<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655330432491,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017f-1e8d-dbf3-a77f-9fef485e0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655330432491,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017f-1e8d-dbf3-a77f-9fef485e0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
$bp("Brid_55330421", {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1029388"}); ","_id":"00000181-6961-ddb6-a5eb-6971e1290000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedRep. Chip Roy slammed PGA Tour defectors who have decided to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, arguing the players are “basically whores and has-beens.” And they’re willing to take millions in “blood money,” said Roy (R-TX).
A number of high-profile PGA stars have been lured by tournament purses in the $25 million range, with the golfers being paid millions more to join the league. That includes Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, and Lee Westwood.
But critics, including Roy, say that Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses should deter players from participating in the league. Roy said he doesn’t support President Joe Biden’s expected trip to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid record-high gas prices either.
PHIL MICKELSON AMONG 17 GOLFERS SUSPENDED FROM PGA TOUR OVER SAUDI COMPETITION
“I’m fine with competition, but it has to be an economic model that’s legit and not being bankrolled by a bunch of Saudis,” Roy told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “We’ve got the president of the United States going over and kissing the Saudis’ a** trying to get oil because we’ve got completely screwed up oil and gas, energy policy in this country.”
Biden is set to visit Saudi Arabia next month. The trip represents a foreign policy trade-off that’s a reversal of his 2020 campaign pledge to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” The trip, set for mid-July, will also include a visit by Biden to Israel, and he will also meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.
Roy singled out for criticism one of the highest-profile players to join LIV Golf.
“And now you got frickin Phil Mickelson going, ‘Oh fine, give me $200 million in guaranteed cash after I spent 32 years on the PGA Tour making $125 million in earnings, making gazillions of dollars in endorsements and sponsorships,’” Roy said. “And then you got DJ [Dustin Johnson] doing the same thing — ‘I’ll take $120 million of blood money.’ We know what the Saudi money’s for.”
Roy, who walked onto his college golf team, said he doesn’t agree with the sentiment that oil negotiations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia equate to professional golfers opting to sign on to LIV Golf, arguing it is easier for athletes to rebuff the offer.
“People say, ‘Chip, you don’t understand — you’ve got all the oil and gas companies that are buying oil from Saudis, and the president is there.’ I know! The president shouldn’t be if our policies weren’t so garbage,” he said.
“But don’t equivocate and say that because we need a barrel of oil or some oil and gas company needs a barrel of oil, that’s the same — you’re playing golf, dude, you have a choice. You have free will,” Roy said. “You got guys who either haven’t won majors, they’re in their 40s, or they’re basically whoring themselves out for lots of money.”
The players’ decisions to join the Saudi production that’s backed by the country’s government has been met with scrutiny by many, with LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman coming under fire after shrugging off the Saudi-led assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, telling reporters: “Look, we’ve all made mistakes, and you just want to learn by those mistakes.”
Mickelson (who has opted not to resign from his PGA Tour membership like some of his former colleagues on the tour and is set to play in the U.S. Open), Reed, Na, Johnson, and DeChambeau received a letter from Terry Strada, the national chairwoman of 9/11 Families United, who called the move a “betrayal not only of us, but of all your countrymen.”
Roy said while legislative action is unlikely, he hasn’t ruled out looking into the legality of perks they are receiving.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“As a conservative, I tend not to want to interfere, let these guys go to the thing,” the Texas congressman said. “But look, I’m not going to rule out looking at what benefits they are getting. But the bigger thing here is making a point about the culture of our society — you’ve got these guys who’ve been given the greatest blessing in the world, and you know, they get to play a freaking game and make a gazillion dollars doing it.”
Roy also applauded Tiger Woods for turning down a reported nearly $1 billion offer to join LIV Golf, arguing that despite having controversies in the past, he feels the record-breaking golfer is doing the right thing.
“At the end of the day, the guy’s, like, loyal to the game while these guys are selling themselves out for their 30 shekels,” Roy said. “I think it’s pathetic.”
