Senior PGA Tour officials and Republicans defended the pending merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf, while Democrats panned it during a July 11 Senate subcommittee hearing.
In a crowded room, PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that the merger needs to happen for the sake of the PGA Tour and for the game of golf.
“We really faced a choice. One option was to continue the very expensive, disruptive, and divisive litigation,” said Mr. Price.
“And we faced a real threat that LIV Golf, which is 100 percent financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, would become the leader of professional golf.”
The framework agreement was announced on June 6. A Dec. 31 deadline has been set for a final deal to be worked out. Unless an extension is reached, both parties agreed to drop pending litigation.
During his opening testimony, Mr. Price stated that the PGA Tour-LIV Golf “dispute was undermining growth of our sport and was threatening the very survival of the PGA Tour, and it was unsustainable.”
Numerous stars left the PGA Tour for a lucrative opportunity with LIV Golf. They included Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Sergio Garcia. As a result, they were prohibited from competing in the PGA Tour. During the hearing, Mr. Price expressed a desire to welcome those who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf back into the fold of the former.
During the hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, admonished the PGA Tour for caving to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns and funds LIV Golf. He claimed that the PGA Tour “surrendered” to the Saudis because of the kingdom’s vast amounts of money.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) lamented the PGA Tour reversing itself and seeking this merger, given that it had criticized players who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.
Republicans came to the PGA Tour’s defense as the subcommittee’s ranking member, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), said Congress should allow the parties to complete the merger.
“I really do hope that we can give them the time and space and the privacy working with their members now that the members are fully aware of where they’re going with this deal. And, I think there’s a real potential here,” he said.
Mr. Johnson said a merger could bring more freedom and modernity to Saudi Arabia and called for the deal to get done so it can be a “win-win” for everyone.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said no one would be losing money or power if there were to be a merger after all between the golf entities. He also said no one back in his home state cares about the possible merger; they are more concerned with other issues—from the United States funding gain-of-function research in China to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, allegedly “running a criminal enterprise out of the White House.”
Human Rights Concerns
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who noted his opposition to Saudi Arabia, citing its alleged human rights violations and the United States giving the kingdom military assistance, claimed it is unconstitutional for Congress to involve itself in the PGA Tour-LIV Golf affair. Mr. Paul cited the Ninth Amendment, which states that rights not enumerated in the Constitution belong to the American people.“We have no business asking the PGA about their negotiations or what they might do or what they might [not] do,” he said. “It’s not the business of government.”
A major concern during the hearing was human rights in Saudi Arabia and China, where the PGA Tour had a presence. But, according to Mr. Price, there are no plans to resume competition there. He said the PGA Tour cares about human rights and condemns China’s genocide of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province. Additionally, Mr. Price said the PGA Tour has no plans for competition in Russia, which last year launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Price and Mr. Dunne said that PGA Tour players will be allowed to speak their minds regardless if there is a merger. This development contrasts with the NBA, whose players refrain from criticizing China due to the lucrative relationship between Beijing and the association—an issue raised by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) during the hearing.
In 2019, then-Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morrey posted a now-deleted Twitter post expressing solidarity with the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, drawing criticism from the team’s owner, Tilman Fertitta.
Moreover, in the hearing room audience were family members of victims of 9/11, for which Saudi Arabia has been blamed as a supporter of its perpetrators. One female family member was shaking her head as Mr. Dunne acknowledged the tragedy, noting earlier that 66 of his friends and colleagues lost their lives that day, but asserted that the guilt should not be placed on the younger generations of Saudis.
“If you look at even in Saudi Arabia, I think there are 18 million men, young men, men, and Saudi women that are under the age of 32,” he said. “And I think it would be good if they didn’t think every American hated, you know, [they] had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. And I think that golf can be a force throughout the world.”
Framework Going Forward
The hearing was supposed to include PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. However, they were unable to attend as Mr. Monahan has been on medical leave, while Mr. Al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman cited a scheduling conflict.
According to the framework, the nonprofit PGA Tour would maintain control of the competitions, while a new, yet-to-be-named for-profit umbrella organization would take care of the business side. The PGA Tour would maintain a controlling voting interest in the umbrella company, while PIF would maintain a non-controlling voting interest.Mr. Al-Rumayyan would be the chairman of the umbrella organization’s board of directors, while Mr. Monahan would be the umbrella organization’s CEO. Mr. Dunne, Mr. Al-Rumayyan, Mr. Monahan, and PGA Tour Policy Board Chairman Ed Herlihy would form the umbrella organization’s executive committee.
Mr. Blumenthal revealed that internal documents obtained by his subcommittee showed that the PGA Tour prepared a side agreement that Mr. Norman would be terminated as LIV Golf CEO upon execution of the final agreement—if there is one. Mr. Norman would go into an advisory role.
The hearing was reflective of Congress getting involved in the nexus between sport and foreign government influence, even by regimes that seek to whitewash their reputation with sports in what is called “sportswashing.”
“We’re going to look into whatever issues are appropriate. Reflecting on the PGA Tour and its viability as [an] iconic American institution, we’ve ruled out no area, and I’m going to be talking to Senator Hawley about his interest in pursuing that line of questioning further,” Mr. Blumenthal told The Epoch Times hours after the hearing when asked whether his subcommittee will also look at the close relationship between the NBA and China.
“I’m not sure that we will have a specific hearing on it, but we will certainly explore that issue,” he said.
“I am interested in preserving the independence and integrity of any American institution that is threatened with undue influence or takeover by a repressive authoritarian government,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
“We need to look at all the Saudi investments and others by similar repressive regimes.”
