PGA Tour Sacrificed Principles For Profit

Brandel Chamblee has been one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf since the breakaway tour launched in late 2021. The Golf Channel analyst and former PGA player has mercilessly ripped the players who defected to LIV, while taking aim at the tour and its golfers repeatedly. Tuesday was not a great day for Chamblee.

After the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced their merger, Chamblee joined Golf Central and called it “One of the saddest days in the history of professional golf.”

Here’s the segment:

Here’s the money quote: “I do believe the governing bodies, the entities — the professional entities — have sacrificed their principles for profit.”

That about sums it up. And I imagine that’s how a lot of golf fans feel today. Many belive the Saudi-backed LIV tour was an attempt to sportswash the country’s lengthy history of human rights abuses. PGA commissioner Jay Monahan essentially said as much. Now the PGA is partnering directly with the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund. It’s a crazy about-face that has some feeling whiplash.