Schwartzel wins LIV jackpot $6.74 million
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Charl Schwartzel with his inaugural LIV Golf Invitational trophy that's earned him $US 4.75 million.
Charl Schwartzel has banked the single biggest one-tournament payday in golf annals, scooping $US4.75 million ($A6.74 m) as the winner of the richest tournament in golf history, the inaugural LIV Invitational series event.
But the Greg Norman-fronted event's Saudi backers faced a renewed backlash after a 9/11 victims' group called on Saturday for American players to withdraw from the rebel series.
The 2011 Masters champ Schwartzel held on for a one-shot victory at the Centurion club, north of London, to secure the $US4 million ($A5.7 million) prize for the individual victory.
The South African also pocketed another $US750,000 ($A1.1 million) for being a part of the four-man outfit who won the team event.
He collected more prize money from the three-day, 54-hole event than he had from the last four years combined.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could play for that much money in golf," said Schwartzel, who had not won a PGA or European Tour event since 2016.
He entered the final day with a three-shot lead and did just enough to hold off compatriot Hennie Du Plessis despite finishing with a two-over 72 for a seven-under total of 203.
Twenty players have now defected from the PGA Tour, with former Masters champ Patrick Reed the latest, confirming on Saturday, as the final round was being completed, that he'd signed up to LIV Golf.
Pat Perez, the 46-year-old American ranked 168th in the world, also joined the breakaway on Saturday, saying he wants to travel less after 21 years on the PGA Tour.
But Saudi Arabia's track record of human rights violations has sparked criticism from groups, including Amnesty International, that the country is "sportswashing" its image by investing in signing up sports stars.
LIV Golf CEO Norman, who would not speak to the media at the event, called the series a "force for good" in a speech at the victory ceremony, without addressing criticism of the Saudi project.
For many in the US, Saudi Arabia will forever be associated with the collapse of the World Trade Towers and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.
All but four of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi citizens, and the Saudi kingdom was the birthplace of Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaida and mastermind of the attack.
Terry Strada, the national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, has sent a letter to representatives of LIV Golf stars calling on them to reconsider their participation in the series.
Her husband, Tom, died when a hijacked plane flew into the World Trade Center.
"Given Saudi Arabia's role in the death of our loved ones and those injured on 9/11 -- your fellow Americans -- we are angered that you are so willing to help the Saudis cover up this history in their request for 'respectability,'" Strada wrote, accusing the players of betraying US interests.
Strada's letter was sent to agents for Reed as well as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Na.
"When you partner with the Saudis, you become complicit with their whitewash, and help give them the reputational cover they so desperately crave -- and are willing to pay handsomely to manufacture," Strada wrote.
"The Saudis ... care about using professional golf to whitewash their reputation, and they are paying you to help them do it."
