'Unfortunate decisions:' PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan defends suspension of 17 players

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said during the CBS telecast of the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday that the controversy over Tour members resigning to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series has “been an unfortunate week that was created by some unfortunate decisions, those decisions being players choosing to violate our tournament regulations.”

Monahan also said, speaking to players who left the Tour for Liv Golf, bankrolled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund: "I would ask ... have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”

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Monahan was interviewed by CBS golf anchor Jim Nantz, who asked him point-blank why he suspended 17 Tour members for bolting to the LIV Golf Series, a list that included major champions Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Graeme McDowell.

More suspensions are likely for players who declared their intent to play on the Liv Golf Series such as Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. Monahan followed through on a vow he made the week of The Players Championship in March that players violating the Tour regulation of getting a release for outside tournaments would be suspended.

“It’s my job to protect, defend, and celebrate our loyal PGA Tour members, our partners and our fans,” said Monahan. “And that’s exactly what I did. And I don’t think it was a surprise to anybody. Given how clear I had been about how we were going to handle this situation.”

Nantz asked Monahan if the players could compete on the PGA Tour and Liv Golf. He responded by criticizing the LIV Golf format of 54 holes and limited 48-player fields with no cut and a team format.

“... Those players have chosen to sign multi-year lucrative contracts to play in a series of exhibition matches against the same players over and over again,” he said. “You look at that versus what we see here today [in Canada], and that’s why they need us so badly. You’ve got true, pure competition.

“The best players in the world are here at the RBC Canadian Open, with millions of fans watching, and in this game, it’s true and pure competition that creates the profile in the presence of the world’s greatest players … that’s what we do. But we’re not going to allow players to freeride off of our loyal members, the best players in the world.”

Schwartzel won the first LIV Golf event in London on Saturday. The next tournament will be June 30-July 2 at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, one of five events scheduled in the U.S.

LIV Golf has eight events planned for this season and 12-14 next year.

Mickelson was said to have received $200 million to play and Johnson $125. The combined purse for the eight tournaments this year is $255 million and Schwartzel earned $4 million for winning on Saturday.

By contrast, Cameron Smith earned $3.6 million for winning The Players Championship in March, a record for a Tour-sanctioned event.

Players bolting for LIV Golf have been criticized for accepting money from a government with a long history of human rights violations, especially against women and gays. The Saudi government has been linked by the CIA to the murder of one of its citizens, Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of Saudi leaders.

In addition, the national chairman of 911familiesunited.org, a coalition of families and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attacks, blasted the players in a letter for accepting money from Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and one that crashed into a Pennsylvania field that was believed to be headed for other targets in Washington, were from Saudi Arabia.

“As a freedom-loving American, I am grateful to have the freedom of choice where I work and who I work for, and I respect your right as well,” wrote Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center.

"As a 9/11 widow, I feel compelled to help you understand the level of depravity the Kingdom engaged in when it knowingly sent government agents here to establish the support network needed for those hijackers … yet these are your partners, and much to our disappointment, you appear pleased to be in business with them.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan decries 'unfortunate decisions'