LIV Golf: Eight players stranded due to war in the Middle East

From preparation to war zone: while the LIV Golf is set to tee off in Hong Kong on Thursday, eight professionals in the Gulf region are struggling with canceled flights and closed airspace. Following the military escalations between the USA, Israel and Iran, the participation of prominent names such as Lee Westwood and Adrian Meronk is in doubt.

Preparations for the third event of the LIV season in Hong Kong were abruptly interrupted at the weekend. What was planned as a relaxed training session under the Dubai sun turned into a logistical dead end for a group of eight players. This was due to the heavy air strikes by the USA and Israel against Iran and the subsequent Iranian retaliatory attacks, which brought air traffic in the entire region to a standstill.

Here you can find the leaderboard of the Hong Kong event of LIV Golf.

"The world has come apart at the seams"

The 21-year-old American Caleb Surratt describes his experiences in particularly dramatic terms. In a text message to the Golf Channel, the talent from Jon Rahm's "Legion XIII" team described the moment the escalation began last Saturday: "The world just fell apart at the seams. It was terrifying."

While Surratt reports that the situation in Dubai calmed down again on Tuesday with "people walking around normally", the skies above them remained largely empty. According to reports from the portal Golfweek, based on recent flight data, almost all direct flights from Dubai to Hong Kong were canceled into Wednesday. A massive corridor in the airspace remains closed for safety reasons.

Majestick's GC hit particularly hard

The list of stranded players reads like a "Who's Who" of the European golf scene. In addition to Surratt and his teammate Tom McKibbin, the "Majesticks" are particularly affected: With Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter, three of the team's regular players are missing. Poland's Adrian Meronk (Cleeks GC), Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) and Anirban Lahiri (Crushers GC) are also stuck in the region.

The information about the exact whereabouts comes primarily from the insider account Flushing It, which first reported on the plight of the eight professionals.

Escape route via Oman?

With Dubai airport largely out of action as a hub, the players are looking for creative solutions. Surratt told the Golf Channel that he was trying to reach neighboring Muscat in Oman by land in order to fly from there to Hong Kong via Thailand.

But the clock is ticking relentlessly: with a pure flight time of around eight hours and a time difference of four hours ahead in Hong Kong, the players would have to be in the air by early Wednesday morning at the latest in order not to miss the shotgun start on Thursday.

Uncertainty among the league management

LIV Golf has not yet officially commented on the situation. What is clear, however, is that the league is under pressure. According to Golfweek and the Daily Mail, some replacement players are already in Hong Kong, but whether they will be enough to complete the field of 57 players in the event of a massive loss of stars remains questionable.

For the players concerned, it's about more than just ranking points. As the example of other athletes shows - tennis star Daniil Medvedev and several national cricket teams were also stranded in the region - sport is secondary to the volatile security situation in the Middle East at the moment.