In the wake of Tuesday's news regarding the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, social media commenters are criticizing Tour commissioner Jay Monahan for his alleged hypocrisy.
With the 2023 Canadian Open on the horizon (scheduled to run from Thursday through Sunday), golf fans thought it was appropriate to look back at an interview between Monahan and Jim Nantz from last June's event.
The Canadian Open is this week. Here is what PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said at that event one year ago. pic.twitter.com/CtmnK74kbd
— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) June 6, 2023
It's not a great look for Monahan.
Using terms like "you'd have to be living under a rock," including the personal connection with families he knows impacted by 9/11 and posing the "Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour" question all contribute to what should be a rough time for the commissioner coming up.
Hypocrisies, ranked:
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 6, 2023
5. "It's about new fans/growing the game."
4. "A shotgun start is more fair."
3. "We love being on the CW."
2. "Golf shouldn't be a monopoly."
(A HUGE GAP, like the distance to Mars)
1. "Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?"
According to a report from the New York Times, "Under the terms of the tentative agreement ... the Saudi wealth fund ... will at first be the exclusive investor in the blended operation."
LIV Golf players sued the PGA Tour as part of an antitrust lawsuit in August 2022 and the PGA Tour countersued, later adding the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and its governor, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan to the suit.
According to the New York Times report, Al-Rumayyan will be the chairman of the operation.
One of the biggest critics of LIV Golf over the past year has been four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, though he's said recently that he didn't want to discuss the ongoing feud between the two sides. McIlroy is the defending Canadian Open victor.
There's so much to unpack, but the thing I keep going back to is this:
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) June 6, 2023
Rory McIlroy took a stand for what he believed was right—which brought an invisible pain and weight that can't be measured—and was sold out by the very thing he was trying to defend
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