PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan did not even tell players in his own league there were talks.
Great job in replacing NHL commissioner Gary Bettman as the most hypocritical boss in North American professional sports there, Jay!
The merger ends apparently seven weeks worth of talks between the tours, as the PGA and LIV had been locked in legal mediation for months.
As the PGA Tour rolls into Toronto for this weekend’s RBC Canadian Open, we have to remember it was exactly one year ago this week that Monahan fired a shot across the bough of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour, when he said:
“Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”Monahan was directly referring to the Saudi government having funding ties to the terrorists directly responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been accused of trying to “sport wash” their image with part of the fund. The PIF had contributed more than $2 billion towards the backing of LIV Golf, which has also held a pair of events on courses owned by a soon-to-be indicted disgraced “Cheeto in Chief.”
I wonder how Monahan feels knowing he controls a monopoly for the sport, selling out more than any LIV player would even dream to. The PGA Tour also controls the Canadian Mackenzie Tour, the European DP Tour, and the Korn Ferry tour.
In a meeting with players before this weekend’s event, Monahan was called a hypocrite to his face, which was confirmed to the press by Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvy later in the afternoon.
Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson absolutely took the money to defect to LIV in 2022, and has been the most vocal against the PGA Tour, where he has six career majors, tying him for 12th all time. Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau took the money, but their motive was to improve their game back to a highly competitive level. Koepka won the PGA Championship last month, while DeChambeau lost 30 pounds off his frame, which forced enough of a change to his game to finish fourth behind Koepka.
Rory McIlroy, the four-time Major champion, has been one of the most prominent players on the PGA Tour to express his disdain over LIV Golf. McIlroy, 34, sits on the PGA Tour Policy Board, recently has commented about the tour trying to bury the hatchet with LIV. You would have to think that McIlroy is tired of answering questions regarding the rivalry, despite being third in the current World Golf Rankings, which means he’s usually on the first page of the leaderboard most Sundays.
Nonetheless, McIlroy got his pound of flesh in on Wednesday, telling the media that he still “hates” LIV, and hopes it goes away after this season.
The PGA awards their purses based mostly off sponsorships, whereas LIV was still trying to build their brand, and failing miserably in their infantile process. The LIV ratings on the CW network were in the toilet, and the tour was not drawing nearly the crowds or media attention they hoped to, after drawing several former #1-ranked players to their roster.
I could see the PGA levying a six-figure fine against any LIV player looking to re-enter the tour, which LIV players now see as pocket change, especially after Koepka won $20 million in a LIV event earlier this year.
I would say a $1 million fine, and a trip back to either Q-School or the Korn Ferry Tour seems more than fair.
While we had two tours merge, having absolutely no player input may see these same players revolt against Monahan’s abscess leadership, and start their own private tour. The ratings would be double what LIV’s were, even if they started by streaming on YouTube or Twitch.
-JC24