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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan described the Saudi-funded league that has signed up Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau as a “collection of exhibition matches” that spends billions of {dollars} on gamers with out getting a return on its funding.
Monahan additionally mentioned gamers paid an exorbitant sum of money would “must be residing beneath a rock” to not know they’d be criticised for the supply of the cash. LIV Golf is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
“I’d ask any participant that has left, or any participant that might ever think about leaving, Have you ever ever needed to apologise for being a member of the PGA Tour?’” Monahan mentioned from Toronto on the CBS telecast of the RBC Canadian Open.
They have been Monahan’s first public feedback since Thursday, when Greg Norman’s LIV Golf collection started and Monahan suspended all PGA Tour members who performed at Centurion Golf Membership outdoors London.
The LIV Golf Sequence has eight tournaments this yr — 5 in the US — with $25 million in prize cash for each, 54-hole occasions with no minimize and 48-man fields. Charl Schwartzel gained the primary one Saturday and earned $4.75 million.
Monumental signing charges
Greater than prize cash, some gamers obtained huge signing charges. The Day by day Telegraph reported Johnson obtained $150 million, whereas Mickelson didn’t deny a report that he was paid $200 million for the start-up enterprise. It was not clear for now a few years they’re dedicated.
In current days, Norman introduced DeChambeau and Patrick Reed have signed up and are anticipated to play the primary US. occasion in Oregon on the finish of the month. Not one of the prime 10 gamers on the earth has expressed curiosity within the new league.
Monahan mentioned he suspended the gamers for violating match rules. They have been denied releases to compete within the London occasion and selected to play anyway. Gamers usually get three releases for abroad occasions, and two dozen bought them for the Saudi Worldwide.
Monahan mentioned that was a single occasion related to a acknowledged tour (Asian Tour), in contrast with a collection of occasions that poses a direct problem to the PGA Tour by enjoying within the US. “It is my job to guard, defend and have fun our loyal PGA Tour members, our companions and our followers, and that is precisely what I did,” Monahan mentioned.
Norman and a few gamers within the LIV Golf occasion have talked about being free brokers, capable of play wherever they wished, and have positioned the brand new league as including to world golf as a substitute of competing with the PGA Tour.
Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell have been amongst those that resigned their PGA Tour membership. Mickelson, already at The Nation Membership on Sunday to begin getting ready for the US Open, has mentioned he plans to maintain the lifetime membership he earned with 45 wins and 6 majors.
Requested why gamers could not play each excursions, Monahan answered with a query of his personal. “Why do they want us so badly?” he mentioned. “These gamers have chosen to signal multiyear, profitable contracts to play in a collection of exhibition matches in opposition to the identical gamers again and again. You take a look at that versus what we see right here at the moment.”
The Canadian Open featured Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau contending for the title, and Justin Rose difficult to shoot 59 or decrease till he needed to accept a 60.
“You’ve got bought true, pure competitors, one of the best gamers on the earth right here on the RBC Canadian Open, with hundreds of thousands of followers watching. And on this sport, it is true and pure competitors that creates the profiles and presences of the world’s biggest gamers. And that is why they want us. That is what we do,” Monahan mentioned. “However we’re not going to permit gamers to free journey off of our loyal members.”
What’s subsequent?
Nonetheless unclear was how the state of affairs proceeds. The USGA has mentioned it won’t deny a participant who earned his spot within the discipline on the US Open, and the R&A is more likely to honour the “open” nature of the British Open subsequent month at St. Andrews. Lawsuits are seemingly if PGA Tour gamers attempt to enter an occasion after being suspended for signing up and enjoying with LIV Golf. Norman has mentioned LIV Golf would help its gamers.
Monahan didn’t say if there was a means again for gamers who joined Norman’s league, nor the way it impacts gamers who had by no means been a PGA Tour member. Monahan was notably biting on the cash coming from the Public Funding Fund in Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of “sports activities washing” for utilizing such a tour to take consideration away from its historical past of human rights abuses.
He was requested how massive of a problem the supply of funding was. “It is not a problem for me, as a result of I do not work for the Saudi Arabian authorities,” Monahan mentioned, a veiled dig on the notion of being a free agent. “But it surely in all probability is a matter for gamers who selected to go and take that cash. I believe you need to ask your self a query: Why.
“Why is that this group spending a lot cash — billions of {dollars} — recruiting gamers and chasing an idea with no risk of a return?” he mentioned. “On the identical time, there’s been a whole lot of questions, a whole lot of feedback, in regards to the development of the sport. And I ask, How is that this good for the sport?’”
Revealed on
June 13, 2022
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