Saudi International field to be identical to DP World Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship strength

LIV Golf players are deprived of OWGR points, but they maintain a strong presence on the field. The newly formed series players are queuing up for the upcoming Saudi International Tournament next month, whose field is reported to have identical strength to this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Tournament.

LIV golfers are still barred from competing on the historic PGA Tour but are permitted to compete on the European Tour until the hearing of the ongoing legal battle.

A few LIV golfers, including Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, and Patrick Reed, will join the DP World Tour players in the UAE. They will also be playing at the Saudi International, which is now part of the Asian Tour, following their sour relationship with the DP and PGA Tour.

A fan Twitter account that goes by the name Nosferatu claimed that the strength of the field in both tournaments is projected to match one another.

It is worth noting that 20 players from the tumultuous series will compete in the Saudi International, which serves as the backroll for the LIV Golf. The three golfers are previous winners of the Saudi International Tournament.

Meanwhile, the legal battle is still on, and the court will probably release its verdict this year, unveiling the future of the players at the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour events.

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PGA Tour players receive waivers to compete at the Saudi International

Since the inception of the Saudi International in 2019, most of the golfers playing on the PGA Tour have competed in the championship.

While Saudi International has connected with the controversial LIV Golf, which was allegedly accused of peeling away dozens of PGA Tour players by offering incentives and undeniable amounts to golfers, the tour has maintained a distance from Saudi officials.

According to Golf Weekly, some PGA Tour players received waivers to compete alongside LIV Golf players in Saudi Arabia in February.

Cameron Smith, the PGA Tour's reigning Rookie of the Year, is rumored to be playing at the Saudi International event alongside Cameron Champ and Lucas Herbert. Three Korn Ferry Tour players have received permission.

Notably, Davis Holman, Herbert's agent, confirmed that he would compete with LIV golfers in February. He released a statement saying:

"He (Lucas) has played the event in the past, enjoys the golf course, and it fits well into his playing schedule following the Dubai Desert Classic."

The Saudi International is set to take place from February 2 to 5 at Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City.

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2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship field

• Issa Abou El Ela
• Marcus Armitage
• Adri Arnaus
• Oliver Bekker
• Wil Besseling
• Alexander Björk
• Thomas Bjørn
• Richard Bland
• Dan Bradbury
• Julien Brun
• Rafa Cabrera Bello
• Jorge Campillo
• John Catlin
• Aaron Cockerill
• George Coetzee
• Nicolas Colsaerts
• Sean Crocker
• Jens Dantorp
• Louis De Jager
• Luke Donald
• Jamie Donaldson
• Hennie Du Plessis
• Victor Dubuisson
• Nacho Elvira
• El Mehdi Fakori
• Ewen Ferguson
• Ross Fisher
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Grant Forrest
• Ryan Fox
• Jeremy Freiburghaus
• Daniel Gavins
• Gavin Green
• Julien Guerrier
• Chase Hanna
• Justin Harding
• Padraig Harrington
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Marcus Helligkilde
• Angel Hidalgo
• Calum Hill
• Daniel Hillier
• Nicolai Højgaard
• Rasmus Højgaard
• Sam Horsfield
• Daan Huizing
• Oliver Hundebøll
• Scott Jamieson
• Jazz Janewattananond
• Matthew Jordan
• Masahiro Kawamura
• Maximilian Kieffer
• Nathan Kimsey
• Marcus Kinhult
• Søren Kjeldsen
• Alexander Knappe
• Espen Kofstad
• Mikko Korhonen
• Jacques Kruyswijk
• Joakim Lagergren
• Pablo Larrazábal
• David Law
• Thriston Lawrence
• Min Woo Lee
• Alexander Levy
• Haotong Li
• Mikael Lindberg
• Yan Wei Liu
• Zander Lombard
• Hurly Long
• Shane Lowry
• Joost Luiten
• Robert MacIntyre
• Richard Mansell
• Adrian Meronk
• Guido Migliozzi
• Edoardo Molinari
• Francesco Molinari
• James Morrison
• Lukas Nemecz
• Alex Noren
• Niklas Nørgaard
• Thorbjørn Olesen
• Adrian Otaegui
• Yannik Paul
• Matthieu Pavon
• Eddie Pepperell
• Victor Perez
• Thomas Pieters
• Ian Poulter
• Seamus Power
• Tapio Pulkkanen
• Richie Ramsay
• Patrick Reed
• JC Ritchie
• Antoine Rozner
• Kalle Samooja
• Marcel Schneider
• Jason Scrivener
• Shubhankar Sharma
• Callum Shinkwin
• Jordan Smith
• Sebastian Söderberg
• Matthew Southgate
• Henrik Stenson
• Sepp Straka
• Ockie Strydom
• Andy Sullivan
• Connor Syme
• Santiago Tarrio
• Sami Välimäki
• Darius Van Driel
• Johannes Veerman
• Nicolai Von Dellingshausen
• Matt Wallace
• Jeunghun Wang
• Paul Waring
• Marc Warren
• Lee Westwood
• Dale Whitnell
• Bernd Wiesberger
• Oliver Wilson
• Jeff Winther
• Ashun Wu
• Fabrizio Zanotti