The Augusta National has lost its moral compass in inviting 18 Saudi-backed golfers to the 87th Masters, according to a coalition of families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The LIV Golf Tour, which began in 2022 as a rival league to the PGA, is owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and pays considerably better than the PGA with the top winner at LIV events taking home $4 million. Each LIV tournament has a minimum purse of $25 million, while this year’s Masters has a purse of $15 million.
Critics say LIV is an example of sportswashing, with the country using sports to distract from its human rights violations, including the slaying of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and its role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The LIV golfers are currently banned from PGA tournaments, but the four majors, including The Masters, set their own guidelines.
The 9/11 Families United coalition held a press conference on Tuesday in Atlanta to speak out against the Augusta National embracing the players who left the PGA tour for the LIV tour. Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson received a reported $200 million contract to join LIV.
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“By allowing Phil and numerous fellow Saudi-backed LIV golfers to play in The Masters this week and giving them an opportunity to possibly don the coveted green jacket, Augusta National is giving Saudi Arabia exactly what they want, and we do not: an international platform to perpetuate this malicious PR stunt,” said Terry Strada, the national chair of the 9/11 Families United.
Strada, whose husband, Tom, died in the North Tower at age 41, leaving behind three children, spoke with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley on Monday in a conversation that both agreed to keep private, she said.
“He explained to me why they didn’t make any changes to their guidelines this year without a lot of detail,” Strada said.
The conversation left an opening for the tournament to make changes to who is invited in the future, she said.
The Augusta National didn’t respond to a request for a comment on the matter.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Ridley said the Augusta National looks at its qualifications each year and will remain flexible and open to changing them.
“These were personal decisions of these players, which, you know, I, at a high level, don’t necessarily agree with,” he said.
In December, when the Augusta National announced it would allow LIV golfers at the tournament, Ridley said, “Regrettably, recent actions have divided men’s professional golf by diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it.”
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LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman did not receive an invitation to the Masters this year, Ridley said. In the last decade, Norman has been to The Masters twice, Ridley said.
“The primary issue and the driver there is that I want the focus this week to be on The Masters competition,” he said.
Ridley declined to say that Norman would never be invited back.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied accusations of assisting in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But documents that were declassified by President Joe Biden in 2021 showed that Saudi government agents were involved in the attacks on 9/11. Of the 19 hijackers that took down four planes, 15 were Saudi citizens.
“There was uniform agreement on two words – ‘Never Forget,'” said Strada. “Sadly, 21 years later, some of our top American golfers have forgotten the pain and suffering perpetrated on the 9/11 community and have chosen to ignore that simple but powerful phrase as they were enticed by the riches being offered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
This year’s tournament includes 89 golfers with the following 18 being from the LIV Tour: Abraham Ancer, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Mito Pereira, Thomas Pieters, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith, Harold Varner III and Bubba Watson.
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The coalition considered a protest at The Masters this week but they would have had to stay about a half mile away from the tournament due to local regulations, so they decided to hold a press conference in Atlanta instead, Strada said.
Last summer, the coalition sent letters to the first LIV golfers to express their outrage. No golfer sent a response, Strada said.
“My understanding is they work for the Kingdom now and everything they say has to be positive for the LIV tournament,” she said. “Part of that large sum of money they’ve all taken was also to ensure they never speak out against LIV so we will never hear them say a negative word against LIV.”
The coalition previously protested a LIV Tour event last year at former President Trump’s Bedminster, N.J., golf course.
“With each additional event, the Saudi Kingdom continues its success in diminishing its tarnished image through sportswashing,” said Matthew Bocchi, whose father died in the terrorist attacks while working at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the North Tower.
Mickelson and other players have sued the PGA for not allowing them to play in tournaments.
Ridley said that at Tuesday night’s Champions Dinner, players from the PGA and LIV were interacting, and he wouldn’t have known that “anything was going on in the world of professional golf other than the norm.”
“I’ve noticed the tone has been really good here this week,” he said. “I’m hopeful that this week might get people thinking in a little bit different direction and things will change.”
Strada is hoping for change along a different line, in regard to the eligibility of LIV golfers at next year’s event, she said.
“At some point, your moral compass has to take over and say The Masters can certainly survive and thrive without these LIV players,” Strada said. “Invite all the golfers that are committed to the PGA and work really hard and deserve this.”
