PGA Tour star Justin Thomas lashed out at golf writer Alan Shipnuck Thursday after an excerpt from his new book, “LIV and Let Die,” leaked out.
The quote, as relayed by Kyle Porter of CBS Sports , was from an anonymous Ryder Cup teammate on Rory McIlroy.
“F*** Rory,” wrote Shipnuck, who reportedly received the quote from a Team Europe teammate of McIlroy. “I’m so sick of hearing how he’s some kind of hero who is saving golf. He’s bought and paid for like everybody else, it’s just that his money is coming from the other side… That he is being held up as some kind of savior on Twitter and by all the fanboys with their shitty podcasts tells you how little people really understand what’s going on.”
Thomas responded to the quote posted by Porter, and made his feelings of Shipnuck crystal clear.
“I’d like to speak on behalf of a lot of Tour players and say we’re sick of @AlanShipnuck doing what he does,” Thomas wrote on X. “Bring positivity and good stories to help grow the game of golf, not try and make money bashing guys, earning zero trust, with a lot of incorrect information. Ridiculous.”
Brooks Koepka joins Justin Thomas in criticism of Alan Shipnuck
Thomas isn’t alone, nor is the criticism of Shipnuck exclusive to the PGA Tour.
“And LIV players,” LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka wrote on X.
Shipnuck didn’t let the two-time major champion’s words go unchecked.
“What JT wants is p.r,, or hagiography, not journalism,” Shipnuck wrote. “I’ve written many feel-good stories about golfers and the game, but scrutiny and criticism is sometimes warranted. LlV v. Tour has been incredibly divisive and I captured that. It’s not my role to whitewash things.
“Also, these quotes that are triggering folks, those are not my words! Folks on both sides of golf’s divide have been very fired up – I captured that emotion, I did not create it.”
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