Rory McIlroy has spoken out on Tiger Woods and PGA Tour officials reported meeting with LIV Golf’s Saudi Arabian backers in New York a day before the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The world’s two biggest golf companies have been in talks about a merger for over a year, with the meeting taking place in order to possibly finally come to terms with one another.
A X flight tracking account radaratlas2 discovered that private jets owned by Woods, Saudi oil and gas firm Aramco and the PGA Tour all landed in New York on Monday.
In response, 9/11 Justice president Brett Eagleson released a damning statement criticizing Woods for taking the meeting just a day before the anniversary of the attacks, calling it ‘disgusting and unacceptable.’
While McIlroy did not slam Woods to the same degree, the Northern Irishman also did not stand by his fellow golfer’s side. Reports surfaced months back about how the relationship between the two had soured.
McIlroy has spoken out after it was reported people from the PGA and LIV Tours met this week
Woods was part of the reported meetings before the anniversary of the September 11 attacks
‘It’s certainly peculiar timing,’ McIlroy said of the reported September 10 talks. ‘I don’t know much about the talks that are going on. I know that there is but that’s not something that I’m a part of.’
‘I think we are all in the game of golf trying to look for a solution to all this and try to move forward. So we’ll see, yeah. I know as much as you do at this point, and I’m sure news will start to trickle out here in the next few days.’
Fifteen of the 19 September 11 attackers were Saudis but the Saudi government has always denied being involved in the attacks.
Eagleson, who at the age of 15 lost his father in the South Tower, wrote: ‘Tomorrow, we commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, yet here we are today, in New York City, down the street from Ground Zero, and the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods are negotiating with them.
‘As has been confirmed in the last few weeks by CBS News reporting, the Saudi Arabian government played a role in the horrific attacks of 9/11.
‘It is disgusting, unacceptable, and incredibly painful that the Tour and Woods would do this—especially now.’
9/11 Justice have long accused Saudi Arabia of aiding the terrorists who carried out the attacks and have been frequent critics of LIV Golf.
In 2022, they condemned former President Donald Trump for hosting the Saudi-backed tour at his New Jersey course, telling him they felt ‘extreme pain, frustration and anger’ as a result of his decision to host a tournament.
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