PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan Drags Inaugural LIV Series, Participants: 'It's Been An Unfortunate Week'
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan appeared on CBS’ live coverage of the RBC Canadian Open alongside Jim Nantz on Sunday and delivered more scathing feedback on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
Monahan’s responses not only pertained to the contentious league partially financed by Saudi Arabia, whose record with human rights violations continues to draw criticism, but also aimed at the list of top-level golfers that joined the series, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Na, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson.
“It’s been an unfortunate week that was created by some unfortunate decisions,” Monahan said on the broadcast.
On Thursday, Monahan announced that LIV participants would be stripped of their PGA Tour memberships and prohibited from competing in upcoming events held by the PGA. The Tour announced its suspension of 17 players.
South African golfer and former Masters champ former Charl Schwartzel won the inaugural LIV title at the Centurion Club, securing $4.75 million in prize money.
LIV's purse has been the main detail noted in the growing interest in the league, with deals like Dustin Johnson's $125 million agreement and a sizeable pot of prize money per event reeling in more names. An individual event pays $20 million in prize money, with the winner securing $4 million and last place earning $120,000. The team competition pays the top three teams with $3 million going to first place, as previously reported on OutKick.
Johnson, Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen previously dropped their PGA Tour memberships.
When asked about the drastic measures, Monahan responded, “t’s my job to protect, defend and celebrate our loyal PGA Tour members, our partners and our fans, and that’s exactly what I did. And I don’t think it was a surprise to anybody given how clear I had been about how we were going to handle the situation.”
Monahan noted that the difference in picking PGA membership over the Saudi-backed events also revolves around the message that it sends to American families that disagree for deeply personal reasons.
“I’ve talked to a number of players individually for a long period of time, and I think you have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications,” Monahan stated after speaking to a support group from 911familiesunited.org, as relayed by Golf Digest. “As it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones, so 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?”
Stay tuned with OutKick as the story develops.
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