- Golfer Bryson DeChambeau defended the Saudi-backed LIV Golf after its shocking merger with the PGA Tour.
- He said, "Nobody's perfect" when asked about Saudi Arabia's connection to the 9/11 attacks.
LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau defended Saudi Arabia when asked about its connection to 9/11, the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamaal Khashoggi, and the country's human rights abuses, saying, "Nobody's perfect."
"What I can say is that what they're trying to do is be better allies because we are allied with them," DeChambeau told CNN's Kaitlan Collins after Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced its shocking merger with the PGA Tour.
"I'm not going to get into the politics of it. I'm not specialized in it. But what I can say is they're trying to do good for the world and showcase themselves in a light that hasn't been seen in a while," he added. "Nobody's perfect, but we're all trying to improve in life."
—Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 7, 2023
Tuesday's merge announcement between PGA and LIV Golf was a stunner, as the leagues have spent a year feuding, with LIV poaching athletes from the Tour.
Hours after the merger went public, families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks criticized the PGA Tour's decision to connect itself with the Saudi-backed league (a declassified FBI memo revealed in 2022 that the Saudi Arabian government was linked to the terrorists who planned the attack).
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suggested last year that players who associated with LIV might have to apologize for associating themselves with the Saudis.
Now Monahan will serve as CEO of the new golf league, which'll be run by a Saudi businessman overseeing the Kingdom's massive fund of investment cash.
In his interview with CNN, DeChambeau said that the 9/11 attacks were "definitely horrible," but thinks "we're in a place now where it's time to start trying to work together to make things better together as a whole."