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While six-time major champion Mickelson was not currently on the
field list, he could still tee it up June 9-11 at the Centurion
Club outside London as six spots in the 48-player event remain
open.
Among the other notables included are former world number ones
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, as well as European Ryder Cup
veteran Ian Poulter.
The final six players will be announced at a later date, LIV
Golf said.
World number 13 Johnson, a two-times major champion, is the
highest-ranked player in a field that currently includes 26 of
the top 150 golfers in the world.
"Free agency has finally come to golf," said LIV Golf CEO Greg
Norman.
"This is an opportunity to start a movement that will change the
course of history by bringing new and open competition to the
sport we all love.
"The desire shown by the players to participate in LIV Golf
demonstrates their emphatic belief in our model and confidence
in what we're building for the future."
Mickelson has been linked to LIV Golf for months but has been on
a self-imposed hiatus from the sport since February -- even
skipping his title defence at the PGA Championship -- amid
backlash over comments he made about the breakaway tour.
The 51-year-old Mickelson's public image took a hit when the
author of an unauthorised biography said the American golfer
told him he was willing to look past Saudi Arabia's human rights
record to gain economic leverage over the PGA Tour.
Both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have recently declined all
requests from members who had asked for releases to compete at
Centurion, where $25 million is up for grabs, including $4
million for the winner.
It is unknown whether those competing in the lucrative breakaway
circuit's first event, which is being held opposite the PGA
Tour's Canadian Open -- where the winner will get $1.57 million
from an $8.7 million purse -- will face punishment.
Organisers of the Canadian Open said they were disappointed with
Johnson, who was expected to play in Toronto and is an
ambassador for RBC, the title sponsors of the tournament.
"Together with our partners at RBC, we are disappointed to learn
at this late stage that Dustin Johnson has made the decision to
play the LIV Golf event," they said in a statement.
"As a past RBC Canadian Open champion, Canadian golf fans were
looking forward to DJ's return this year."
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Mickelson, who has 45 PGA Tour wins, has not played on the
U.S.-based circuit since January and last competed in early
February at an Asian Tour event in Saudi Arabia.
Johnson, who in February said he was "fully committed" to the
PGA Tour, ultimately decided the opportunity was too good to
pass up, his agent David Winkle told Golf Channel.
"Dustin's been contemplating this for the past two years and
decided it was in his and his family's best interest to pursue
it," Winkle said.
"He's never had any issue with the PGA Tour and is grateful for
all it's given him but in the end felt this was too compelling
to pass up."
(Additional reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles and Dhruv
Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Coates)
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