Rusty Weiss
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith unleashed a fiery defense of golfers who defected to LIV Golf, arguing that the PGA Tour’s own shortcomings created the rival league.
With reports indicating Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s funding from the Public Investment Fund is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season, questions have intensified about the future of its players and potential returns to the PGA Tour.
Enter SAS, who, as per usual, unleashed a silly hot take meant to get clicks.
“If the PGA decides to punish these golfers, we should be all — excuse my language — we should stay in their a– like white on rice. They should not be punishing anybody. It was their negligence, their abuse, their taking golfers for granted that forced the existence of LIV to begin with,” Smith said on Thursday’s First Take.
“The players didn’t want to leave the PGA,” he claimed. “They were forced to because they were looking for better opportunities based on how they were treated. And we know this because the PGA stepped in afterward, once LIV came into existence, and expressed a willingness to make modifications.”
“They knew they had done the players wrong.”
"If the PGA decides to punish these (LIV) golfers, we should stay in their ass like white on rice…the players didn't want to leave the PGA, they were forced to." – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/ukVXV2vhKE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 30, 2026
Stephen A. Smith Blasts PGA Tour for ‘Forcing’ Stars to LIV: ‘Stay in Their Ass Like White on Rice’
That is a super weird way to say ‘PGA players left to get more Saudi money.’
According to Smith, the PGA Tour’s “negligence,” “abuse,” and practice of “taking golfers for granted” directly led to LIV’s creation. He urged the Tour to embrace returning players without any penalties, learn from past mistakes, and treat them more fairly moving forward.
“All they wanted was to be treated better,” Smith added. “And the PGA stuck their nose up like the arrogant people that they were, and they mistreated these guys. Now that this is going away, supposedly, and these players from LIV are looking to come back, I don’t want to hear anything about punishment.”
The comments come amid serious, palpable tensions in professional golf. While LIV’s model has undeniably pushed the PGA Tour to increase player compensation, Smith doesn’t get to portray the defectors as victims.
It is impossible and foolish to ignore the massive guaranteed payouts and the Saudi sportswashing element.
