LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabian government. That is no secret. In fact, thanks to Phil Mickelson’s comments earlier this year, it is probably the one thing the general public knows about the tour.
Golfers playing in the first event this weekend have been facing the media this week and have been hit with some tough questions.
On Wednesday, a British journalist asked Ian Poulter “Is there anywhere in the world you wouldn’t play? If Vladimir Putin had a tournament, would you play in that?”.
The line of questioning caught the attention of WFAN’s Jerry Recco. He brought some of the audio to Boomer & Gio on Thursday morning.
While many of the players said they couldn’t answer hypothetical questions like the one posed to Poulter, Boomer Esiason said the reality is that the people asking the questions don’t understand how easy it is for a lot of these players to justify their decision.
“You can say whatever you want, and I know all the emotions that are attached,” he said. “The money is so big and they play in all these other countries anyway.”
The Saudi Arabian government has backed terrorists and has been tied to atrocities like the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That is the moral quandary these journalists are asking players to consider.
Gregg Giannotti mocked the absurdity of the questions themselves. In a British accent he described hypothetical tournaments hosted by Charles Manson and Benito Mussolini and pretended to ask players if they would participate. He also joked that someone is going to ask one of these guys if they would join OJ Simpson for a round of golf.
LIV Golf’s first event starts this week in London. Play will not be available on television here in the US. The event will be available on LIV’s YouTube channel with former NBC soccer broadcaster Arlo White calling the action.
