Donald J. Trump praised the new LIV Golf tournament last Thursday while criticizing the traditional PGA tour.
He made the comments while wearing his signature red MAGA hat before teeing off in the LIV Golf event, held at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He said that the financiers of the golf event, the members of the Saudi Arabia Sovereign Fund, were great people that were “friends of [his] for a long time.”
Trump also took time to criticize the PGA. He said, “the PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time, now they have an alternative and nobody ever would have known it was going to be a gold rush, like this … The prize money [is] much higher … four, five, six times higher.”
The LIV, founded in 2021, tried to attract members of the PGA Tour (the traditional organizing body of American golf) to their own competition by dumping cash onto golf players. Many players who decided to earn the extra money joined the LIV league. However, the PGA, which has almost monopolized golf for 100 years, decided to suspend all players who decided to play in the LIV. Currently, 11 LIV players who believe their personal right to choose where to play is being unfairly and unlawfully infringed upon are suing the PGA for antitrust behavior.
However, the LIV has faced criticism from human rights advocates and the relatives of the deceased victims of the September 11 attack. Critics have claimed that Saudi Arabia sponsored the event to cleanse its global image, while others have accused the LIV and Saudi Arabia of sportswashing, or sponsoring a sport to increase reputation, through hosting an event or sponsoring/supporting teams, to direct attention away from poor human rights records and corruption scandals. Relatives of 9/11 attack victims have also protested against the LIV, praising PGA players for resisting “blood money from a corrupt, destructive sports entity and its Saudi backers.”
Despite controversies, the upstart golf circuit has recruited over 10 out of the top 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, and Brooks Koepka. These players willingly resigned or faced suspension in the PGA to play in the LIV. While LIV golfers cannot play in any PGA tournaments, they still can play in the four major tournaments not run by the PGA Tour. However, this may change in the future.
The lucrative tour has promised many players large sums of money, but even so, some players are still playing for the PGA. Tiger Woods, one of the advocates against LIV, recently turned down a 900 million dollar offer to join the LIV league. Other players, like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, have also turned down offers.
He made the comments while wearing his signature red MAGA hat before teeing off in the LIV Golf event, held at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He said that the financiers of the golf event, the members of the Saudi Arabia Sovereign Fund, were great people that were “friends of [his] for a long time.”
Trump also took time to criticize the PGA. He said, “the PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time, now they have an alternative and nobody ever would have known it was going to be a gold rush, like this … The prize money [is] much higher … four, five, six times higher.”
The LIV, founded in 2021, tried to attract members of the PGA Tour (the traditional organizing body of American golf) to their own competition by dumping cash onto golf players. Many players who decided to earn the extra money joined the LIV league. However, the PGA, which has almost monopolized golf for 100 years, decided to suspend all players who decided to play in the LIV. Currently, 11 LIV players who believe their personal right to choose where to play is being unfairly and unlawfully infringed upon are suing the PGA for antitrust behavior.
However, the LIV has faced criticism from human rights advocates and the relatives of the deceased victims of the September 11 attack. Critics have claimed that Saudi Arabia sponsored the event to cleanse its global image, while others have accused the LIV and Saudi Arabia of sportswashing, or sponsoring a sport to increase reputation, through hosting an event or sponsoring/supporting teams, to direct attention away from poor human rights records and corruption scandals. Relatives of 9/11 attack victims have also protested against the LIV, praising PGA players for resisting “blood money from a corrupt, destructive sports entity and its Saudi backers.”
Despite controversies, the upstart golf circuit has recruited over 10 out of the top 50 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, and Brooks Koepka. These players willingly resigned or faced suspension in the PGA to play in the LIV. While LIV golfers cannot play in any PGA tournaments, they still can play in the four major tournaments not run by the PGA Tour. However, this may change in the future.
The lucrative tour has promised many players large sums of money, but even so, some players are still playing for the PGA. Tiger Woods, one of the advocates against LIV, recently turned down a 900 million dollar offer to join the LIV league. Other players, like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, have also turned down offers.
