PGA Tour pro James Hahn has slammed the ongoing criticism of the rivalling LIV Golf Series, claiming that it is 'tearing this game apart'. Since the formation of LIV earlier this year professional golf has been split in two, with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour locked in dispute with the Saudi-backed series.
Amid all the controversy Hahn has stuck up for LIV Golf despite his PGA Tour allegiances, amid a social media spat surrounding fellow pro Kevin Na. Na was one of the marquee names to make the Saudi switch this summer having won five PGA Tour events during his career.
At the recent LIV Golf Bangkok Invitational, the American was seen lay flat on the floor whilst hooked up to a machine after suffering from severe flu-like symptoms.
Despite this, the five-time Tour winner returned to action just five days later to compete at last weekend's LIV tournament in Jeddah, before having to withdraw after the illness once again got the better of him. Amid his recent struggles, journalist and Phil Mickelson's biographer Alan Shipnuck took aim at Na's LIV schedule, tweeting: "Kevin Na lives in Las Vegas.
"If he was still a PGA Tour member, he could have played his hometown event last week. Instead, he flew to Bangkok and got wrecked, and is still feeling the effects. How do you say schadenfreude in Arabic?"
One man who was clearly left unimpressed with Shipnuck's comments was Hahn, who hit back: "Conveniently left out the PGA Tour is playing in Japan this week. He could have been playing in Japan, gotten sick and get paid $100k less than LIV. I’m sure he’s not regretting his decision Alan, though you might think so."
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Hahn was then accused of coming across as 'bitter' towards the PGA Tour, but claimed he 'loves' the American-based circuit but is fed up of the 'anti-LIV narrative', taking a further dig at Shipnuck. He went on: "I love the PGA Tour, period. Just can’t stand the anti-LIV narrative. It’s tearing this game apart. And most reporters are adding fuel to the fire just for clicks and likes."
The journalist did respond to Hahn's slamming, tweeting: "My tweet was about jilting your hometown event but I guess it was too subtle," but Hahn still was not convinced. Going on to accuse Shipnuck of being a bias reporter, he added: "Not buying it. Your tweet was about jabbing at a LIV players because you’re anti-LIV. It’s ok to be anti-LIV. Just don’t pretend to be an unbiased reporter just stating facts."
