Live Golf Is Coming Back To Free-To-Air TV Next Week

The controversial but star-studded Saudi event will be shown free of charge for golf fans in the UK & Ireland

Saudi International To Be Broadcast Live On Free-To-Air TV
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Saudi International will be shown live on free-to-air TV for viewers tuning in from the UK and Ireland. 

FreeSports will broadcast live action across the four days as some of the biggest names in golf assemble to take on the challenge of the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City from February 3-6.

Dustin Johnson returns to defend his title, but will face stiff competition from the star-studded line-up set to descend upon Jeddah for the controversial Asian Tour event. Johnson will be joined in Saudi Arabia by a host of fellow major champions including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Shane Lowry

Also competing for a share of the $5million total prize are Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Paul Casey, among others.

The event has been mired in controversy since it was first added to what was formerly the European Tour schedule in 2019, with many seeing it as an attempt to ‘sportswash’ Saudi Arabia’s much-publicised human rights record.

It now headlines the new-look Asian Tour, which has been boosted by a $200m investment from LIV Golf Investments (LGI), a new start-up company funded by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

Greg Norman was recently appointed the CEO of LGI and has been tasked with coaxing some of the sport’s biggest names to join the Super Golf League. 

FreeSports is owned by Premier Sports and is available on Sky HD Channel 422, Virgin TV HD Channel 553, Freeview Channel 64, BT/TalkTalk Channel 64 and online via the FreeSports Player.

Andrew Wright
Staff Writer

A lifelong golf fan, Andy graduated in 2019 with a degree in Sports Journalism and got his first role in the industry as the Instruction Editor for National Club Golfer. From there, he went on to enjoy a spell freelancing for Stats Perform producing football reports, and then for RacingNews365 covering Formula 1. However, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to get back into the sport he grew up watching and playing and now covers a mixture of equipment, instruction and news for Golf Monthly's website and print title.


Andy took up the game at the age of seven and even harboured ambitions of a career in the professional ranks for a spell. That didn’t pan out, but he still enjoys his weekend golf at Royal Troon and holds a scratch handicap. As a side note, he's made five holes-in-one and could quite possibly be Retief Goosen’s biggest fan.


As well as the above, some of Andy's work has featured on websites such as goal.com, dailyrecord.co.uk, and theopen.com.


What's in Andy's bag?

Driver: Callaway Mavrik Sub-Zero (9°)

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15°)

Driving iron: Titleist U500 (17°)

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro '19 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50°, 54° and 58°)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider X

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x