Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy called out PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a fiery Twitter rant after the bombshell news of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger on Tuesday.
In a series of tweets, Portnoy ripped Monahan as “a piece s–t” after the PGA Tour announced that it would merge into one company with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, as well as the European DP World Tour.
Portnoy was particularly unhappy with Monahan over previous comments he made, backing the families of 9/11 victims who expressed public outrage over former PGA pros defecting to LIV.
Last June, 911familiesunited.org, a coalition of families and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attacks, sent a scathing letter to representatives of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Kevin Na accusing them of sportswashing and betraying the United States.
Fifteen of the 19 terrorists responsible for the collapse of the World Trade Towers and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia.
“This is why you should never lie,” Portnoy wrote on Twitter. “People may not like the truth but they’ll respect you for saying it.
“This commish of the PGA comes out looking like the biggest scumbag of all ranting and raving about 9/11 only to merge with Liv an hour later. What a piece of s—t.”
Warning: Graphic language
Dave Portnoy reacts to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger on June 6, 2023. Twitter/Dave Portnoy“I am so sick of this PGA commissioner talking about 9/11,” Portnoy said in a video attached to his tweet.
“Buddy, it’s about the money. It’s only about the money. You know it’s about the money.”
Portnoy went on to say that he would consider moving Barstool’s headquarters to Saudi Arabia.
“I’m not saying — well I am saying, if Saudi Arabia is like, ‘Dave, I’m going to give you one billion dollars to move Barstool’s headquarters to Saudi Arabia and you only have to be here one day a year, I will do that so fast, it’ll make your f–kin head spin,” Portnoy said.
He added that if an offer included five million, he’d say, “You guys are morally f–king corrupt, I want no part of that.”
Jay Monahan the Commissioner of The PGA Tour speaks to the media as a preview for THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 7, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach.Getty ImagesIn a separate tweet, Portnoy shared a screengrab of Monahan’s response to the 9/11 victims’ families in June 2022, and demanded an explanation.
Monahan’s comments included in part: “I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones. My heart goes out to them and I would ask that any player that has left, or that would ever consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”
At the time, Monahan’s comments came after he suspended any PGA Tour pro participating in a LIV Golf tournament.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan waits to speak at the closing ceremony for the 2022 Presidents Cup on September 25, 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesPortnoy called Monahan’s comments “bulls–t,” and continued chastising the PGA Tour commissioner.
“I’m gonna need Monahan to address these comments which were so clearly bulls–t in real time but to invoke 9/11 to get public opinion on your side in a financial golf league dispute is disgusting,” Portnoy wrote.
“Also I could give a s–t less they are merging,” Portnoy wrote in another tweet. “Getting all the best golfers back in the same tournaments is great for golf and the fans.
“It’s just hilarious all the bulls–t that was being spewed about how morally superior the PGA was only to have them merge almost instantly.”
Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports is seen in attendance during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City. Zuffa LLC All parties will work on the potential for LIV players to reapply for memberships with the PGA and DP Tours after this year, according to Golf Digest.
According to the PGA Tour, the Saudi Public Investment Fund “will make a capital investment” into the new, yet-to-be-named supertour.
