The PGA Tour’s deal with the Public Investment Fund upsets not only current players, but some of the game’s legends as well.
19-time PGA Tour winner Ernie Ellis ripped commissioner Jay Monahan after his first round at the Open Championship on Thursday, saying the tour is “absolutely weak.”
Ellis, 53, says that if the deal between the PGA and the PIF, which funds LIV Golf, had happened in Ellis’s heyday, “there’s no way.” [Monahan’s] around.”
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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced Ernie Ellis of South Africa and Tiger Woods of the United States as captains of the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia, March 13, 2018, in Orlando, Fla. (Chris Condon/PGA Tour)
“No way. And the board has to change. You do this — I’m sorry, it’s not right. Talk to us, tell us what you’re going to do, plan the negotiations. Don’t just be a bully as a board member and come back with a deal and think we’re all going to say yes. You’re hurting people’s sports,” I said. .
The four-time major winner also referred to LIV’s side of the team as “circus golf.”
“Team golf doesn’t work. It works for maybe a two-month, three-month happy season. Get these guys together, get teams together and play all over the world. But (then) play real golf. That’s what it’s all about.
Ernie Ellis of South Africa plays his second shot on the eighth hole during the first round of the 151st Open on July 20, 2023 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Holyoke, England. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
Justin Thomas ended a miserable Open Championship first round with a brittle quadruple bogey
“That’s what I prided myself on. Like Tiger (Woods) and some of those guys. Playing that kind of golf. Getting myself into the majors. And grinding. And for those guys (leading the PGA Tour) to go out there and do what they did, as a board member, make a deal, nobody knows.
“The commissioner is supposed to be the man running our tour. These board members make a deal or so-called deal and there’s no input from the players. It’s just a mess. I’m upset.”
Ellis said Monahan and LIV “should have talked from the get go” to avoid the feud in the first place.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a news conference before the start of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 22, 2022 in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“I spent almost 30 years on the tour. … There are a lot of people who did a lot for the tour. They helped the tour and helped build the game. Are you kidding me? And then this bull—“
Monahan said in September that he did not expect anything positive to come out of the current rivalry.
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The agreement will end all pending litigation involving the three golf circuits and allow players who left their respective tours to reapply for membership after the 2023 season.
Ellis shot a 4-over 75 in Thursday’s first round. He won the 2002 and 2012 Open Championships.
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