‘Betrayed and humiliated’: PGA Tour players speak out amid LIV Golf merger
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced a partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, leaving players confused, betrayed and out of the loop.
Tuesday’s news shocked the entire golfing world, including players on the PGA Tour, who felt betrayed and humiliated, per Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced a partnership for men’s professional golf going forward.
“Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all golf in the world by going back on everything he said the past 2 years,” PGA Tour member Dylan Wu tweeted. “The hypocrisy. Wish golf worked like that. I guess money always wins @PGATour.”
No PGA Tour member, not even Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, had any idea of this developing situation.
Like everyone else, PGA Tour players first discovered the news on social media.
“Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we’re merging with a tour that we said we’d never do that with,” said McKenzie Hughes, a Canadian golfer, on Twitter.
I love finding out morning news on Twitter
— Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) June 6, 2023
Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel said on live television that many players “are angered” about Tuesday’s news. He even received text messages from players calling for Monahan to resign.
Shortly after the news dropped live on CNBC, a formal memo from the Commissioner followed.
“We are pleased to move forward, in step with LIV and PIF’s world-class investing experience, and I applaud PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan for his vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach that is not just a solution to the rift in our game but also a commitment to taking it to new heights,” Monahan’s statement read.
“This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better.”
The Commissioner went behind the scenes to strike a deal with PIF, which has poured almost $1 billion into LIV Golf.
A year ago, Monahan suspended players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.
Now the two leagues will co-exist, merging into a single entity, as the PIF will invest considerable amounts of money into professional golf.
“Today is a very exciting day for this special game and the people it touches around the world,” said Al-Rumayyan. “We are proud to partner with the PGA TOUR to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide. We are committed to unifying, promoting, and growing the game of golf around the world and offering the highest-quality product to the many millions of long-time fans globally while cultivating new fans.”