It was just over nine months ago when PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said he did not envision a truce with LIV Golf.
But on Tuesday, the two tours were merged into one in the first merger of North American sports leagues since the NFL and AFL.
The internet was quick to point out Monahan’s hypocrisy, as the announcement came nearly a year after Monahan praised PGA’s morale and criticized LIV Golf, which was backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Now, 9/11 Families United echoes the sentiments of most people.
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The PGA Tour logo is seen during the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South on January 29, 2021 in San Diego, California. (Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
«9/11 Families United is shocked and deeply offended by the recently announced merger between the PGA Tour and the LIV golf league which is funded with billions of sports laundering money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi agents played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now he’s funding all of professional golf,» the organization said in a statement.
«PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year into the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than a sporting laundering of Saudi Arabia’s reputation. But now , the PGA and Monahan seem to have become more paid Saudi accomplices, taking billions of dollars to clean up Saudi Arabia’s reputation so that Americans and the world forget how the Kingdom spent its billions of dollars before 9/11 September to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and fund al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones,» said 9/11 Families United President Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. «Make no mistake, we will never forget it.
«Mr. Monahan spoke last summer about meeting people who lost loved ones on 9/11, and then wondered aloud on national television if LIV golfers ever had to apologize for being PGA members. Tour. Now they do, 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 simply a front in their pursuit of money: it never was. honor the great game of golf.»
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a press conference before the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 24, 2022 in Atlanta. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
TRUMP IN 2022 PREDICTION OF MILESTONE MERGER BETWEEN LIV GOLF AND PGA
Strada was referencing a resurfaced video of Monahan being interviewed by CBS’s Jim Nantz on June 12, 2022, at the RBC Canadian Open, where Nantz asked the commissioner how much he talked to members of the PGA Tour about the ramifications if they joined LIV, citing September 11. families against the Saudi-backed league.
«Well, I’ve talked to players, I’ve talked at a player meeting, and I’ve talked to various players individually over a long period of time. And I think you’d have to be living under a rock not to know that. There are significant implications. And in what it refers to 9/11 families, I have two families close to me who lost loved ones. So my heart goes out to them. And I would ask any player who has left or any player who would ever consider leaving: Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?»
9/11 families criticized LIV golfers for accepting LIV money, which was funded by the Public Investment Fund.
Yet despite many PGA superstars remaining loyal to his tour, Monahan not only merged with the then-rival PGA, but said in a memo to his players that the Public Investment Fund, which has financed LIV, it will be «providing… a significant financial investment«in the deal.
Jay Monahan speaks to the media before The Players Championship on March 7, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
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The agreement will end all pending litigation between the three tours and will allow players who left their respective tours to reapply for membership after the 2023 season.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.