The media tour for the newly announced PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger continues to flounder as criticism of the impending unification mounts.
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Among the most vocal critics of the golf conglomerate — which has yet to be named — is 9/11 Families United, which is composed of family members of terrorist attack victims. The organization on Tuesday accused PGA commissioner Jay Monahan of being hypocritical, noting that he used the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as the basis for a moral stance against Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf before agreeing to merge the tour with the breakaway circuit.
PGA commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation. But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones.
Make no mistake — we will never forget. Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now — as does he. PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf.
Last June, Monahan rhetorically asked on a CBS telecast at the RBC Canadian Open whether PGA Tour players had to apologize to the families of 9/11 victims for remaining on the tour as opposed to defecting to the Saudi-backed circuit.
"As it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me who lost loved ones, and so my heart goes out goes to them — and I would ask any player who has left (for LIV) or any player who has ever considered leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?" Monahan said.
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On Tuesday, Monahan was asked to address the accusations of hypocrisy. He fumbled through his answer, saying only that he apologized for failing to properly communicate with his "constituents" about the PGA-LIV merger:
LIV is financially backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The Saudi government is not only accused of human rights violations, but also of financially backing the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The kingdom has always denied involvement in the 2001 attacks, and a joint CIA-FBI filing in 2004 claimed there was no evidence to suggest that there was any.
However, more recent reports from the U.S. government indicate that at least some individuals in the Saudi government had knowledge of and/or affiliation with the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center's twin towers and the Pentagon and were piloting a plane that eventually crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
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Monahan, who reportedly was called on by PGA golfers to resign following news of the merger, isn't the only person who has attempted to defend the impending unification. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau similarly called for "forgiveness" and said the move is for the betterment of the golf world.
"What happened was definitely horrible," DeChambeau told CNN on Tuesday. "And I think as time has gone on, 20 years have passed and we’re in a place now where it’s time to start trying to work together to make things better together as a whole."