortiz among latest to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf

The Saudi-funded LIV Golf series has added three more players to its roster for the second tournament in Oregon, a group that includes 23-year-old Matthew Wolff and Oklahoma State Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra.

LIV Golf was due to announce additional players at its inaugural event outside London three weeks ago. The big surprise was Brooks Koepka, who just a week before signing had fully supported the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf also said on Monday that Carlos Ortiz of Mexico would join, a week after signing Abraham Ancer of Mexico.

The 48-man field at Pumpkin Ridge in North Plains, Oregon, begins Thursday for another $20 million purse, with an additional $5 million prize fund for team competition. Charl Schwartzel won the inaugural event and his $4 million cash prize.

Wolff, who also played at Oklahoma State, had an instant impact on the PGA Tour when he turned pro at 20 and won the 3M Open in Minnesota in his third start. A year later, Wolff shot 65 in the last round to place fourth in the PGA Championship, and he had the 54-hole lead at Winged Foot at the US Open until he shot 75 on the final day and finished. six shots behind Bryson DeChambeau. .

Since then, Wolff has struggled to connect happiness with the scores he was posting, and he retired in 2021 for 10 months to deal with mental health issues. Once as high as world No. 12, he is now No. 77. His only top-20 finish this year was a tie for sixth at the Saudi international.

The additional signings – which include DeChambeau and Patrick Reed as the London event wrapped up – mean the LIV Golf Invitational will have eight of the top 50 in the world at Pumpkin Ridge, with top-ranked Dustin Johnson at No.16.

Ortiz, who is world No. 119, won his only PGA Tour title at the Houston Open in 2020.

The Portland event is the first of five scheduled LIV golf events in the United States, the first time PGA Tour members have competed on American soil in the same week as a PGA Tour event. The John Deere Classic has none of the top 50 in the world.

Players who participate in LIV Golf are suspended by the PGA Tour. Some of them, like Sergio Garcia and Johnson, resigned from their membership.