LIV Golf: Donald Trump describes Saudis as "good people with unlimited money"

LIV Golf host and former US President Donald Trump has stuck more knives into the PGA Tour in his latest appearance at the season-ending Pro-Am of the Saudi-backed series.

Speaking at the Blue Monster Course on his estate which is hosting the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami, Trump praised Saudi Arabia and the nation's backing of the new start-up series.

The 76-year-old, who held office from 2017 to 2021, said the PGA Tour significantly mishandled the rise of LIV Golf and described their lack of willingness to cooperate.

Trump played in the Pro-Am on Wednesday with LIV Golf Jeddah winner Brooks Koepka and former Masters champion Sergio Garcia. He also played in the Pro-Am at the Bedminster Invitational in July which was his first hosting duty as part of the inaugural LIV Golf season.

The Blue Monster was a regular host course on the PGA Tour until 2016, a year before Trump took office. He has previously been critical of the Tour in their reaction to the breakaway series and he continued this on Thursday.

"The tour mishandled it so badly. The people at the top - something should happen with them. They mishandled it so badly," Trump said.

"They not only had an advantage, they are dealing with very good people (Saudi investors) with unlimited money. They’re good people with unlimited money. And something could have been worked out very easily."

"And by the way, a lot of other people are coming over. Big names. You know that. The star system is always very important in sports. Whether it’s sports or anything else. And they’ve got the stars," he added.

The LIV Golf Tour is set to extend to 14 events next season and the Blue Monster is likely to host the season-ending event as it is this year.

Since the first event of the LIV Golf season in June, commissioner Greg Norman has attracted the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith with lucrative up-front fees.

It is unclear which "big names" Trump referred to yesterday. Players such as Cameron Young and Hideki Matsuyama have been heavily linked to the Saudi-backed series before but opted to stay put after drastic changes were made to the PGA Tour 2023 schedule.