As of Tuesday, eight LIV Golf players reportedly have been unable to fly out of the Middle East ahead of this week’s tournament in Hong Kong.
Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Sam Horsfield, Anirban Lahiri, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Caleb Surratt and Lee Westwood were practicing in Dubai before Saturday’s U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran led to canceled flights and airport closures throughout the region, Flushing It reported.
Golf Channel exchanged text messages with Surratt, 21, who plays for the LIV Golf team Legion XIII.
“(The) world just came undone on Saturday,” Surrat wrote on Tuesday morning. “It was terrifying. But since then, it’s been OK. It was bad Sunday and Monday here with missile interceptions, but all day today was fine.”
Surratt described Tuesday in Dubai as “totally normal life, people walking around and such.”
Surratt and other golfers are trying to catch a flight out of Dubai or perhaps from Muscat, in neighboring Oman, in time for the start of the Hong Kong tournament Thursday. The league has reserve players who could potentially substitute in if needed.
The U.S. State Department has urged American citizens to leave the region, however CNN reported Tuesday that a “wide corridor of airspace” in the Middle East remains closed to air traffic.
Westwood, Horsfield and Canter are teammates on the Majesticks. McKibbin is also part of Legion XIII, while Meronk plays for Cleeks GC, Detry for the 4Aces and Lahiri for Crushers GC.
–Field Level Media
