Whirlwind Week Leaves Golf World Taking Pace of New Reality

The wildest week in professional golf history is coming to an end with heads still spinning and no clear picture of what the future holds.

Most fans and media have not been satisfied with PGA Tour policy board member Jimmy Dunne’s attempts to explain his optimism in partnering with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“I am quite certain and have had conversations with a lot of knowledgeable people that the people that I’m dealing with [from the PIF] had nothing to do with [the Sept. 11 attacks],” Dunne told Golf Channel. “And if someone can find someone that unequivocally was involved with it, I’ll kill him myself.”

Dunne’s company lost 66 employees during the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

The 65-year-old Dunne told Sports Illustrated that he reached out to PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan to see why he was spending so much on LIV and realized the Tour could potentially work something out for the good of golf. 

Reaction to Dunne’s comments has not been positive for the Tour, much like fans’ reception of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s confusing and sometimes awkward public appearances this week.

LIV Leads The Way

Six of the 10 players on Forbes new list of the highest-paid golfers in 2023 compete for LIV Golf: Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed.

Johnson brought in a total of $111 million on and off the course, topping the entire list.