Someone give Rory McIlroy a hug.
And while you’re at it, go ahead and show PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan the door.
PGA Tour leadership — F-
As it turns out, all those principles Monahan espoused over the last 12 months were nothing more than negotiating tactics.
The leader of the PGA Tour is just fine with taking a few bags of cash from a despotic regime — and making those who want to compete in his tour do the same — so long as it’s done on his terms.
That’s exactly what Monahan and Tour leadership agreed to when they struck a deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) earlier this week giving the PGA Tour control over PIF-backed LIV Golf. That Monahan did so without even bothering to get the OK from the golfers who stood by his tour at the expense of their own bank accounts made it all the more abhorrent.
Somehow, that even included McIlroy, the most vocal backer of the PGA Tour in the face of LIV Golf’s raid on its ranks.
There’s little doubt McIlroy could have signed a nine-figure deal with LIV similar to those given to high-profile golfers like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson. Instead, he stayed with the tour that helped make him a star, then watched as the leader who was more than happy to push McIlroy out in front of the cameras to champion the PGA Tour’s virtues stuffed that same dirty money into his own wallet.
Some might say McIlory and the golfers who refused to participate in the Saudi regime’s sports-washing attempts were played for fools. Given the way things played out, it would be hard to argue against that idea. McIlroy himself lamented how he’d been used as a “sacrificial lamb.”
But the Grading the Week staff will level no such judgment upon those who stood for something other than adding another zero to their personal bottom line.
No, we’ll leave that for Monahan and the LIV golfers who blissfully cashed those Saudi checks while also going full Phil Hartman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer when confronted with the source of that money.
And just to be clear, this is a regime accused of financing terrorism and sanctioning the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi for the mere act of questioning the way it wields power.
DeChambeau perhaps best exemplified LIV golfers’ willful ignorance in an incredibly tone-deaf interview with CNN in the immediate aftermath of the PGA-LIV deal coming to light.
“It’s unfortunate what has happened, but that is not something I can necessarily speak on because I’m a golfer,” said DeChambeau, who seems to think golfers are incapable of having opinions outside of selecting a 7-iron or pitching wedge for their next shot.
“What I can say is that, what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to work on is be better allies, because we are allies with them. I’m not going to get into the politics of it, I’m not specialized in it. But what I can say is they’re trying to do good for the world and showcase themselves in a light that hasn’t been seen in a while. Nobody is perfect but we’re all trying to improve in life.”
Yup, nobody is perfect. What’s a little murder between business partners?
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
