Senate Committee Launches Probe Into LIV Golf and PGA Tour Merger

Players practice on the driving range ahead of ahead of the forthcoming LIV Golf Invitational Series event at The Centurion Club in St Albans, north of London, on June 7, 2022. Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

The Senate will investigate the disputed partnership between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Select Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter (pdf) to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman on Monday, requesting documents of communications, disputes, and merger details extending back to LIV’s launch in October 2021.

The PGA announced last week that it would establish a new commercial entity to unify golf with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns LIV. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman administers PIF.

The committee, specifically the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is conducting a review of matters related to the agreement.

“PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution,” the lawmaker said in his letter.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 16, 2023. Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo

On June 6, PGA Tour announced its agreement to merge its commercial businesses with those of LIV Golf, with PIF providing the capital investment to support the growth and success of the new entity.

However, limited details have been made available regarding the terms and reasons behind the agreement, leading to questions about the sudden shift in the PGA Tour’s position and the influence of the Saudi government through PIF.

Questions About Saudi Group

PIF, a Saudi government-created investment fund, has assets exceeding $700 billion, making it a substantial force in the world’s economy. The committee said they are particularly interested in understanding the Saudi government’s role in shaping this agreement.

PIF has previously expressed its intention to utilize sports investments to further Saudi Arabia’s strategic objectives, leading to concerns about an attempt to improve the country’s global image despite its troubling human rights record.

“Critics have cast such Saudi investments in sports as a means of ’sportswashing'—an attempt to soften the country’s image around the world—given Saudi Arabia’s deeply disturbing human rights record at home and abroad,” Blumenthal’s letter stated.

To aid the subcommittee’s inquiry, the committee has requested specific documents and information related to the agreement. The scope of the request covers the period from October 2021 to the present and includes all records, communications, and internal or external correspondence referring to the relationship between LIV Golf and PGA Tour.

Additionally, the committee seeks records pertaining to any disputes involving LIV Golf, PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour, or Jay Monahan, as well as any documents produced in response to inquiries or investigations by law enforcement or regulatory agencies.

The committee also requests organizational charts detailing the corporate structure, officers, directors, and employees of LIV Golf and any new entity formed as a result of the agreement.

The inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at Centurion Club, Hemel Hempstead, St. Albans, Britain on June 10, 2022. England's Sam Horsfield of the Majesticks team in action during the second round. Paul Childs/Reuters

Lawmakers’ Concerns About Merger

“I’m absolutely aghast at the reversal by the PGA, which seems to be a betrayal of the values and the past commitments that they made,” Blumenthal previously told The Epoch Times.

“And I think that the Department of Justice has an ongoing investigation, that’s been reported, and I think they should continue it.”

Other senators, primarily Democrats, expressed their displeasure with the merger to The Epoch Times.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) called the merger “an outrage” but declined to elaborate.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said she was “shocked,” going on to explain, “First they were expressing their concerns about LIV in the Saudis, and now they’re coming together, and so it’s a shocking turn.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he still has “some questions about the Saudis’ involvement.”

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is also hesitant, saying, “It gives me some concern that I’m sure is being looked at by a federal agency that oversees foreign investment. And the stories that the Saudis are looking at taking over Major League Soccer, obviously, adds to the concern.”

Last July, former President Donald Trump weighed in on the issue of the PGA’s potential merger, saying in a Truth Social post, “All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year.”

The Senate Homeland Security Committee did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’s request for comment.

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.