Hall of Fame Golfer Tom Watson Cites ‘Hypocrisy’ of PGA Tour-LIV Golf Deal

In an open letter to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, retired Hall of Fame golfer Tom Watson asks for answers on the PGA Tour's controversial, pending deal with Saudi-financed LIV Golf. Writing in Golf Digest, Watson cites "unprecedented obstacles and battles of both moral and financial consequence," given Saudi Arabia's history of human rights abuses.

Watson, 73, is an eight-time major winner. He asks Monahan whether questions about the tour's foreign investments were “compounded by the hypocrisy in disregarding the moral issue.”

He also criticizes the secrecy under which the deal was negotiated, with many players finding out via TV reports and Twitter.

"In my opinion, the communication has been mishandled and the process by which the Tour agreed on a proposed partnership with PIF was executed without due process," Watson writes.

Later, Watson says in his letter: “Is the PIF the only viable rescue from the Tour’s financial problems? Was/is there a plan B? And again, what exactly is the exchange?”

The deal has drawn criticism from organizations representing families of the people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, over Saudi Arabia's role in the attacks.

“My loyalty to golf and this country live in the same place and have held equal and significant weight with me over my lifetime,” Watson writes. “Please educate me and others in a way that allows loyalty to both, and in a way that makes it easy to look 9/11 families in the eye and ourselves in the mirror.”

"I ask the Tour, how is a non-negotiable point for us one day one we negotiate around the next?" Watson adds.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) requested documents related to the deal, and the Justice Department is investigating whether the agreement violates federal antitrust laws.