Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy teed up the head of the U.S. Professional Golf Association over the tour’s new deal with Saudi interests – and he made solid contact.
“This video is legit unbelievable,” Portnoy tweeted on June 6, pointing to a June 2022 CBS Sports interview with host Jim Nantz with PGA President Jay Monahan. “What an absolute piece of sh*t.”
DON’T MISS: PGA Tour Commissioner Sends “Confidential” Letter to Players.
In the June 12, 2022 interview, Mahoney castigated PGA golfers who left to play on the rival Saudi-backed LIV golf tour, questioning their decision to play for a regime many held responsible for the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It's not an issue for me because I don't work for the Saudi Arabian government. It probably is an issue for those players that chose to take that money," Monahan told Nantz. "You have to ask the question ... why? Why is this group spending so much money recruiting players and chasing a concept with no possibility of a return? How is this good for the game that we love?"
When asked by Nantz about the Saudi’s role in 911 and the departing PGA players’ mindset, Monahan held the LIV golfers to task.
"I think you'd have to be living under a rock to not know there are significant implications. Two families close to me lost loved ones," Monahan said. "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?'"
Almost one year to the day later on June 6, 2023, Monahan signed a deal behind his own players’ backs to merge the PGA with the Public Investment Fund, which owns and operates the Saudi-based LIV Tour in a deal that could result in hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into the newly-revamped PGA Tour – with Monahan as the new chief executive officer.
Portnoy wasn’t having any of it.
“Jay Monahan is a vile human being,” Portnoy tweeted. “This is why you should never lie. People may not like the truth but they'll respect you for saying it. The commish of the PGA comes out looking like the biggest scumbag of all ranting and raving about 9/11 only to merge with LIV an hour later.”
Portnoy also said he “doesn’t know how Jay Monahan sleeps at night.”
“He co-opted 9/11 victims for the moral high ground,” the Barstool chief noted. “He clearly didn't give a sh*t about them. Just using their pain as a marketing tactic. (There’s) a special type of hell for guys like that.”
The newly formed global golf tour is taking shape already, with plans to commence official play in 2024.
