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After news broke of the PGA Tour’s merger with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Tuesday morning, the world’s media scrambled for additional details and players’ view on the deal.
Bryson DeChambeau, who was among a group of high-profile players to defect from the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf last year, was one of the few players to comment publicly on the air the day the news broke.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins quizzed DeCheambeau on the day’s topics, starting with his initial thoughts on the merger.
“I think it’s the best thing that can happen in golf,” DeChambeau said. “And I’m very proud to be a part of that because of the fact that the fans are going to get what they want, the players are going to experience something a little bit different, a little bit new, on the PGA Tour side, but I really think, in the end, golf wins in that scenario.”
When Collins asked DeChambeau what he thought of PGA Tour players who resisted lucrative LIV contracts to stay loyal to the tour, and whether or not he thought Jay Monahan was being hypocritical, DeChambeau said PGA Tour players were given “bad information,” even though when Pressed by Collins as to what that bad information was, DeChambeau couldn’t come up with specifics.
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“I mean, look, there’s a lot of information that can be communicated on both sides,” he said. Now, whether it is true or false is always subject to what people think. And behind closed doors, there were plenty of activities anyone could take part in. Not many players were willing to take that risk. While players like myself had some decent information and were willing to take the risk that it not only did it, it would change our lives, it could potentially change the landscape of golf.”
DeCheambeau appeared confident and somewhat arrogant throughout the interview, slurping on a canned drink between Collins’ questions. But her discussion topic next took on a more serious tone, one that LIV players have been grappling with since kick-off in the league’s first game. Recently declassified government documents revealed links between Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, although the Saudi government has denied involvement. Collins wondered, then, how does DeChambeau reconcile the fact that the LIV, and now this new merger into the PGA Tour, is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund?
“I think we’ll never be able to repay families for exactly what happened just over 20 years ago. It’s definitely horrible what happened,” Dechambeau said. Trying to work together to make things better together as a whole. I don’t know exactly what they feel – I can never know what they feel. But I have a great deal of respect for their position and what they believe in.
“And I don’t want anything like this ever to happen again,” he continued. “I think as we move forward from that, we have to look forward to the path to peace and tolerance. Especially if we are trying to fix the world and make it a better place.”
Collins responded again, asking Dechambeau how he felt about being funded by a government accused of financing terrorism and murder. Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Yeah, I mean look, it’s unfortunate what happened, and that’s something I can’t necessarily talk about because I’m a golfer,” DeChambeau said. But what I can say is that, what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to work on, is we’re better allies, because we’re allies with them. And look, I’m not going to get into politics, I’m not an expert on that, but what I can tell you is that they’re trying to do good for the world and present themselves in a light that hasn’t been seen in a while. And no one is perfect, but we are all trying to improve our lives.”
You can watch DeChambeau’s full interview with Collins below.