Earlier this week, the Masters announced that LIV Golf players will be allowed to participate in the tournament in spite of the ongoing drama and legal action between the Saudi-backed league and the PGA Tour. Not everyone is happy about the decision.
“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,” Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement this week. “Although we are disappointed in these developments, our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April.”
9/11 Families United, a group that represents “thousands of families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” released a statement on Wednesday sharing their disappointment over the decision.
“In the aftermath of 9/11, our country agreed we would ‘Never Forget’ that horrible day,” read the statement. “The only reason the Saudis launched LIV was to try to make the world forget who they are and what they did, including their role in 9/11. Anyone who truly vowed to ‘never forget’ should be appalled by the decision by these golfers to put money ahead of their own country.
“On behalf of 9/11 Families United, we are calling on Augusta National to reconsider their open-door policy to the LIV golfers. If they are welcomed with open arms, we will be at their front door to protest in April.”
Families of 9/11 victims have been very vocal opponents of LIV Golf this past year, though their concerns have been discarded by people like former President Donald Trump and Charles Barkley, who don’t see a problem with players taking money from the Saudi Arabian government in spite of their ties to the September 11th attacks.
It doesn’t seem like too many people involved in professional golf are concerned about respecting the families of 9/11 victims, so it’s unlikely that this letter will do much to make the Masters reconsider. When it comes to making money, the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and Augusta National can find a common interest in that.
