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Lee Westwood was one of the first LIV players to react to receiving world ranking points.
Eight pros on the LIV Golf circuit could miss an upcoming tournament in Hong Kong because they are stuck in the Middle East.
Tom Hobbs of Flushing It posted to the X platform on Tuesday that the golfers who were practising in Dubai ahead of the big event may not make it to the tournament due to flight cancellations. Golfers are stuck in different locations en route to Hong Kong, including Dubai, according to the initial report.
Thousands of international flights have been disrupted and cancelled amid air strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran. Reuters reported Sunday that airports across the Middle East, including in Dubai, were restricted and targeted in retaliatory strikes. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that tens of thousands of passengers were still trying to leave the region amid flight cancellations.
Which LIV Golf Members Are Stranded
8 players on the LIV Golf League are still in the Middle East and yet to make it to Hong Kong for the 3rd event of the season after flights were cancelled and airports closed due to the ongoing war.
Those players are:
Lee Westwood
Laurie Canter
Sam Horsfield
Adrian Meronk
Lee Westwood, Laurie Canter, Sam Horsfield, Thomas Detry, Adrian Meronk, Tom McKibbin, Anirban Lahiri, and Caleb Surratt are the players stuck en route to the LIV Golf event. Westwood, Canter and Horsfield all play on the same LIV Golf team, per Golf Digest, although it’s unclear if they are stranded at the same airport.
The initial report said some of the stranded LIV Golf contingent would be flying out of Dubai International Airport. Others were scheduled to fly out of Oman to Thailand, then to Hong Kong. Per Golf Week, the estimated flight time from both locations to Hong Kong is eight hours.
There are reportedly alternates in place to fill in if any of the eight golfers can’t make opening tee times at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. It has not been reported who those eight golfers could be, or what could happen if an entire team cannot make it to Hong Kong. Round 1 is scheduled to tee off at 12:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, March 5.
As of 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, LIV Golf had not released a statement about the stranded golfers.
LIV Golf’s International Schedule
If the fallout in the Middle East continues, it could be hard for even more LIV golfers to get from point A to point B. The Saudi-backed league features a heavily international 14-event calendar that spans 10 countries.
The shorter calendar, compared to the PGA Tour’s 34-event schedule, drew in golfers who thought they could spend more time with their families. However, the bulk of international travel has worn on some members. The 2026 LIV calendar includes stops in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, South Africa, and the UK.
“You’re not doing a month on the road anymore,” said former LIV participant Brooks Koepka, via Todays Golfer. “You know, life does go on when we’re not playing golf. And there’s some things we miss at home – friends, family, a lot of birthdays. It would just be nice to be home a little bit more.”
LIV Golf also made rule changes in 2023 to cut back on league spending, putting individual teams in charge of their own travel expenses.
Chelena Goldman Chelena is a San Francisco-based sports writer and reporter covering multiple sports for heavy.com. The former NHL.com and NBC Sports writer spent 11 years covering the San Jose Sharks, while also covering sporting events locally and internationally. Her other major credits include CBS Sports and Athlon. More about Chelena Goldman
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