Not only did Bryson DeChambeau risk a hit to his reputation by moving to LIV Golf in 2022, but he severely depleted his chances of representing the United States in the Ryder Cup.
Team USA’s automatic qualifiers make the team through FedEx Cup points, which are earned in golf’s four majors and other PGA Tour events. Thus, LIV Golfers are only able to earn qualifying points in majors, meaning DeChambeau had just eight chances (four in 2024 and four this year) to qualify for Bethpage Black this past September after not playing in 2023.
“Yeah, it sucked. I wanted to be there. Didn’t play well enough in the majors,” DeChambeau told reporters on Ryder Cup eve. “Knew what I was up against when I went to LIV. That’s a whole other conversation. But still wanted to make the team and wasn’t able to.”
Bryson DeChambeau plays his shot from the first tee of the Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on Sept. 28, 2025, in Farmingdale, New York.(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
On his redemption tour, though, he won the 2024 U.S. Open, finished second in both PGA Championships and had three other top-10 finishes. That was enough not only to get him on the team but to miraculously automatically qualify. He and Justin Thomas then draped an American flag over their backs while walking to the first tee as the sun was rising on Long Island.
That would have been a wild sight three years ago, but it’s no secret that the PGA and its golfers have softened their stance on the Saudi-backed league and those involved in it (DeChambeau and Tommy Fleetwood, along with Justin Rose, did get testy at Bethpage).
In July 2023, the tours announced they were in discussions to come to some sort of head. Rory McIlroy even admitted he “changed my tune” on those who defected.
“I think there is a mutual respect of our craft… You know, it’s just a matter of putting that golf ball in the hole, you know? And I think there’s a mutual respect among all of us,” DeChambeau told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “So that’s where I feel like, you know, we all have gone to a place where we’re like, ‘OK, you know what? Let’s just keep moving on. We’ll let the businessmen figure out the business details and we just keep playing golf.’”
Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy shake hands at Augusta National. Augusta, Georgia.(Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
DeChambeau and Team USA came up just short of the largest comeback in Ryder Cup history. The two-time U.S. Open champion even fought back from five down after seven holes to halve his match with Matt Fitzpatrick. Despite the loss, DeChambeau made sure not to take the experience for granted.
“Oh, man, it’s a special feeling. I’ve always loved representing Team USA. It’s been fantastic to do that, and we’ve lost and won on numerous occasions. It’s definitely an emotional roller coaster, but one that I love experiencing every time I get the chance to, and I’ll continue to fight to be on those teams as far as I can,” DeChambeau said.
“You never know when it could be your last one, right? So you got to appreciate and respect it. And I think albeit, you know, us losing and it being at Bethpage, it was a really tough one to lose, I still have great respect for being a part of the competition, and I think that’s what I’ll remember most is that I was a part of the competition.”
“I’m going to throw LIV a bone here, it’s great to get prepared to be on a team. Every tournament I play, I’m gunning for my team to do the best they possibly can,” he added. “That’s what made me feel like I’m prepared for this environment and give it my all for others, not just myself.”
“Keegan [Bradley] did a great job as the captain, in my opinion,” DeChambeau continued. “You always look back and say, ‘Oh, you could have done this, could have done that,’ but, dude, this guy gave his heart and soul, and that’s what I respect so much about what he did. Because again, it’s not him that ultimately wins or loses the Ryder Cup, it’s us players. He gets the brunt of it, fairly or unfairly so, it’s part of how it lays out. But I had a great time.”
Bryson DeChambeau and Keegan Bradley at the 18th hole green during the Ryder Cup on Sept. 26, 2025, in Farmingdale, New York.(Maddie Meyer/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images)
It has been nearly two and a half years since the PGA and LIV announced plans for an alliance. It has yet to occur, and DeChambeau is not holding out much hope.
“Man, I wish something major would happen, but I don’t think it’s going to in the immediate future. I think there are too many wants on both sides and not enough gives on the other,” DeChambeau said. “We’re just too far apart on a lot of things. It’s going to take some time, but ultimately, I do think the game of golf will grow internationally. Scarcity will become more prevalent, which I think is good for players’ health and longevity. Honestly, for the professional sport, scarcity is very important.
“I think the R&A recognizes that, and I do think the PGA Tour recognizes that. It’s moving more toward that model. I won’t speak for anybody, but I think there will be improvements for the game as time goes on. It’s positive disruption, and it’ll take time to let the water settle and make a perfect scenario where we all come back together. Ultimately, I think it’ll be good for the game over time.”
Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus was awarded $50 million by a Florida jury after suing Nicklaus Companies, his former company financed by billionaire Howard Milstein, for defamation.
The 18-time major champion sued the company after it claimed Nicklaus was considering a $750 million deal to join LIV Golf and was no longer mentally fit to manage his business affairs.
Nicklaus met with the Saudis in 2021 but said he had turned down offers twice, according to Sports Illustrated.
Jack Nicklaus talks with his attorneys during a recess in closing arguments in Judge Reid P. Scott II’s courtroom at the Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 20, 2025.(THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
“I was offered something in excess of $100 million by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg is doing,” Nicklaus said at the time. “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’”
The lawsuit said Nicklaus “had no interest in the offer and declined because he felt the PGA Tour was an important part of his legacy, and if the PGA was not in favor of a new league, he did not want to be involved,” according to ESPN.
Jack Nicklaus addresses the media prior to the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 4, 2024, in Dublin, Ohio.(Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
“These are the people who planted a story,” Nicklaus’ attorney, Eugene Stearns, said in his closing argument, via the Palm Beach Post. “The story is a lie. … What that they wanted to create in the minds of the public is Jack Nicklaus is an old guy who sold out to the Saudis.”
The Palm Beach Post said that the jury found the defendants spread false information that damaged Nicklaus’ reputation that led to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust, or contempt.”
“It’s always hard in a defamation case to prove damages to reputation, because in particular for a guy like Jack, it’s always such a good one,” Stearns added in a comment to ESPN. “But I think what was important was the dispute that arose 3½ years ago when the company told the world that Jack was selling out the PGA Tour for the Saudi golf, when it was not true. So, we’re happy that Jack’s been vindicated.”
Jack Nicklaus stands on the 18th hole during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. (Aaron Doster/Imagn Images)
Nicklaus, 85, is widely considered one of, and perhaps the greatest, golfers of all time, having won 73 total events. His 18 majors are the most ever—three more than Tiger Woods, who is tied with Sam Snead for the most PGA wins with 82.
Nicklaus’ last major was the 1986 Masters, which he won 24 years after his first.
Sergio Garcia, the all-time leading scorer in Ryder Cup history, will not be teeing it up at Bethpage Black this September, and the emotional fallout has been immediate.
The 45-year-old Spaniard, who accumulated 28.5 points across 10 Ryder Cup appearances, was left off Luke Donald’s final European team on Monday.
PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 23: Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC looks down the fairway on the 18th hole during day two of the LIV Golf Team Championship Michigan at The Cardinal at Saint John’s on… PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 23: Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC looks down the fairway on the 18th hole during day two of the LIV Golf Team Championship Michigan at The Cardinal at Saint John’s on August 23, 2025 in Plymouth, Michigan. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Donald had warned Garcia weeks earlier at the British Masters that his spot was far from guaranteed. He had also confessed to GolfMagic that Garcia would need a standout showing at LIV Golf’s season-ending Team Championship to be considered as the captain’s pick.
But Garcia’s Fireballs GC finished eighth, falling short of the impact needed to sway Donald’s decision.
“The call with Luke (Donald) was fine but not the call I wanted, obviously,” Garcia told GolfMagic’s Andy Roberts on Monday. “Now, the only thing I can do is support the team from home. It’s as simple as that. I’ll be watching and cheering on the European team.”
The snub hit Garcia hard. Just hours after the picks were revealed, he withdrew from the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club in Kildare, citing emotional fatigue.
“I felt like I was so looking forward to being a part of that team,” he expressed during the same conversation with Golf Magic. He added, “And so I felt like mentally, you know, mentally it was kind of tough.
“I didn’t want to go there and not be fully engaged in the tournament and stuff, so I just decided to take a little bit of time off and spend it with the family and do a couple of things, you know, some things outside of golf and just kind of reboot a little bit, recharge the batteries.”
Garcia’s season has been a mix of flashes and frustration. He claimed his second career LIV Golf title in Hong Kong this March, finishing ninth in the LIV Individual Championship standings. That followed a third-place finish in the same race last year.
Yet despite those wins, Garcia’s world ranking has fallen to No. 411, mainly due to LIV Golf events not earning ranking points.
Lee Westwood of England and team Europe, Sergio Garcia of Spain and team Europe, Jon Rahm of Spain and team Europe, and vice-captain Luke Donald of England and team Europe watch during Sunday Singles Matches… Lee Westwood of England and team Europe, Sergio Garcia of Spain and team Europe, Jon Rahm of Spain and team Europe, and vice-captain Luke Donald of England and team Europe watch during Sunday Singles Matches of the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 26, 2021 in Kohler, Wisconsin.
Warren Little/Getty Images
The Masters winner’s withdrawal underscores the emotional weight of missing out on what would have been his 11th Ryder Cup appearance, tying legends like Sir Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood.
His passion for the event has never wavered, and his leadership has often been a force for younger players under pressure.
According to GolfMagic, the Spaniard still plans to compete at the Spanish Open at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid next month.
But he’ll need a top-tier finish to crack the top 70 in the DP World Tour Rankings and qualify for the season-ending playoffs in Abu Dhabi. Currently, he sits at No. 188.
Things are gearing up for the Masters, the PGA and LIV are making nice and cbd is quietly helping golfers – wait – what was the third thing?
After a bitter fight, it seems the Saudi backed LIV Golf and the Professional Golf Tournament (PGA) are making nice and everyone seems ready to be polite at the upcoming Masters Tournament. The PGA Tour agreed to merge with LIV Golf in June 2023, ending ongoing lawsuits and allowing competitors to move forward as a larger operation. The two parties agreed to merge the commercial operations and rights of LIV Golf and PGA Tour into a new, unnamed, for-profit corporation. But the devil is in the details and it isn’t fully settled. Despite the uncertainly, even casual golfers are gearing up to watch the annual Masters in Georgia to see both sides being nice.
In golf, the Masters is one of the most viewed tournaments, but what you won’t see is the answer to why golfers are mastering CBD. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson heavily suggested they consuming CBD-infused gum at tournaments, including the Masters. Greg Norman, Bubba Watson and Lucas Glover have all openly revealed they regularly use CBD oil to take their game to the next level. So why have the embraced this cannabis derived cbd oil? Simple it helps them play and recover better and quicker.
While CBD comes from the cannabis plant, it doesn’t contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana that produces a high. This is the key reason it is sold in mainstream retailers like Walmart and Amazon. It has been scientifically proven to have medical benefits and helps with anxiety, inflammation, and more.
Photo by HeungSoon via Pixabay
A key benefit of CBD for golfers it helps calm nerves and anxiety experienced while playing. It is an individual game were you are completing against yourself and others while be watched. A person’s mental state plays a key role in any sport, so being as serene as possible will always help improve performance.
In additional, the game requires a significant amount of muscles and, in tournaments, over and over again for 1-3 days. CBD can help with fatigue, tiredness and muscle pain. In addition it can help a golfer recover quicker to allow playing round after round, day after day. Whether you’re sore from the day before or fighting off the sluggishness aging brings, it can gently relax and reduce many body issues.
Like cannabis, there still needs to be more research and you may want to experiment with dosage. If you are a regular golfer, this could be another helpmate on the course.
Joining forces with Saudi-backed LIV Golf is the best way to keep the PGA Tour from losing more money and prominent players, two PGA officials told lawmakers during a congressional hearing.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations heard testimony Tuesday from Jimmy Dunne and Ron Price — both of whom have played a role so far in brokering a deal with LIV Golf. Dunne, a member of the PGA Tour’s governing board, told lawmakers that he joined the organization in January — at a time when players were leaving the Tour for LIV Golf and both organizations were in court over a 2022 lawsuit filed by LIV Golf alleging an illegal monopoly.
Dunne said he felt continuing the court battle would hurt professional golf so he decided to contact Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of LIV Golf’s parent company the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
“My concern was that, if it all continued — expensive legal fights, every day wondering which player was going to leave next, a fanbase tired of hearing about it, sponsors nervous — golf as we know it would be damaged forever,” Dunne said.
Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin held the hearing in Washington after other lawmakers launched a probe into the PGA Tour’s plan. Senators also asked Greg Norman, LIV Golf’s CEO, and Al-Rumayyan to attend the hearing but they weren’t present.
Dunne said his conversation with Al-Rumayyan led to the official announcement last month of the PGA Tour looking to form a new for-profit golfing league with financial backing from PIF. Had the PGA Tour done nothing, LIV Golf would have eventually lured away all of professional golf’s greatest stars, Dunne said.
“The PGA Tour is really not that big in terms of players, so if they take five players a year, in five years, they can gut us,” he told lawmakers.
Holding the purse strings
The deal between the PGA and PIF drew criticism from players and human rights critics, as well as from survivors and family members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Critics described Saudi Arabia’s investment as “sportswashing,” or using sports and games to rehabilitate a tarnished image.
To some extent, what’s at stake is control over a multi-billion dollar sports competition made internationally famous by Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Sam Snead and other greats. The PGA Tour brought in roughly $1.6 billion in revenue in 2021 and 2022, according to the non-profit’s financial records. Price, the PGA Tour’s chief operating officer, told lawmakers that revenue will reach $2.1 billion this year.
Dunne told lawmakers that both parties are still negotiating a final deal on a new golfing league and those discussions are mostly private.
“What I can tell you is that the Tour will continue to manage the game,” he said. “The Tour will appoint a majority of the board of directors.”
Blumenthal said it’s admirable that the PGA Tour wants to maintain control of golf tournaments, but he’s concerned that PIF would still “hold the purse strings” of the league. Blumenthal asked Price how much money PIF would contribute to the new golfing league and he said “north of $1 billion.”
Muzzling players?
During Tuesday’s hearing, Blumenthal’s office released a rough draft of the PGA-PIF agreement. Tucked within those documents is a clause that lawmakers said muzzles PGA Tour players from saying anything negative about PIF or Saudi Arabia.
Dunne and Price said they would not send PGA Tour leadership any agreement that blocks players from speaking freely.
“I really understand Senator Blumenthal’s concern about not having them take over — that’s the last thing in the world we want, but I think through this agreement, we can get a win-win situation,” Dunne said.
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
Officials for the PGA Tour have agreed to testify next month before a Senate subcommittee which is investigating the organization’s controversial plan to join with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
In a letter Wednesday addressed to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson said that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations — which is under the banner of the Homeland Security Committee — will hold a public hearing about the planned merger on July 11, and requested that Monahan testify.
In a statement provided to CBS News Wednesday night, the PGA said that “we look forward to appearing” before the subcommittee “to answer their questions about the framework agreement we believe keeps the PGA TOUR as the leader of professional golf’s future and benefits our players, our fans, and our sport.”
Jay Monahan, PGA Commissioner, speaks during the trophy ceremony during the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2023, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
JARED C TILTON / Getty Images
The PGA did not specify who exactly would testify.
The proposed merger earlier this month sent shockwaves across the golf world and sparked major criticism against Monahan for his seeming about-face regarding LIV Golf, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The plan would see the PGA Tour and PIF create a for-profit golfing league, with the $620 billion wealth fund providing an undisclosed capital investment. Monahan would serve as CEO of the new entity.
PIF has been accused of what some see as Saudi Arabia’s attempt to “sportswash” in an effort to distract from its record on human rights abuses.
The proposed merger also drew heavy criticism from family members of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, who accused the PGA of hypocrisy.
“Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by (Monahan) and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf,” Terry Strada, chair of 9/11 Families United, said in a statement after the deal was announced.
Immediately after forming last year, LIV Golf poached several high-profile golfers from the PGA by offering exorbitant upfront signing fees of hundreds of millions of dollars, including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson.
An acrimonious rivalry ensued, with the PGA at the time announcing that any golfers joining LIV would be banned from playing on the PGA Tour. LIV responded by filing an antitrust lawsuit.
In their letter, Blumenthal, chair of the subcommittee, and Johnson, it’s ranking member, requested that Monahan “be prepared to discuss the circumstances and terms of the planned agreement between PGA Tour and the PIF, how any new entities formed through the planned agreement will be structured, the expected impact on PGA Tour and LIV Golf players, and the anticipated role of the PIF in U.S. professional golf.”
World No. 2 Jon Rahm has said “a lot” of players on the PGA Tour feel “betrayal” after the shock announcement of its partnership with LIV Golf.
Rahm, speaking ahead of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club in California which begins on Thursday, called last week’s news a “bombshell” to him and his colleagues.
“Well, there’s a lot of not-answered questions. It’s tough when it’s the week before a major. Trying not to think about it as much as possible,” the Spanish player told reporters.
“I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that that’s not the consensus. I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.”
“I understand why they had to keep it so secret,” he added, citing the likelihood of leaks to the media.
“It’s just not easy as a player that’s been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell. That’s why we’re all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don’t know what’s going on and how much is finalized and how much they can talk about, either.”
Last week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced a partnership with the European-based DP World Tour and LIV Golf, unifying the trio under a new, yet-to-be-named, commercial entity and consequently ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.
The announcement led to the US Senate opening an investigation into the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s owners – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – on Monday.
The decision appeared to take the golfing world by surprise, including Rahm, who said he was having a “normal morning making coffee and breakfast” when he describes “texts just flowing in.”
“I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point. There were so many questions that I just couldn’t answer. It’s basically what it was,” he said.
“I think it was that day at one point I told (Rahm’s wife) Kelley I’m just going to throw my phone in the drawer and not look at it for the next four hours because I can’t deal with this anymore.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler echoed Rahm’s surprise, saying in his pre-major press conference that he found out the news while at the gym. “I didn’t really know what was going on. Still don’t really have a clue,” Scheffler added.
While Rahm admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the shifting sands, he would bow to the people making decisions.
“It’s a state of uncertainty that we don’t love, but at the end of the day, I’m not a business expert. Some of those guys on the board and involved in this are (experts),” he said.
“So I’d like to think they’re going to make a better decision than I would, but I don’t know. We’ll see. There’s still too many questions to be answered.”
The partnership seemingly ends a year of division in golf, and with it, animosities between the two sides of golf.
The decisions of some players to leave the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour to sign up with LIV Golf last year were met with consternation by many others.
Now, with the two sides uniting once again, it opens questions about LIV Golf players’ eligibility for this year’s Ryder Cup which begins in September.
Rahm has been a strong advocate of allowing LIV Golf players to be allowed to compete in the biennial tournament. Players wanting to be a member of Team Europe need to be from Europe and a member of the DP World Tour.
However, players who left to join LIV Golf resigned their DP World Tour membership to do so. If they wanted to apply to rejoin the tour for the 2023 season, they had to hand in their documentation to do so by May 1.
DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said subsequent requests would require proof of an exceptional circumstance to be granted, something he said would “be difficult and highly unlikely that that would happen,” per Reuters.
Team Europe’s all-time leading scorer and Rahm’s compatriot Sergio Garcia would miss out under those current regulations.
Rahm said that he has “no idea” about whether that will change and that he would support Team Europe’s captain Luke Donald.
“Again, we have no clue. The only thing I can say at this point is I have faith in Luke Donald, and I have faith that Luke is going to do the best and he’s going to try to make the best decision for Team Europe, and that’s all I can do,” the Spaniard said.
“At the end of the day he’s the captain and I’m not. It’s his ship to steer. I have faith in my captain and I’m hoping – not hoping. I’m sure we’re going to end up with the best team we can end up with.”
For the US Ryder Cup team, players who join LIV can still compete as they didn’t have to give up their PGA of America membership – they were banned from the PGA Tour – and the association is one of the organizers of the event.
A top senator on Monday opened the first inquiry into the controversial deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, raising the alarm about “a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote to the heads of the two sports organizations requesting a slew of records related to the deal. Blumenthal highlighted documents that could shed light on the behavior of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf, as well as the PGA Tour’s tax-exempt status and any law enforcement investigations regarding the agreement or the previously contentious relationship between the two entities.
The Public Investment Fund “has announced that it intends to use investments in sports to further the Saudi government’s strategic objectives,” Blumenthal wrote in the letters, which he sent in his capacity as the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on investigations.
“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,” the senator continued.
The PGA Tour battled LIV after the latter’s inception last year, including in federal court, and many top golfers decried the Saudi gambit. The two agreed to drop their legal disputes after they announced their shocking plan for a merger last week.
The PGA Tour claimed that it would have ultimate power over the new golf behemoth. But many observers say that is extremely unlikely given the proposed organization’s reliance on a promised infusion of funding from the Saudi state.
LIV Golf declined to comment on Blumenthal’s investigation. A representative for the PGA Tour did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Congress has limited influence to block the deal between the two bodies, but Blumenthal and other skeptics could spur public uproar making it harder to achieve.
U.S. officials’ appetite for challenging Saudi Arabia has sharply plummeted in recent years after many policymakers pledged to press the kingdom over its close cooperation with Russia and actions like the state-sponsored assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to rethink U.S.-Saudi ties led to few policy changes. And Republicans have shown little interest in questioning the golf organizations’ moves. Former President Donald Trump ― a pro-Saudi voice who is the GOP’s 2024 presidential front-runner ― has praised LIV, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Blumenthal’s counterpart on the Senate investigative panel, argued Capitol Hill has no role in the deal.
Some lawmakers, human rights activists and members of a group supporting 9/11 families are blasting the PGA Tour for its plan to join forces with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, accusing the U.S. golfing group of helping the nation “sportswash” its record of human rights abuses.
The deal, announced Tuesday, was billed as ending a bitter rivalry between the organizations. But beyond the world of golf, LIV had sparked controversy due to the group’s backing by Saudi Arabia’s $620 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, or PIF.
Under the transaction, the PGA and PIF will create a new for-profit golfing entity, with the wealth fund providing an undisclosed capital investment. That Saudi funding is reigniting concerns that the nation is using the PGA and professional golf to improve its global public image.
“Saudi Arabia’s state fund will apparently largely control professional golf while also sportswashing the country’s dismal human rights record,” Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.
The deal between the PGA and LIV signals that human rights “took a back seat to the merger’s financial benefits,” Shea said.
A PGA representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s minister of sport, told “60 Minutes” in April he disagreed with the charge of sportswashing, arguing that the LIV tour helped bring people together.
9/11 families “deeply offended”
A group of survivors and family members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks said it was “shocked and deeply offended” by the deal.
“Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf,” 9/11 Families United said in a statement.
“Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by [PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan] and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf,” Terry Strada, chair of 9/11 Families United, said in the statement.
In an interview with the Golf Channel on Wednesday, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said he regretted not reaching out to 9/11 families and others.
“Any hypocrisy, I have to own. In allowing confidentiality to prevail, I did not communicate to very important constituents, including the families of 9/11,” he said.
Golfers voice objection
LIV divided the world of professional golf soon after its inception one year ago when it dangled multi-million deals to lure PGA Tour players to its organization. The PGA soon banned players who teed off in LIV tournaments from its own events, creating an acrimonious rivalry — and an antitrust lawsuit — between the two competing camps.
I feel betrayed, and will not not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time
Following the announcement of the deal, some players said they felt blindsided, with PGA Tour player Wesley Bryan complaining that he learned about the deal via social media. Bryan noted that he felt “betrayed” and wouldn’t be able to trust the PGA Tour corporate leadership “for a very long time.”
“I still hate LIV,” PGA golfer Rory McIlroy said during a PGA Tour press conference Wednesday. “I hope it goes away and I would fully expect that it does.”
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
The PGA Tour said it will merge with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, ending a bitter rivalry between the two groups that sparked an antitrust lawsuit as well as accusations of unfair behavior.
The deal will end all litigation between the parties, the organizations said in a Tuesday statement.
The merger comes after LIV Golf poached several high-profile players such as Phil Mickelson with lucrative guaranteed money contracts. That sparked an acrimonious rivalry between the two groups, with the PGA Tour saying players who teed off in the LIV league were no longer eligible for PGA Tour events. In response, Mickelson and other golfers filed an antitrust lawsuit last year against the PGA Tour, accusing it of running an illegal monopoly.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in the statement.
The merger will create “a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour” after the 2023 season, the statement added.
LIV Golf has sparked controversy over its backing from Saudi Arabia, with some critics calling the funding “sportswashing,” or using financial strings to games and teams to help improve a group or nation’s image and standing. It’s an allegation that Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s minister of sport, told “60 Minutes” in April he disagreed with, arguing that the league helped bring people together.
The new group formed by the entity, which hasn’t yet been named, will tap board members including the PGA’s Monahan, who will be CEO, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is the governor of the country’s Public Investment Fund.
Which golfers did LIV hold contracts with?
LIV Golf signed contracts with top golfers from around the world. Aside from U.S. player Mickelson, LIV had also signed several other notable American golfers, including:
Talor Gooch
Bryson DeChambeau
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Who owns PGA?
The PGA Tour is a nonprofit, so it doesn’t have an owner. On Tuesday, the group said it will remain a tax-exempt organization following the merger.
It noted that Jay Monahan will continue as commissioner and Ed Herlihy will remain as PGA Tour Policy Board chairman after the merger.
Who owns LIV?
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is the majority owner of LIV Golf, with a 93% stake, according to Golf.com.
The Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, with $620 billion of assets under management.
What are the players saying about the surprise merger?
Most players learned that the PGA and LIV Golf are joining forces by social media, in part because a news outlet leaked the news before PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan could disclose the news.
“I love finding out about morning news on Twitter,” two-time major champion Collin Morikawa tweeted.
Some players also expressed consternation about the merger.
I feel betrayed, and will not not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress had plenty to say Tuesday about the surprising merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed insurgent league LIV Golf after months of tension between the two rival organizations.
LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which is controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi leader has been accused of trying to cover up his government’s human rights violations by investing in sports organizations around the world, a practice known as “sportswashing.”
“So weird,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “PGA officials were in my office just months ago talking about how the Saudis’ human rights record should disqualify them from having a stake in a major American sport.”
“I guess maybe their concerns weren’t really about human rights?” added Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, was also widely criticized for his comments downplaying the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Turkey.
The agreement will combine the golf-related commercial businesses and rights of the Public Investment Fund, which includes LIV Golf, with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, to create a new “for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players,” according to a news release.
Public Investment Fund is “prepared to invest billions” into the new entity, according to CNBC.
“In the end, it’s always about the money,” tweeted Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). “Saudi Arabia just bought themselves a one-world golf government.”
Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), meanwhile, told HuffPost the merger should be scrutinized by federal regulators like the Federal Trade Commission. He said his concerns were not limited to human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia, but also monopoly power.
“A merger of this size & weight deserved a vote from the PGA Tour Players ― another reason why player unions matter. Golf is one of the only major professional sports leagues in the US without one,” Khanna added on Twitter.
Not every lawmaker was concerned.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who met with the LIV CEO last year, called the merger “a good thing.”
And Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), chair of the Congressional Golf Caucus, tentatively praised the deal, suggesting it would benefit the sport and her district, which boasts many golf courses.
“Obviously Saudi money being involved … you know, I’d have some concerns over that. But look at my district — we’ve got over 30 golf courses,” Mace told HuffPost.
Mace said it would be appropriate for government regulators to take a hard look at the merger.
“Any type of large acquisition or merger certainly deserves scrutiny in any industry, just in general,” Mace said.
The PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf say they have agreed to merge. Both leagues and the PGA European Tour say they will form a new commercial entity. Yahoo Sports writer Jay Busbee has more.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
The US-based PGA Tour is set to partner with the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf, ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.
The PGA Tour made the shock announcement on Tuesday, saying a new partnership with LIV and the DP World Tour would “unify the game of golf.”
“The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for the PGA Tour told CNN that the new relationship between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour)and LIV Golf is not a merger, but “a partnership/creation of a new commercial entity.”
The LIV Golf series, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), officially launched in June 2022, with participating players subsequently barred from competing in PGA Tour events. The PIF is a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, known by his initials MBS.
The two rival tours have since been involved in a series of legal disputes, with all pending litigation mutually ended under the new agreement. “After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement.
Monahan described the deal as a “transformational partnership,” that would “benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”
He praised PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, saying his “vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach” was not only a solution to the rift within the sport but also a “commitment to taking it to new heights.”
“This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better,” he added.
In the same statement, Al-Rumayyan said it was an “exciting day,” for golf and the sport’s fans.
“There is no question that the LIV model has been positively transformative for golf. We believe there are opportunities for the game to evolve while also maintaining its storied history and tradition,” he said.
Al-Rumayyan told CNBC he expected the partnership to be finalized “in a matter of weeks” and was set to serve as the chairman of the new entity’s Board of Directors.
The emergence of the LIV Golf, offering huge prize money and guaranteed earnings across substantially fewer events than the PGA Tour, led to distinct fractures within the sport.
PIF pledged to award $250 million in total prize money for the tour’s inaugural season. Of the $25 million offered at each of the first seven events, $20 million was a guaranteed split between players.
The PGA Tour responded earlier this year by announcing a revamped schedule for 2024, with “designated events” offering increased prize purses, smaller fields, and no cuts.
The antagonism was embodied by one of its biggest stars, Rory McIlroy, who became the de-facto spokesperson for the PGA Tour and an outspoken critic of the breakaway series. In August 2022, the four-time major winner told CNN that LIV Golf had “ripped apart” the men’s game.
Tiger Woods was also critical, arguing in July 2022 that players who joined LIV Golf had “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
Phil Mickelson, one of the earliest to join LIV Golf, became one of the new tour’s most vocal defenders after facing heavy criticism for joining.
Responding to the announcement, Mickelson said on Twitter: “Awesome day today.”
Former President Donald Trump, whose courses have hosted several LIV Golf events, welcomed the news.
“Great news from LIV Golf,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!”
Initial social media reaction from players suggested that some were caught unaware.
Collin Morikawa tweeted, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter,” while fellow pro Michael S. Kim said: “Very curious how many people knew this deal was happening. About 5-7 people? Player run organization right?”
Phil Mickelson defends joining Saudi-funded LIV Golf
In a memo to PGA Tour players, Monahan said the new partnership would require approval from the PGA Tour policy board. CNN obtained the memo from a PGA Tour spokesperson.
The Tour commissioner said LIV Golf’s 2023 calendar would continue as planned, while a “fair and objective process” would be established for players wanting to re-apply for PGA Tour or DP World Tour membership after the 2023 season.
Monahan ended the memo by saying there was “much work to do” to get from a “framework agreement to a definitive agreement,” but that the Tour’s “history, legacy and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but is supercharged for the future.”
Monahan said he was planning to attend Tuesday’s players’ meeting at the RBC Canadian Open at 4 p.m. ET to answer questions regarding what he told players was a “momentous day for your organization and the game of golf as a whole.”
In a statement, Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, echoed Monahan’s comments.
“We are delighted to be able to not only reignite our relationship with PIF, but also to have the opportunity to build on our current Strategic Alliance partnership with the PGA Tour,” Pelley said.
“Together we will be stronger than ever and well positioned to continue to bring the game to all corners of the globe. To partner in this new entity and influence the growth of the game for all our DP World Tour members is energizing and exciting.”
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, organizers of The Open Championship, said: “We are pleased that an agreement has been reached which will help men’s professional golf move forward in a collaborative, constructive and innovative fashion.
“We care deeply about golf’s future and are committed to ensuring that the sport continues to thrive for many years to come.
“This agreement represents a huge step toward achieving that goal for golf and we look forward to working with the new entity for the benefit of the sport globally.”
In the days of the Roman Coliseum, they called it “Bread and Circuses” – leaders using the superficial appeal of entertainment to distract citizens from genuine problems. The term today: sportswashing: the use of games and teams and stadiums to cleanse an image and launder a reputation. A country that has never won an Olympic gold medal, Saudi Arabia has suddenly emerged as a major player in global sport: hosting events, buying teams, and luring athletes with staggering contracts. Is this investment an attempt to diversify the economy and cater to younger citizens, as its leaders claim? Or is it done to paper over human rights abuses, authoritarian rule and even murder? We visited the Kingdom to check out the sports world’s new nerve center, and check out what the Saudis and their neighbors are getting for their money.
Argentina may have claimed the World Cup last December, but it wasn’t the only country to emerge as a big winner. A controversial choice to host, the oil-rich Gulf State of Qatar threw more than $200 billion into staging the event and dribbled past criticism over its appalling human rights record. And another winner was next door. Saudi Arabia fielded the one team that beat Argentina — a triumph celebrated around the Arab world — not least by Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, the country’s minister of sport.
Prince Abdulaziz: It was unbelievable. It was just a milestone that we ticked that shows that if you put the effort and– and the right resources behind it, you can achieve impossible things.
The improbable continued after the World Cup. Saudi Arabia’s enormous resources—that is, sloshing oil money—enticed Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, a generational star, to play for a team in Riyadh. His salary? More than $200 million a season. That’s right $200 million: roughly the annual playing wages of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Aaron Judge and Patrick Mahomes, combined.
The opening bell for Saudi Arabia’s investment in global sports sounded three years ago with “The Clash on the Dunes,” a heavyweight title fight.
A few months later the Kingdom staged the world’s richest horse race.
There’s Formula 1 racing and a 10-year deal with the WWE. But, to many, these mega-events in Saudi Arabia are financial loss leaders being used to launder the image of a country, while cloaking repression and authoritarian rule.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s minister of sport
60 Minutes
Jon Wertheim: You’ve heard this term sportswashing, this idea that countries can cover up bad acts through sports. Do you believe in the concept that a country can use sports this way?
Prince Abdulaziz: Not at all. I don’t agree with that, with that term. Because I think that if you go to different parts of the world then you bring people together. Everyone should come, see Saudi Arabia, see it for what it is, and then make your decision. See it for yourself. If you don’t like it, fine.
Which is precisely why we came to Saudi Arabia late last year—to see this unlikely sports hub for ourselves. December is the off season for pro tennis, yet Riyadh was the site of an exhibition, studded with top 10 stars and embroidered with local touches… falcons enlisted to help with the draw ceremony. But the real draw? Australia’s Nick Kyrgios was blunt.
Interviewer: What brought you here at the end?
Nick Kyrgios: Well, the money is pretty good, I am not going to lie.
Despite deserts of empty seats—and little in the way of television rights, usually the lifeblood for sports—the players were paid millions just to show up. And Taylor Fritz, a Californian, earned $1 million in prize money for winning the weekend event.
The Saudis aren’t just hosting events. Through the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, they bought an English Premier League soccer team, Newcastle United. We saw them for a visiting game against a local team… pointedly, abandoning their usual striped kits, for the green of the Saudi flag.
Then there is, to date, Saudi’s biggest swing in sports: the $2.5 billion LIV Tour, which has divided golf. Dismissing this rival to the PGA Tour as quote “an endless pit money,” Tiger Woods turned down $800 million from the Saudis to join LIV. Many other top players—including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson—did switch their tour allegiances, both paid, as they were, north of $100 million.
LIV Golf putting green
60 Minutes
Jon Wertheim: This flood of Saudi money into sports is just absolutely, it’s a disruptor. It’s, it’s completely changing the face of sports. Is, is that the intention?
Prince Abdulaziz: Not at all. It adds a lot to the sport.
Jon Wertheim: But you have to realize the impact this has. I mean, when winners of LIV Golf events are making multiple times what Tiger Woods won the last time he won the Masters, that’s a big economic change.
Prince Abdulaziz: It doesn’t matter I think if the impact of increasing the participation of sports and the interest in that sport is growing– then why not?
The sports minister insists that the massive investment is an essential pillar of what is called “Vision 2030:” A $7 trillion plan by the kingdom’s effective ruler Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, or MBS, to diversify the economy beyond oil, while softening some of its most restrictive social conventions and laws. It’s now permitted for women to drive, uncover their head, hold a passport and travel without a male guardian.
On the country’s fields, and in gyms and rec centers, young Saudis—male and female—are embracing sport. So are their moms. Rasha Al Khamis is the country’s first female certified boxing coach. Back in 2019 she attended the“Clash on the Dunes”fight.
Rasha Al Khamis is Saudi Arabia’s first female certified boxing coach
60 Minutes
Jon Wertheim: This is your country. These are two international superstars, and you’re not watching them on TV. You’re watching ’em live, here. What was that like?
Rasha Al Khamis: I would never imagine that me– going to the fight, driving my car and attending the fight in– in my own country. So that’s a h– that’s a massive transformation. And you can feel that the change is tangible.
Yet, these changes come at a cost. Loujain Al-Hathloul led the Saudi woman-to-drive movement—and was punished for her activism: arrested, charged with terrorism, and sentenced to prison, where she says she was tortured. Even after her release, she is prevented from leaving the country. Her sister Lina lives in exile and spoke with us remotely.
Lina Al-Hathloul: When we talk about sports, of course we do want to have entertainment in Saudi Arabia. We do want to have this. But not at the expense of, of our freedoms. We don’t want to be living in fear and not knowing if tomorrow they will break into our house and take our sister or our daughter. I do not want to live in this country. I want to live in a country where I feel free, truly.
Jon Wertheim: Even if they have fancy sporting events?
Lina Al-Hathloul: I want both.
Her sister’s harsh treatment, she says, underscores a stark paradox: at a time when social freedoms have expanded, political repression in Saudi Arabia has become more severe.
Lina Al-Hathloul
60 Minutes
Jon Wertheim: You’re saying this is window dressing. This is– this is cosmetic. And behind the games there’s mass executions and repression like never before.
Lina Al-Hathloul: Absolutely. Exactly. This is what’s happening.
The cultural shift goes beyond sports. Who would have pegged Saudi Arabia to start hosting an annual desert rave? Bruno Mars and DJ Khaled were among the headliners. It’s all of a piece: sports, entertainment, tourism. To marry it all, the crown prince turned to American impresario, Jerry Inzerillo.
Jon Wertheim: What’s a guy from Brooklyn doin’ in a place like this?
Jerry Inzerillo: Creating magic, makin’ a place welcoming for everybody to come see the kingdom the birthplace of the kingdom. Very exciting times. Salaam-Alaikum.
In his career in hospitality and entertainment, Inzerillo launched Atlantis in the Bahamas. Name a global celebrity and, be assured, Jerry has made their acquaintance.
Jerry Inzerillo: I’ve done five decades in tourism. My job is to welcome people and to create joy and festivity. With Vision 2030 now we want people to come to Saudi.
Today he oversees a massive $63 billion development on the site where the Saudi state was born, converting it into a modern Xanadu with homes for 100,000 people, luxury hotels and restaurants. We asked Inzerillo about his comfort level representing this autocracy. He told us he focuses on the positive.
Jerry Inzerillo: You know I went to school in Las Vegas, and there’s a gambling term that when you’re way ahead, you’re playing with house money.
Jon Wertheim: You winning?
Jerry Inzerillo: Oh, I’m– not only am I winning, I’ve won.
Jerry Inzerillo
60 Minutes
Jerry Inzerillo: You know there’s an old country western song, ‘Dance with the one who brung ya.’
Jon Wertheim: Who brung ya?
Jerry Inzerillo: Who brung me here?
Jon Wertheim: Yeah.
Jerry Inzerillo: Vision 2030, a very benevolent, very loved king, and a very visionary, dynamic crown prince.
But it’s the less noble doings of the crown prince that have stained the country’s reputation, both accelerating and complicating its foray into sports. A CIA report said MBS approved the 2018 assassination and dismembering of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Under MBS’ rule, executions have drastically increased, including a mass beheading of 81 people in one day last March. The mildest criticism of the state, even on Twitter, has been met with detention, torture and long and arbitrary prison sentences.
Jon Wertheim: We’ve heard a lot about transition. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. But the concern is that this country right now is still not fit to hold international sporting events.
Prince Abdulaziz: We’re not saying that we’re perfect, but what I’m trying to say is that these things help us to achieve a better future for our population.
Jon Wertheim: I think no country would say they’re perfect, but are you saying that every country has a leader that, according to the CIA, has ordered a murder of a journalist? Are you saying that every country has 81 beheadings in a single day? And if the answer is no, doesn’t it make this relative argument, this whataboutism, doesn’t it make that irrelevant?
Prince Abdulaziz: Well, what I’m trying to say is that, ‘Let’s look at the good side about this.’ And– and, you know, you’re just pinpointing certain topics that if we– I go and, you know, we had the mass shooting a couple of weeks ago in the U.S. Does that mean that we don’t host the– the World Cup in the U.S.? No. We should go to the U.S. We should get people together.
Jon Wertheim: A mass shooting is not a government actor. Let’s be clear about that.
Prince Abdulaziz: Still, whatever– whatever, people died. But what I’m trying to say is that if we look at only the bad side, then we shouldn’t do anything.
Jon Wertheim: Are there not universals, are there not basic thresholds you think need to be met?
Prince Abdulaziz: As I said, there is a lot of issues with a lot of countries. But then you mention that the order came from the crown prince, and that’s not true. There’s no proof of that– as we speak–
Jon Wertheim: You’re denying that the CIA’s report that says this was ordered and approved–
Prince Abdulaziz: I don’t think the CIA report actually says that, if you look at it.
The CIA report concluded: “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman “approved an operation…. to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”
Still, the games go on. So do the choices. Just last month, FIFA—soccer’s governing body, not known for occupying ethical high ground—responded to protests from players and turned down Saudi Tourism’s sponsorship offer for this summer’s Women’s World Cup. These moral dilemmas will only intensify.
Jon Wertheim: When we were in Saudi Arabia, we saw a top-level tennis event– a top-level golf event had just been held. Bruno Mars had given a concert. What would your message be to the athletes and entertainers who are coming in to perform and compete?
Lina Al-Hathloul: My message is that, why would you go to Saudi Arabia and stay silent on what is going on on the ground? Why– why won’t you speak on behalf of the prisoners who have been muzzled, on– on all the families that cannot speak? Because when you go to Saudi Arabia you are part of– of– this covering up machine.
Jon Wertheim: What do you think the purpose is of throwing around billions and billions of dollars into sports like this?
Lina Al-Hathloul: I think the Saudi government, the Saudi regime and– and MBS, he wants people to think of– Ronaldo– when they think about Saudi and not about Khashoggi.
Jon Wertheim: That’s become the association now. We’ve gone from the murdered journalist to the star soccer player.
LIV Golf, the fledgling professional golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to play three tournaments this year at golf clubs owned by the Trump Organization.
LIV Golf said Monday it will host tournaments at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.; Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, in Bedminster, New Jersey; and the Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.
LIV Golf held tournament at two Trump-owned golf clubs last year, drawing protests. The group 9/11 Justice, which includes family members of people killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks, last year asked the former president to reconsider hosting the Saudi-funded league in Bedminster, New Jersey.
In a letter, the group said the decision brought them “deep pain and anger” given Saudi Arabia’s role in the 2001 attacks. Members of 9/11 Justice also protested outside the LIV tournament played at the Doral course in Florida last October.
Trump has defended hosting the LIV Golf tournaments, telling the New York Times in October that Saudi officials are “good people with unlimited money” and that the U.S. has “human rights issues here as much as anybody.”
A Trump Organization spokesperson did not answer questions regarding any ethical implications around hosting tournaments held by LIV Golf or how much the company is being paid.
In a statement, Eric Trump, one of Trump’s sons and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said the organization is “honored to be hosting three LIV Golf events at our properties,” adding, “What LIV Golf accomplished in their first season was truly remarkable, and we are excited to raise the bar even higher together in 2023.”
LIV launched last year as an alternative to the PGA and has attracted some of golf’s top stars, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau. The PGA last year suspended several prominent players from participating in its events.
The CW Network, which is partially owned by CBS parent company Paramount Global, in January said it will air 14 events from LIV Golf under a new broadcast partnership deal.
LIV’s 2023 schedule includes 14 stops across four continents. The tour begins Feb. 24 at El Camaleón golf club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and concludes on Nov. 5 at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Saudi Arabia.
Back in Saudi Arabia for the first time since his disparaging remarks about the source of LIV Golf’s funding, Phil Mickelson said Thursday he was glad he was on the “winning side” and that he sees the PGA Tour trending downward, and he also denied doing the notorious interview with writer Alan Shipnuck.
Mickelson had said a month ago that while the PGA Tour had all the best players in the world for the past 20 to 30 years, that would never be the case again.
He came out even stronger in a news conference for the LIV Golf Invitational-Jeddah, which starts Friday at Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City.
“I think going forward you have to pick a side. You have to pick what side do you think is going to be successful. And I firmly believe that I’m on the winning side of how things are going to evolve and shape in the coming years for professional golf,” Mickelson said.
“We play against a lot of the best players in the world on LIV and there are a lot of the best players in the world on the PGA Tour. And … until both sides sit down and have a conversation and work something out, both sides are going to continue to change and evolve. And I see LIV Golf trending upwards, I see the PGA Tour trending downwards and I love the side that I’m on.”
In an interview with Shipnuck, who published an unauthorized biography of Mickelson in May, the six-time major champion referred to the Saudis as “scary motherf—ers to get involved with.”
“We know they killed [Washington Post reporter Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates,” Mickelson is quoted as saying.
The interview was published two weeks after Mickelson played in the Saudi International at Royal Greens.
Mickelson issued a statement after the interview saying his comments were off the record and shared without context.
On Thursday he said, “I never did an interview with Alan Shipnuck. And I find that my experience with everybody associated with LIV Golf has been nothing but incredibly positive and I have the utmost respect for everybody that I’ve been involved with.”
Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were among several major champions Saudi-funded LIV Golf signed to contracts reported to be in the $125 million range.
LIV Golf currently has 12 of the top 50 players in the world ranking — British Open champion Cameron Smith at No. 2 is the highest, while the majority of them are outside the top 25 because LIV Golf hasn’t received world ranking points since it began in June.
The PGA Tour still has a majority of the current stars — 19 of the top 20 — and starts a new schedule in 2023 that will bring the best players together some 15 times a year playing for $20 million prize funds.
These are some of the changes Mickelson wanted all along. The PGA Tour has suspended him and other members who signed with LIV Golf, which is the main plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit scheduled for a January 2024 trial.
LIV Golf has 48-man fields with no cut over 54 holes playing for $25 million each week. Dustin Johnson already has made over $30 million, including an $18 million bonus for clinching the individual points race.
Mickelson was seen as a chief recruiter for LIV Golf leader Greg Norman, and it was his comments in February that slowed the inaugural year of LIV Golf.
This summer has made clear the big divide in golf, with the PGA Tour and European tour wanting no part of anyone who has signed to play with LIV Golf.
The U.S. Open and British Open had allowed LIV Golf players to compete if they were eligible, though both organizations spoke out against the rival league. The Royal & Ancient asked Norman not to take part in the 150th anniversary celebration at St. Andrews in July.
Mickelson said golf is “very lucky” to have Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invest in the sport. Along with enormous money paid to LIV Golf players and purses, it has invested $300 million in the Asian Tour.
“Now the United States and the U.K. are not favorable to this,” Mickelson said. “But everywhere outside in the world, LIV Golf is loved. And eventually they come around and they will be accepting of it.”
Mickelson, 52, signed with LIV Golf in June, one year after he became the oldest major winner at the 2021 PGA Championship for his sixth major title.
In six appearances with LIV Golf, he has registered only one top 10 — a tie for eighth outside Chicago, seven shots behind Smith.
He contends LIV Golf has reinvigorated him and made him excited to compete.
“I love the experience. I love the way they treat us. I love the way they involve us and listen to us in decisions,” he said. “I mean it’s so inclusive. … LIV Golf is leading. Whether it’s [wearing] shorts, whether it’s other aspects of professional golf that are going to change and evolve, those positions will be led by LIV.”
The PGA Tour once advertised its brightest stars with the catch phrase “These guys are good.” A better slogan might now be “These guys are even richer.”
In a bombshell announcement so staggering that many golf fans thought it was fake at first, the venerable PGA Tour unveiled a partnership Tuesday with Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund, the financier of its sworn rival LIV Golf – a breakaway circuit that split the sport and seeded feuds among its top players.
The deal means that the PGA Tour – built on the image of quintessentially American Arnold Palmer, who epitomized post World War II US values – will now rest atop a pile of money put up by the regime that the US blamed for the murdering and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, that was home to 15 of the 19 hijackers of September 11, 2001, attack, and that has frequently been condemned by Washington for infringing women’s rights.
It is beyond doubt that the new reality of pro-golf will mean a better spectacle for fans since it will end the split between the two rival tours and will also fold in the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European tour) and mean the brightest stars will play one another more often.
For many sports fans in the US and elsewhere, that’s just fine. They like to plop down on the couch and watch their favorite golfer on the back nine on Sunday or their Gulf-owned Premier League team on TV. Who can begrudge them one oasis free from bitter, tribal modern politics?
And the deal is also undeniably a great piece of business, assuming PGA Tour players accept it. Global golfers stand to win a lot more money, various tours will be invigorated and Saudi Arabia’s government and its ruthless leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), get to be associated with one of the planet’s most prestigious year-round sporting properties. And all pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour was also mutually ended under the new agreement.
But for others, Tuesday’s peace deal on the links raises painful moral issues. It also exposes top PGA leaders – who had blasted golfers who defected to LIV – to accusations of hypocrisy and reflects the way modern professional sports are hostage to the highest bidders. This can only pose uncomfortable questions to fans whose values and history clash with those of distant and sometimes politically dicey entities who effectively own their teams and top stars.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, for instance, had some explaining to do – not least to the tour’s players gathered at the Canadian Open this week after many tweeted that they had no advance notice of the deal. Monahan had played the 9/11 card last year at the same event, saying that two families that were close to him had lost loved ones in the worst terror attack on American soil, adding, “I would ask any player that has left, or any player that would ever consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”
Now Monahan stands to be the effective supremo of global golf, save for the four majors – the sport’s most prestigious tournaments – aided by a gusher of Saudi cash.
9/11 Families United effectively accused Monahan of using the tragedy as leverage in a business deal to reunite golf. He “co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sports washing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” the group said in a statement. “But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones.”
Monahan was asked about his reversal after what he said was a “heated” meeting with PGA Tour players on Tuesday.
“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” he said. “Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA TOUR and our players.”
Major champions who jumped to the rival circuit last year like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Cam Smith might also now wonder whether their PGA tour brethren will face the same grilling over human rights that they had to endure at the time.
One very famous golfer was delighted by the deal and seemed keen to claim some reflected credit – former President Donald Trump. The current front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination associated himself with LIV after the PGA Tour and other golf governing bodies distanced themselves from him over his radioactive political reputation. Trump has hosted several tournaments at his courses for LIV – a circuit that sits well with his record of refusing to sever links with the Saudis over the murder of Khashoggi in 2018, reasoning that the Saudis were great customers of the US.
“A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!” Trump wrote in block capital letters on his Truth Social platform.
Some defenders of LIV golfers have pointed out that the players were only making a choice to prioritize personal interests over moral ones in partnering with the Saudis – a calculus that mirrored decades of US foreign policy. Indeed, President Joe Biden had called on the 2020 campaign trail for the kingdom to be treated as a “pariah” because of Khashoggi’s murder only to travel to the kingdom as president to fist-bump MBS when he needed a spike in oil price production to bring down American gas prices.
On Tuesday, after the LIV/PGA partnership was announced, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat down for talks with the Crown Prince in Riyadh.
The idea that politics and sport shouldn’t mix has always been quaint. The Olympics and the World Cup are two of the planet’s most political spectacles after all. And modern sport has long run on money as monster TV rights contracts translate into huge salaries for top soccer players, Formula One Drivers, NBA stars and the top names in other sports.
But Tuesday’s LIV/PGA Tour agreement lays bare questions of morality so starkly precisely because of the way golf has sold itself. In a sport where players call penalties on themselves, and commentators idolize top players in whispered tones as paragons of gentlemanly conduct, patriotism and family values, the origin of the sport’s new financial lifeline is glaring.
The PGA Tour and Saudi partnership may be the most prominent example yet of the phenomenon known as sports washing, whereby an authoritarian nation seeking to buff up its image – despite serious criticism over its political system and human rights performance – woos the world’s top sporting stars. China was accused of such an agenda with its 2008 and 2022 Summer and Winter Olympics, where attempts at political activism largely fizzled under its repressive rule. The Qatar World Cup last year was another example of a nation that used its financial muscle to present a new image to the world. Various controversies during the tournament over LGBTQ rights and the plight of workers who built the stadiums undercut global governing body FIFA’s pretensions to inclusion.
The Saudis, Qataris and others are using their oil wealth to buy themselves a foothold among the world’s most powerful nations and to create tourism, entertainment and sporting legacies to sustain them when their reserves of carbon energy are depleted.
This mirrors a global shift in power and especially financial muscle – from the capitals of Western Europe to new epicenters in the emerging economies of the Middle East, India and China. Soccer, like golf, is taking its share of the cash. Traditional working class football clubs knitted into their communities for decades in the UK, for example, now suddenly find themselves owned by foreign energy magnates. Premier League giant Manchester City was bought by a United Arab Emirates-led group. And Newcastle United is owned by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium, forcing fans to consider (or not) the ethical dimensions of their support for their hometown clubs. And global cricket has been transformed by the Indian Premier League, which pays lavish salaries in a shortened form of the game.
One of the top names in soccer, Cristiano Ronaldo, is playing out the twilight of a glorious career spent at Europe’s top clubs in the up-and-coming Saudi league for a massive salary. And on Tuesday, Saudi team Al-Ittihad announced the signing of Real Madrid and French forward Karim Benzema, completing a sporting double whammy for the kingdom.
There are as many sporting questions about the PGA Tour/LIV Golf partnership that remain unanswered. The partnership combines the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity. A spokesman for the PGA tour told CNN that the deal is not a merger.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” Monahan said, describing a “transformational partnership” that would “benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, told CNBC he expected the partnership to be finalized within weeks and revealed, in a stunning move, that he had told LIV figurehead and Hall of Famer Greg Norman about the deal only moments before going on air.
LIV lured some of the PGA Tour’s top stars with massive signing bonuses and huge purses at substantially fewer events than the PGA tour, prompting the premier US circuit to unveil its own select “designated events” with upped prize money. The two sides were locked in bitter legal battles that have now been resolved.
It remains unclear, however, what steps LIV stars will have to take to potentially be able to return to events like The Players Championship, currently hosted on the PGA tour from which they were banned.
Then there is the question of how current PGA Tour members will respond.
Former British Open Champion Collin Morikawa tweeted, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.”
The sudden announcement also did not specify what would happen to LIV tour events, which have struggled to draw a strong TV audience, beyond this season. Monahan’s announcement did hint that the new entity was committed to the new format of team events that has been introduced by LIV, to compliment golf’s traditional reliance on individual tournaments.
The golfer with the widest smile on Tuesday was probably Mickelson. The three-time Masters champion took the most heat for deserting the PGA tour for a reported massive payday, and was one of the most outspoken supporters of LIV – a breakaway he argued was a way to revolutionize the structure of professional golf and to secure more rewards for players.
Mickelson was also open about the reality of partnering with the Saudis, calling them “scary m*therf**kers to get involved with,” in an interview with golf journalist Alan Shipnuck that he later claimed was off the record. Shipnuck has written that he offered Mickelson no such agreement.
On Tuesday, Mickelson simply tweeted: “Awesome day today,” with a smiley sunshine emoji.
