Former world number one Dustin Johnson was a surprise inclusion alongside European Ryder Cup stalwarts Graeme McDowell, Sergio García, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer in the field for next week's inaugural LIV Golf Invitational near London.

Just 42 of the 48 man field were named overnight, leaving room for the likes of Phil Mickelson to play at the Centurion Club for a $25 million purse with $20 million reserved for the individual event and the winner set to pocket $4 million.

While the presence of McDowell (42) was expected, even if it could mean the end of his hopes of becoming Ryder Cup captain, the inclusion of two-time major winner Johnson (37) on a list that also features Louis Oosthuizen, the up and coming Talor Gooch, Martin Kaymer and Kevin Na is a surprise.

Johnson was an early supporter of Saudi golf but was understood to be staying put when he pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour in February.

But Johnson's agent, David Winkle, said on Tuesday evening his client never fully dismissed the offer.

"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."

Just four of the players announced are in the top 50 in the world with world number 13 Johnson the highest ranked ahead of Oosthuizen (20), Na (33) and Gooch (35).

The list includes 16 of the top 100.

The remaining six spots in the 48-player field will be announced on June 6 and could include Mickelson (51), who has lost a string of sponsors and has not played since the Fire Pit Collective published an interview in which he described the Saudis as "scary motherf*****s" but intimated he was using the Saudi-backed golf circuit as leverage against the PGA Tour.

Mickelson apologised for his “reckless” comments adding he would be taking time away from the sport.

The Californian has applied for a release from the PGA Tour for next week's event, which is the first in the circuit's eight-tournament series of 54-hole, no cut tournaments.

There will be shotgun starts at each and a team element where the 48 players are divided into 12 teams.

LIV Golf said: "The 42 players revealed today represent 11 different countries, have a combined eight major titles, include three former world No. 1 ranked players and comprise 26 of the top 150 golfers in the world, as well as leading players from across the worldwide professional Tours.

"The final six players will include Commissioner's invites and berths following the results of The Asian Tour International Series England tournament, June 2-5 at Slaley Hall. Announcements will be made by Monday, June 6."

LIV Golf Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman added: "Free agency has finally come to golf. 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.

"We couldn't be happier at the diversity of our field, featuring players from around the world including major champions and those making their debut with us competing in their first professional event. We can't wait to start our journey at Centurion Club with this group of first movers who are committed to growing the game in new and exciting ways."

There are another seven events planned, including five in the US - Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland (July 1-3), Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (July 29-31), The International in Boston (Sept. 2-4), Rich Harvest Farms outside Chicago (Sept. 16-18) and Trump Doral in Miami (Oct. 29-31) - as well as Stonehill Golf Club in Bangkok and Royal Greens Golf Club in Jeddah.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who has said he will suspend participants and possibly ban them for life, has already denied players conflicting event releases for next week.

LIV Golf Invitational field, Centurion Club, June 9-11:

• Oliver Bekker,

• Richard Bland,

• Laurie Canter,

• TK Chantananuwat (am),

• Hennie Du Plessis,

• Oliver Fisher,

• Sergio Garcia,

• Talor Gooch,

• Branden Grace,

• Justin Harding,

• Sam Horsfield,

• Dustin Johnson,

• Matt Jones,

• Sadom Kaewkanjana,

• Martin Kaymer,

• Phachara Khongwatmai,

• Sihwan Kim,

• Ryosuke Kinoshita,

• Chase Koepka,

• Jinichiro Kozuma,

• Pablo Larrazabal,

• Graeme McDowell,

• Jediah Morgan,

• Kevin Na,

• Shaun Norris,

• Andy Ogletree,

• Louis Oosthuizen,

• Wade Ormsby,

• Adrian Otaegui,

• Turk Pettit,

• James Piot (am),

• Ian Poulter,

• David Puig (am),

• JC Ritchie,

• Charles Schwartzel,

• Hudson Swafford,

• Hideto Tanihara,

• Peter Uihlein,

• Scott Vincent,

• Lee Westwood,

• Bernd Wiesberger,

• Blake Windred.