Nfter the completely unexpected alliance of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour with the previously enemy LIV Tour, financed from Saudi Arabia, many golf professionals are horrified and incomprehensible. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, until recently the two most prominent defenders of the old world of golf and the PGA Tour, initially did not comment on Tuesday – others, on the other hand, did not hold back their frustration and anger. PGA boss Jay Monahan had to be insulted as a hypocrite in a meeting with players on the sidelines of the Canadian Open in Toronto, as reported by US media, citing participants.
“I feel betrayed and (…) won’t be able to trust anyone on the corporate side of the PGA for a very long time,” Wesley Bryan tweeted. Byeong Hun An wrote, “I suspect the LIV teams had trouble finding sponsorship and the PGA Tour couldn’t turn down the money. Win-win for the two tours, but it’s a big loss for everyone who has defended the tour for the past two years.”
Players learn about it on the Internet
Even before the golf tours announced the completely unexpected “groundbreaking agreement to standardize the sport of golf” in a statement on Tuesday, many players found out about the turn of events on the Internet and reacted with pique. “I love finding morning news on Twitter,” wrote two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa. Michael Kim said: “Very curious how many people knew this deal was going through. About 5-7 people? It’s a player-run organization, right?”
According to the announcement, a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund (PIF), previously involved in the LIV Tour, is now also a shareholder in a new joint organization. “After two years of unrest and confusion, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA Tour chief Monahan. “This will usher in a new era in global golf – for the better.” Phil Mickleson, who was criticized more than probably no other golfer for his move to the LIV Tour, expressed himself positively. “Great day today,” he wrote.
With the agreement to work together in the future, all pending legal disputes between the parties involved were ended by mutual agreement. In addition, after the 2023 season, opportunities should be created for players to return from the LIV Tour to the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.
The LIV tournaments have been criticized since their debut in June 2022 because of the millions invested from Saudi Arabia. The background is that the country, which has been criticized for human rights violations, is trying to improve its image with lucrative sporting events. Numerous top golfers followed the call of money and switched to the competing series – including the German Martin Kaymer. Now the Saudi state fund PIF (Public Investment Fund) is part of a new company that is to bundle the business of the tours. A name for the new organization, which also aims to further promote the team format introduced by the LIV Tour, is yet to be announced.
9/11 Victim Families Criticize Deal
Meanwhile, families of the victims and survivors of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack have strongly criticized the deal between the American PGA Tour and the Saudi golf series LIV. In a statement, 9/11 Families United condemned the “hypocrisy and greed” of PGA leadership.
Those affected were “shocked and deeply offended” by the announced merger, the statement said. “Saudi agents played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and now fund all professional golf.”
The PGA and its Commissioner Jay Monahan have apparently “become Saudi stooges,” said Terry Strada, head of the 9/11 organization. These would “take billions of dollars to cleanse Saudi Arabia’s reputation so that Americans and the world forget how the kingdom spent its billions of dollars pre-9/11 funding terrorism.”
