Donald Trump Suggests PGA Tour Players 'Take the Money Now' With LIV Golf
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is playing its third event July 29-31 at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, and the golf course's owner is encouraging more players to join the startup league.
In a post on his Truth Social account, the former U.S. president wrote:
"All of those golfers that remain 'loyal' to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big 'thank you' from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year.
"If you don't take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were."
A number of PGA Tour players have left the tour this summer to join the Saudi-backed series, with more reportedly to come.
The PGA Tour is a separate entity from the PGA of America, which opted to move this year's PGA Championship away from Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The PGA Championship was instead played at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Trump filed suit over breach of contract, which the PGA of America settled out of court.
Families of 9/11 victims sent a letter to Trump on Sunday urging him to cancel the tournament, given it's backing through the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
A contingent from a group called 9/11 Justice also attended LIV Golf's event three weeks ago in Portland, Oregon.
”These golfers that are getting in bed with the Saudis, they should know what they're doing. Shame on them," said group president Brett Eagleson in a press conference in Portland, he lost his father in the 9/11 attacks. “And to the golfers that say it's just a game of golf, shame on them. I invite them to look at the pain in our eyes, hear our stories, and walk in our shoes.”