PGA Tour chief torched over LIV Golf merger: 'Should be ashamed'

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has found himself at the centre of brutal backlash after the bombshell news that his organisation is merging with bitter rival LIV Golf. The PGA Tour and Greg Norman's Saudi-backed rebel circuit have for months been engaged in a very public war of words, mounting tensions and a legal battle.

However, in a bombshell announcement that seemingly came out of nowhere and took the entire golf world by shock, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the LIV circuit have agreed to merge. The organisations said in a joint news release on Tuesday they will work together to allow a process for LIV Golf players to reapply for membership on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, following the 2023 season.

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"After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love," said PGA Tour Commissioner Monahan, who has been a vocal critic of LIV Golf. "How did we go from a confrontation to now being partners? We just realised we were better off together than we were fighting or apart."

No details were given as to how the agreement will impact the current competitive golf landscape, including eligibility for this year's Ryder Cup. All factions certainly have a massive task of agreeing on how the rival circuits will work in conjunction of one another and how rankings points for events will be allocated, in just a few of the significant obstacles that will need to be overcome.

While the golf world grapples to come to terms with the shock new development, anger and resentment has turned towards Monahan - the PGA Tour boss who previously banned LIV Golf stars from competing in PGA Tour events. Monahan has long trumpeted the virtues of the PGA Tour in contrast to the evils of the Saudi-backed rebel competition and controversy around the human rights violations the country is so frequently associated with.

Jay Monahan cops backlash over PGA Tour 'hypocrisy'

Several PGA Tour players took to social media to express their surprise and anger at not being informed about the merger before it was announced. "I love finding out morning news on Twitter," wrote two-time major champion Collin Morikawa. Former RBC Heritage winner Wesley Bryan was far more scathing, particularly of Monahan, and said he "felt betrayed" by the PGA Tour, which has been accused of gross hypocrisy across the golfing world.

“Love finding out info on Twitter. This is amazing. Y’all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer,” Bryan wrote. “I feel betrayed, and will not not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time.”

LIV Golf, which features 54-hole events with no cuts instead of the traditional 72-hole format, launched in 2022 and lured big-name players away from the rival circuits with staggering sums of prize money. The PIF will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity and the board of directors will include Al-Rumayyan as chairman and the PGA Tour's Monahan as CEO.

PGA Tour member Dylan Wu summed up the thoughts of many critics by condemning Monahan's role in the ugly saga and questioning how the former PGA Tour Commissioner has now risen to become the CEO of the new, all-encompassing golfing entity. “Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all golf in the world by going back on everything he said the past 2 years?” Wu tweeted. “The hypocrisy. Wish golf worked like that. I guess money always wins.”

Monahan controversially used the 9/11 terrorist attack to lay the guilt trip on stars who took up massive financial offers to join LIV Golf, such as major winners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith. Unsurprisingly, Monahan and the PGA Tour have been labelled "hypocrites" after now striking up a partnership with the organisation they so vehemently fought against.

Some PGA Tour players reportedly confronted Monahan and called for his resignation during a fiery meeting at the Canadian Open in Toronto. PGA Tour winner Johnson Wagner told the Golf Channel there was plenty of anger in the room on Tuesday after Monahan came to a merger agreement with LIV Golf and the PIF without consulting the players.

"It was contentious," Wagner said. "There were many moments where certain players were calling for new leadership of the PGA Tour and even got a couple standing ovations.

"The most powerful moment was when a player quoted Commissioner Monahan from the 3M (Open) in Minnesota last year when he said, 'As long as I'm commissioner of the PGA Tour, no player that took LIV money will ever play the PGA Tour again'. It just seems like a lot of backtracking."

with agencies

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