Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel has banked $4.75 million by winning the richest tournament in golf history, while the event’s Saudi backers faced renewed backlash after a 9/11 victims’ group called for American players to withdraw from the rebel series.

The Saudi-funded golf breakaway has started outside London, attempting to bring a sense of faux regal pageantry to the rebellion splitting the sport.

Phil Mickelson has returned to golf after four months out of public view and is facing severe scrutiny because of where he’s playing and who is paying him.

The stars of the new Saudi-funded golf league have tried to fend off concerns about human rights abuses and signing up to accept hundreds of millions of dollars despite the risk of being banned from long-standing events.

Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson says he has resigned his PGA Tour membership to participate in the new golf series backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.