The ball is in Jay Monahan’s hands now. The PGA Tour commissioner said he would hand out sharp punishment, perhaps a lifetime ban from the Tour, for any Tour golfer who played in this week’s Greg Norman, Saudi-funded LIV tournament in London.
The threat fell on deaf ears for a handful of Tour regulars. The list includes Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Talor Gooch and Charl Schwartzel. Kevin Na, a five-time Tour winner and 33rd ranked player in the world, made it easy on the Tour commish. Na resigned from the Tour.
The question now is when he’ll announce the players’ punishment. As of Monday there was no word. Is Monahan waiting for the players to actually hit a shot in London.
Monahan left himself a little wiggle room, saying the punishment would be as harsh as a lifetime ban. You’d have to think Monahan was surprised by the number of Tour players in London although most are international players. The big surprise is Johnson, a top-tier player who had expressed his loyalty to the PGA Tour.
The LIV Tour isn’t going away. The Saudi government is dumping hundreds of millions dollars into it.
Some established and unknown golfers are going to get rich quirk to ease the pain of whatever punishment is handed out.
