Major champions Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson have confirmed their participation in next year’s Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers, which is being from February 4-7, 2021.
Joining the three Major winners already announced – World No.1 Dustin Johnson, 2020 US Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau and defending champion Graeme McDowell – a total of nine Major champions will be amongst the field at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
Lowry, Rose, Stenson, Garcia and McDowell will all look to start the year off on a positive note and make strides towards securing their places in the 2021 European Ryder Cup team.
Lowry has made no secret of his ambition to qualify for his first Ryder Cup, commenting; “I really do want to get off to a fast start in 2021 and try and secure my place in the team early if possible. I can’t imagine how stressful it will be if I am outside qualifying for the team as we get closer to the final qualifying events. The Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers is going to be huge week for us all in terms of the strength of field and world ranking points available with so many of the world’s top ranked playing, so a decent finish is going to make a major impact on our qualification chances.”
The American major champion contingent will also have their eyes both on the trophy and on a place on the American Ryder Cup team, with Mickelson returning for a second consecutive year, while Reed returns for a third time.
Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi, said: “This is another fantastic group of world-class names to announce and we are delighted to be able to play a part in helping illustrate that Saudi Arabia is open and able to host important sporting events.
“I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all of our partners and sponsors, as we work together towards the goal of making our tournament amongst the world’s best. We still have many more star names to announce and look forward to continuing to share our field additions in the coming weeks.”
The men’s event will be Saudi Arabia’s third professional golf tournament in the space of three months. The Kingdom is due to host back-to-back LET tournaments next month – the $1million Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF, taking place November 12-15, and the $500,000 Saudi Ladies Team International from November 17-19.