LIV Golfers Barred From Exclusive Pro-Am Featuring Many Top Pros

Seminole, a highly exclusive country club in Juno Beach, Fla., has taken a stance on the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. 

The club hosts an annual Pro-Member event that typically attracts a large contingent of the world's top players, but many of them won’t be in attendance this year. According to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, Seminole’s president, Jimmy Dunne, will not welcome LIV Golf members to play. 

“We are doing what we have always done. PGA Tour players get the first priority. This event has always been supported by the PGA Tour. We try to make this a special and unique day for Tour players,” Dunne told Golfweek.

The high-profile event fittingly takes place the day after the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic concludes at PGA National, just a short drive away from Seminole. Last year, the field included pros like Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Nelly Korda and Nancy Lopez, who teamed up with VIP members such as Tom Brady and NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua.

Dunne’s decision is hardly surprising. The game of golf saved Dunne’s life: on 9/11, he was away from his desk, attempting to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Dunne’s office was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, at Sandler O’Neill (now Piper Sandler). 

Additionally, Dunne was recently appointed to the PGA Tour’s board. 

In light of the Saudi-backed league’s emergence, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg interviewed Dunne in June about his opinion on golf’s new landscape.

“I would not be the fairest judge of Saudi involvement,” Dunne said. 

“I don’t like it when they say they’re ‘growing the game,’” he continued. “That’s crap. I don’t even like it when they say, ‘I have to do what’s best for my family.’ I really wonder how many of those guys, the lifestyle that they were living was so horrible that their family needed them to do this. Just say, ‘I’m at a point in my career where I (want to) make five times as much money against much weaker competition and play less.’ Just tell the truth. Don’t cover it with a lot of crap.”

Dunne has previously competed in the Pro-Member event alongside some of the very players who he won’t welcome at this year’s event. Last year, Dunne and Dustin Johnson played together, but this year, the club president will partner with Max Homa.