9/11 families outraged over PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Jason Kelly is the general manager of 2nd Swing Golf at Talking Stick. He thinks the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger announced Tuesday will benefit Arizona and the WM Phoenix Open. “I think it’s definitely going to be good for Arizona,” said Kelly. “With a lot of players that don’t normally come here for that kind of tournament, since LIV has taken a lot of players away, we’re now going to see these names come back, as well as younger generations, too.”

But not everyone is convinced the big golf merger is the right thing to do. An organization called 9/11 Families United released this statement:

9/11 Families United is shocked and deeply offended by the newly announced merger between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf league that is bankrolled by billions of sportswashing money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf.
“PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation. But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones. Make no mistake – we will never forget,” said 9/11 Families United Chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. “Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now - 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 merely window-dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honor the great game of golf.”
9/11 Families United

Terry Strada is the national chair of 9/11 Families United. Her husband was killed in the World Trade Center. “They funded al Qaeda,” said Strada. “They funded 9/11 attacks, gave logistical support, created a network that was needed for 19 jihadists to come here and attack us and murder Americans on American soil.” She called the PGA’s decision an insult to every 9/11 family and every American.

Los Angeles Times Columnist Bill Plaschke wrote:

“The next time you spend a Sunday afternoon curled up on the couch watching the dramatic end of a PGA Tour event, understand it has been bought by a country with no free speech, no religious freedom and a history of discriminating against women.”

“The next time you watch Jon Rahm or Scottie Sheffler being interviewed after a round, understand that their paycheck is partially generated by a country that murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description

Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.