‘Black cloud’ hovering over Open
BROOKLINE, Mass. – A “black cloud” hovers over the U.S. Open as the men’s national championship of golf begins Thursday at The Country Club.
Those are the ominous words of Brooks Koepka, a two-time U.S. Open champion who expressed his disappointment this week at the torrent of questions coming his way in the wake of the suspension of 17 PGA Tour players, including Phil Mickelson, over their decision to go into business with Saudi Arabia on the renegade, exhibition-style LIV Golf league.
The exodus of big names such as Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Rickie Fowler for hundreds of millions of Saudi dollars has jolted every aspect of the game of golf, befuddling players and organizations alike. No one apparently knows what to say or do, aside from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who kicked out the Saudi Seventeen last week.
These guys know golf, but when it comes to explaining their actions or showing respect for those who might be profoundly affected by them, such as a 9/11 survivors’ organization, they are stymied.
Hall of Famer Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, has been watching from afar in California as golfers like Mickelson have stumbled and fumbled through answers about the horrifying Saudi connection to 9/11 and the 2018 murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“It’s just amazing to hear all these people who can’t even answer simple questions about LIV Golf,” Couples told USA TODAY Sports in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “For these 9/11 families, it must be a crushing blow.
“If I had an 18-year-old son who was killed by a drunk driver, I think I would fight my whole life to make sure people drinking at a bar did not get into a car. I’m sure it’s the same with the 9/11 families and Saudi Arabia. To not be able to answer these questions because they are getting $200 million or he can’t answer because he’s making $110 million or $65 million, it’s just crazy.”
Take for instance the softball question that I tossed at U.S. Golf Association CEO Mike Whan on Wednesday asking if he would speak out and support a 9/11 families organization and the fiancée of Khashoggi, whose murder, according to human rights organizations and intelligence services, was sanctioned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is bankrolling the LIV tour.
Last Friday, Mickelson and a few of the other big-name U.S. golfers received a scathing letter from 9/11 Families United chastising them for their
sportswashing of the Saudis’ image and reputation, saying the golfers’ actions are “a betrayal not only of us, but of all your countrymen.”
Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudis.
When Mickelson failed on Monday to answer a question about how he would explain to the September 11 families why he has gone into business with the Saudis, the 9/11 group blasted Mickelson again.
“Phil knows exactly what he’s doing, and he and his fellow LIV golfers should be ashamed,” Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports in response to Mickelson’s remarks.
“They are helping the Saudi regime ‘sportswash’ their reputation in return for tens of millions of dollars, at the very same time our government is rolling out more damning evidence of Saudi culpability in the 9/11 attacks. As the PGA Tour commissioner said Sunday ‘you’d have to be living under a rock’ to not understand the implications of involving yourself with the Saudis.”
And Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, told USA TODAY Sports that LIV golfers should be banned from playing in the men’s majors.
So back to the question to Whan: “Do you feel you have a responsibility to the game and the country as the national governing body for the sport to speak out and support the 9/11 families and Khashoggi’s fiancee?”
Whan spoke for 1 minute and 49 seconds and never said a word about the 9/11 families or Khashoggi’s fiancée. He said he feels “responsibility to this game” and to “the competitors.” He went on and on about qualifying rules for the U.S. Open and said he has an American flag flying in his front yard, but not a peep about the people I asked about. So I tried again.
“And no support for the 9/11 families?”
Whan said he had “complete support for the 9/11 families” but then went on to talk about remembering where he was and what he was doing on 9/11, saying, “we lost a couple neighbors,” before sliding back into USGA-speak.
Two other U.S. Golf Association executives sitting by his side didn’t offer a thing.
The press conference moved on to the next question.