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WASHINGTON — The PGA Tour vigorously defended its agreement with Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, answering questions from lawmakers on human rights and the specifics of the deal.
“The PGA Tour faced an unprecedented attack,” PGA Tour COO Ron Price told the hearing on the rivalry with LIV Golf. “It was clear to us that the dispute was undermining the growth of our sport, threatening the survival of the PGA tour and unsustainable.”
LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), launched last year as a competitor to the PGA Tour — the dominant golf competition in the United States. LIV immediately attracted criticism, including from the PGA, largely due to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Survivors and families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks also protested the league, as well as former President Donald Trump for hosting LIV Golf events at his golf courses.
LIV also signed many top golfers to lucrative offers, such as Phil Mickelson, who received $200 million to play, and Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship in May. The league has also built a sizable fan base around the world.
A legal battle ensued between the two leagues last year when the PGA suspended players who joined the breakaway league. This prompted a lawsuit from the suspended golfers as well as a countersuit by the PGA.
Last month, the PGA Tour made the shocking announcement that it would form a new entity with LIV Golf as well as the Dubai-based DP World Tour, and that the pending litigation between the PGA and LIV was thereby ended. How exactly the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will coexist in the future is unclear, according to a leaked framework agreement, and negotiations are ongoing.
Senate hearing
The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing was led by its chair, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), also attended, alongside other senators. Blumenthal announced the hearing last month, citing concerns over a “foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution” at the time.
Price and PGA board member Jimmy Dunne testified in place of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who is on medical leave. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and PIF Governor Yassir al-Rumayyan were unable to attend due to “scheduling conflicts,” according to Blumenthal.
Blumenthal said there is a “sense of betrayal” regarding the new partnership, echoing concerns from the 9/11 families, sports commentators and others.
“For two years, the most vehement opposition to the Saudi government taking over golf in America … came from PGA leaders themselves,” he said. “Suddenly, on June 6, everything changed.”
Blumenthal focused much of the hearing on a non-disparagement clause in the framework agreement, expressing concerns that players may not be able to “speak out on Saudi human rights abuses.”
“I would like a commitment from both of you that the final agreement will not prevent PGA Tour executives and players from criticizing the kingdom,” said Blumenthal.
Price responded by saying he “would not recommend” such an agreement to the PGA Tour’s board for approval. “We always take our players’ interests importantly. We would try to protect their interests,” he said.
Later, Blumenthal referenced European soccer teams abandoning a pro-LGBTQ armband at the World Cup in Qatar last year after an intervention by FIFA, and asked the PGA to commit to barring such restrictions.
“We believe in full access to our events,” said Price.
Price and Dunne portrayed the PGA Tour as facing an existential crisis with the emergence of LIV Golf, and Dunne said they faced the prospect of Saudi Arabia completely owning the game.
“They have an unlimited amount of money,” said Dunne. “The PGA is not that big in terms of players. If they take five a year, they can gut us.”
Price said the “expensive litigation” from the lawsuits with LIV Golf was another factor in the decision to seek a deal.
Price and Dunne also both clarified the status of the PGA Tour’s relationship with LIV Golf. At present, the two entities have agreed to end their pending litigation and are working toward a “definitive” agreement. Price and Dunne repeatedly said that there is no final agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at this time.
Price also said the PGA Tour will “control” the board of the new entity, including with regard to investments and where tournaments will be held. The PGA also said in June that Rumayyan will chair the new entity’s board.
The announcement from the PGA Tour in June mentioned that the PIF would invest in the new entity. Price did not give a specific figure for the investment but said discussions were of an amount “north of $1 billion.”
9/11 families in attendance
Many 9/11 families were in attendance at the hearing. Groups like 9/11 Justice have repeatedly criticized LIV Golf — including to Al-Monitor — due to the Saudi government’s alleged connections to the attack.
Dunne himself has a connection to the tragedy as well, having lost 66 colleagues at the investment bank Sandler O’Neill who were working in the World Trade Center. After the PGA Tour’s announcement with LIV Golf, Dunne notably said he would “kill” anyone directly involved in the attacks.
Dunne committed to meeting with the 9/11 families at the hearing after being asked to do so by Blumenthal. He praised the US military as well as former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama for the 2011 raid that killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. He also said he would not judge people from the Middle East or Muslims for the event.
“I believe that our special services did their job,” said Dunne, fighting back tears. “I refuse to describe a whole other people because they have common skin color or religion.”
Blumenthal responded that the question is regarding the Saudi government’s role in 9/11. “There is mounting evidence that the Saudi government was implicit in the 9/11 attack. The families here are seeking justice against that regime,” he said, adding that the US government has shown a “lack of cooperation” in releasing information.
Johnson expressed relatively more support for the PGA Tour during the hearing, saying the organization faced an “existential threat” from LIV Golf. Johnson also said that congressional involvement in the negotiations could have a bad effect.
“There is nothing wrong with the PGA tour negotiating its survival,” said Johnson. “I fear Congress getting involved at this stage could have negative consequences.”
Unanswered questions
After the hearing, Blumenthal told Al-Monitor that many questions on the PGA Tour’s relationship with LIV Golf remain unanswered.
“What amount of money is really committed by Saudi Arabia? They said north of a billion. There are a lot of numbers north of a billion,” said Blumenthal.
Blumenthal also said the “real degree of control” Saudi Arabia will have via their investment is unclear. Moreover, he added that he still has concerns regarding the players’ rights to speak out against Saudi Arabia.
“The PGA Tour is an organization. That organization committed to the non-disparagement clause,” said Blumenthal. “There are a bunch of questions involving free expression.”
Saudi Arabia’s golf moves are already having major ramifications for global sports. Many top soccer players have joined the Saudi Pro League recently, most notably Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The PIF also purchased the English soccer team Newcastle United in 2021. The PGA Tour-LIV Golf news has prompted speculation that Saudi Arabia will invest in other US sports.
Saudi Arabia is not the only Gulf country making a move into the US sports market. The Qatar Investment Authority announced on Monday that it is taking a minority stake in three Washington sports teams.
