Pro Golf Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has criticized the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, saying the league that had signed up Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson was not profitable.
According to Monahan, players who signed up for the league received excessive money. He also said they would have to live under a rock to fail to realize that the money they were getting was from the Saudi Arabian government, which somehow was linked to the 9/11 incident, according to Mohanan.
“I think you’d have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications [of playing in the LIV Golf Invitational Series],” Monahan said. “As it relates to the families of 9/11 … my heart goes out to them.
“I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”
Monahan made his first public statement about the issue on Thursday. The eight-event LIV Golf Series has total prize money of $25 million. During the first tournament on Saturday, Charl Schwartzel was able to earn almost $4.75 million.
Huge signing fees
Aside from the prize money, some players received huge signing fees. According to the Daily Telegraph, Johnson received a $150 million contract. Meanwhile, reports have suggested that Phil Mickelson was paid $200 million for his startup venture. It is unclear if these players will continue to be in the league for a long time.
Recently, Greg Norman announced that Patrick Reed and DeChambeau had signed up for the league. They will play in the first U.S. event in Oregon at the end of the month.
According to the commissioner, the players had received suspensions for breaking regulations. Because they were not allowed to participate in the London event, they chose to play in the Saudi International. Usually, a player gets three releases to play in an overseas tournament, and two dozen get them for the Saudi International.
The Saudi International was a single event sanctioned by the Asian Tour. It is comparable to the other tournaments held in the U.S.
USGA statement on the 2022 #USOpen field: pic.twitter.com/vv84gmbr2n
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 7, 2022
Protecting PGA’s reputation
In response to the controversy, commissioner Monahan defended tour members and partners. The 52-year-old commissioner claimed he did what was necessary to protect the organization’s reputation.
Some of the players involved in the private tournament claimed that they were free agents and could play anywhere they wanted. They also believed that the new league would add to the world of golf.
Some players who resigned from the tour included Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Graeme McDowell. Although he did not participate in the private tournament, Mickelson still has his full membership with the tour. He has said he would keep his membership.
When asked why the players would not play both tours, the commissioner of the professional tour said that it was because they were not needed. Monahan cited the large sums of money the players signed up for as the main reason.
“They chose to play exhibition matches against each other over and over again, and that’s not what we’re seeing today,” Monahan said.