JERSEY CITY, NJ ( Associated Press) — Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Michael Phelps and Ben Roethlisberger are among the names in golf’s latest experiment.
For those who are tired of the feud between the PGA and the LIV golf series, Tom Brooks has something that might be of interest.
The CEO of Icons Series will bring a two-day tournament to Liberty National Course featuring 24 professional athletes from all disciplines for a Ryder Cup-style competition.
It will begin on Thursday with two-time major winner Fred Couples leading the American team against four-time major champion Ernie Els and the rest of the world.
Players include Football Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Michael Strahan, recently retired Steelers quarterback Roethlisberger, Olympic champion swimmer Phelps, immortal baseball player John Smoltz, boxer Mexican Alvarez, Tottenham striker Harry Kane, recently retired tennis player Ash Barty and retired Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is involved.
“I think golf is so relevant right now after the pandemic, and even more so, it needs innovation and an injection of fresh air,” Brooks acknowledged Wednesday. “There is a huge divide and fracture in golf right now. We want to do the opposite. We want to bring together the icons of all sports, bring people together, come together and enjoy a recreational product like golf. want to take.”
This will be the third edition of the Icon series. The first was in Dubai in 2015 and the second in England in 2017. An event was planned for 2019 in Japan, but was canceled due to a tsunami and earthquake. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the event from taking place in 2021, and Brooks said it was a last-minute decision to do so this year.
However he indicated that Prateek signed deals for the next two years with Liberty National, which hosted the 2017 President’s Cup and the first of four PGA Tour postseason events.
“I think we’ve stayed away from celebrities and focused on athletes who are super-competitive in their DNA and try to humanize them with different sports,” Brooks said.
