(Bloomberg). — Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson were among 17 golfers to be suspended by the PGA Tour. The tour takes a tough stance against its members joining a breakaway league.

Tour players participating in the new league formed by LIV Golf Investment, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have been notified that they are suspended from PGA Tour tournament play, Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo Thursday.

“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons. But they can’t demand the same PGA Tour membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you,” Monahan wrote in the letter addressed to PGA Tour members.

The Centurion Club, outside London, will host the first round of the new league’s inaugural tournament.

Johnson and Mickelson, both big-names in the game, have pledged loyalty to the league and received huge money for it. According to The Golf Channel, Mickelson agreed to a contract worth around $200 million. Johnson received 100 million pounds for his participation in the league.

Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, and Graeme McDowell are other prominent golfers. Other PGA Tour golfers have also been mentioned but have yet not publicly committed to the league.

Each of the seven regular season events scheduled for LIV Golf’s 2022 season has a purse of $25 million. There’s also a $30 million prize for the top individual performers over the course of the season and a final event where teams will battle for a $50 million pot.

Players have faced criticism for participating because of the Saudi-backed league’s record on human rights.

The USGA, which oversees next week’s U.S. Open, announced Tuesday that those qualified to play in the major won’t be prevented from teeing it up because of their participation in the LIV event.

In an effort to compete with LIV’s huge purses, the Tour awarded $40 million to the top players who generated positive interest last year. It’s offering the same program this year, but with a $50 million pot. In 2022, the Tour will increase official prize money by $60 Million from last year.

Tiger Woods, who won the Tour’s impact program last year, turned down a “high nine digits” offer to join the new league, Greg Norman, the new league’s chief executive, told the Washington Post.

More: Tiger Woods wins $8 million PGA Prize without ever playing

Monahan wouldn’t commit to whether or not players participating in the new league would ever be able to return after “willfully violating a regulation.”

(Additional commentary by Monahan: Mickelson and Johnson suspend to headline, first paragraph.

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