PGA: “People will call me a hypocrite” – Jay Monahan

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been called a hypocrite during a heated meeting with players from the… Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto on Tuesday, hours after her tour announced it was forming a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and DP World’s tour.

Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvy told reporters that a player named Monahan was a hypocrite during the match, which lasted more than an hour, on the RBC Canadian Open this week.

“It’s been mentioned, yes, and he’s heard it,” said Ogilvy. He said: Yes. Hear it, that’s for sure. »

In a news conference with reporters later, Monahan said he realized he might come under fire for agreeing to form a new entity with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund after the LIV Golf League was criticized in the pass.

“I acknowledge everything I’ve said in the past and my past positions. I realize people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan said. “Every time I say something, I say it with the information I had at the time. I accept these criticisms, but circumstances change. I think looking at the picture is And looking at it that way is what got us to this point.”

At last year’s RBC Canadian Open, Monahan was asked about Saudi Arabia’s ties to the September 11, 2001 attacks during an interview with CBS Sports.

“I think you would have to live under a rock not to know that there are significant ramifications,” Monahan said at the time. I would ask any player who has left or any player who is considering leaving, “Have you ever apologized for being a member of the PGA Tour?” »

Monahan said Tuesday that the PGA has been in talks with officials from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for about seven weeks. He added that PGA Tour board members Ed Herlihy and Jamie Dunn attended the first meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the sovereign wealth fund.

There were four in-person meetings as well as a number of video calls and phone conversations.

During Tuesday’s meeting with Monahan, several players complained that they were kept in the dark during negotiations.

Several players spotted him on social media on Tuesday before they received a statement sent by Monahan.

PGA stars such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and others were not informed of the deal in advance, nor were they on the Players Advisory Committee.