PGA Tour suspended reporter for covering LIV event?
March 13, 2020; Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA; PGA commissioner Jay Monahan speaks to media after the cancellation of the 2020 edition of The Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course. The tournament was cancelled at the conclusion of the first round due to the developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
The PGA Tour has taken a hard stance against golfers who participate in any LIV-sponsored events, but are they also trying to blackball members of the media who cover the new Saudi-backed league?
Carlos Ortiz, one of the many golfers who have been banned from the PGA Tour after playing in a LIV tournament, said in an interview with Handicap 54 this week that he knows a reporter who was banned from covering PGA Tour events for 30 days. Ortiz accused the PGA Tour of trying to control the way people think about LIV Golf. You can see a translated portion of the interview below:
In an interview with Handicap 54, Carlos Ortiz says that one of his friends in golf media received a 30 day ban from the PGA Tour for covering a LIV event. That might help explain why basic information about the current split in professional golf is not being reported. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Q5QNkSqmog
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) August 19, 2022
Ortiz did not mention the Chilean reporter by name. However, given what we have learned about Phil Mickelson’s suspension from the PGA Tour, it is not hard to believe the Tour would try to ban members of the media as well.
PGA commissioner Jay Monahan announced in June that all current and former PGA Tour members taking part in LIV events would be suspended. Several golfers tried to fight back with a lawsuit, but a judge ruled in the Tour’s favor.
