Fans crushed Jay Monahan after he struggled to defend his hypocrisy over the 9/11 families and LIV Golf

The golf world was sent into a state of disarray this week when it was announced that the PGA Tour plans to merge with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — the owners of the rival LIV Golf league. And no person comes away looking worse than PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

When LIV Golf initially launched and paid exorbitant contracts to some of PGA’s biggest names to compete in glorified exhibition tournaments, Monahan came out strongly against LIV. He spoke of Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks as a way of shaming those departing golfers.

For him to change his tune so quickly, it screamed hypocrisy. On Tuesday, the Families of 9/11 United called Monahan out for those remarks. But come Wednesday, Monahan was visibly flustered when he was asked to respond and defend that hypocrisy.

In an interview on Golf Channel, Jay Monahan stumbles though an attempt to defend his hypocrisy regarding the use of 9/11 families as a talking point against LIV Golf. pic.twitter.com/6blmZd8kDg

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 7, 2023

He said:

“Well, I, um, read Terry (Strada’s) comments. I … I … you know … obviously acknowledge her loss and completely understand her position. And to the question that you were just asking, you know, I wish, I think about the fact that I allowed confidentiality to prevail here. And in allowing confidentiality to prevail, I did not communicate to very important constituents, including the Families of 9/11. And I regret that. I really do.”

He went on to add that the merger was in the best interest of the sport, overlooking that LIV was a ratings disaster and bound to fail on its own.

Fans particularly hated this answer from Monahan, and they didn’t hold back on Twitter.