PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Sunday made some very strong statements about players who have chosen to sign with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league.
Monahan spoke with Jim Nantz during CBS’ coverage of the final round of the RBC Canadian Open. The new league is financed by the Public Investment Fund, which is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. There have been ethical questions about where the money comes from. Nantz asked Monahan about that, and Monahan had a strong response.
“I talked at a player meeting and I’ve talked to a number of players individually for a long period of time,” Monahan said. “I think you have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications. … 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?”
Monahan was asked for an explanation of why golfers are not permitted to play on both the PGA Tour and in the LIV league. Monahan did not give a direct response and instead spoke about how much players need the tour.
Earlier this week, the PGA Tour released a list of LIV golfers who have been suspended. The announcement did not go into specifics about the length of the suspensions. Monahan would not give a definitive answer on Sunday about whether those players could be allowed back onto the tour at some point.
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