Golf players in the controversial LIV tournament - which began in the St Albans area - cannot renew their memberships to the prestigious PGA Tour.

Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Pat Perez are among the golf stars who have chosen to play in the new LIV tournament which launched at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire, in June 2022.

They are suspended members of the PGA Tour - which includes the US Open and British Open championships - but will not be able to renew their membership for 2022/23 if they continue to play the LIV format, Sports Illustrated reported on Friday, September 2.

The American sports magazine has published an extract of a letter which Kirsten Burgess, PGA Tour's vice president, sent to golfers who currently belong to both tournaments.

She wrote: "The terms of your contractual commitments to LIV Golf prohibit you from satisfying the material obligations set forth in the regulations and make clear that you have no intention to, and indeed cannot comply with these requirements of membership in the PGA Tour.

"The Tour cannot enter into a membership agreement with a player when, as here, it reasonably anticipates the player will not perform the material obligations under that agreement.

"Accordingly, your PGA Tour membership cannot and will not be renewed for the 2022-2023 PGA Tour season."

In June, the PGA Tour decided to suspend members who chose the play the LIV format.

In August, Mickelson, DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Ian Poulter and Peter Uihelin challenged the validity of this suspension.

They filed a lawsuit - backed by LIV Golf - into the US District Court of the Northern District of California, questioning whether their suspensions were in line with American antitrust and monopolies legislation.

Part of the Mickelson vs PGA Tour Incorporated complaint reads: "As the Tour’s monopoly power has grown, it has employed its dominance to craft an arsenal of anticompetitive restraints to protect its long-standing monopoly.

"Now, threatened by the entry of LIV Golf, and diametrically opposed to its founding mission, the Tour has ventured to harm the careers and livelihoods of any golfers who have the temerity to defy the Tour and play in tournaments sponsored by the new entrant."

LIV is financially backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

It was launched on June 9, 2022, in Hertfordshire.

Each event combines team and individual championships.

In its first instalment, South African golfer Charl Schwartzel scooped a $4.75 million prize after winning both the individual event and the team championship.

Schwartzel's winning Team Stinger comprised himself, Hennie Du Plessis, Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen.

After the St Albans event, players travelled to the US and appeared at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon and at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey.

September's events are taking place in Greater Boston (September 2-4) and in Illinois (September 16-18).

LIV Golf Bangkok is set to take between October 7 and 9, LIV Golf Jeddah from October 14-16 with the final event, LIV Golf Miami, scheduled for October 27-30.

The PGA Tour 2022/23 is set to begin on September 12 with the Fortinet Championship at the Silverado Resort and Spa in California.

The previous Tour (2021/22) ended on August 28.

Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy won the season's final Tour Championship, held at at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.