The two-year battle between the PGA Tour and Saudi LIV Golf ended with a stunning announcement that the arch-rivals are now joining forces – news that has been met with derision by many American commentators, lawmakers and golf fans.
The decision, announced Tuesday, marked the end of a battle for the best golfers and sparked a U-turn from the PGA Tour, which Saudi Arabia had accused in a previous lawsuit of offering athletes “astronomical sums of money … to use the LIV players and the game of golf to wash down the recent history of Saudi atrocities.”
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It also ends pending disputes between the two organizations. The agreement, which includes the DP World Tour – also known as the PGA European Tour – will combine the commercial operations and rights of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf into a new, yet-to-be-named for-profit company.
Founded in 2021 with the goal of becoming the world’s premier professional golf tour, LIV Golf is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – a massive $600 billion sovereign wealth fund controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman . It has lured some of golf’s biggest stars away from the PGA Tour with huge paychecks, leading to antitrust lawsuits with the US organization.
“The game of golf is better for what we did today,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told CNBC in an interview after the news broke.
Many people vocally disagree.
“This is Saudi Arabia buying the PGA tour,” sports talk show host Rich Eisen said on his broadcast after hearing the news.
“The hypocrisy is clear. The PGA Tour is taking the Saudi money after two years of greatness against it,” North Carolina sportscaster Pat Welter wrote on Twitter. “They’ve sold their souls to #LIVGolf and where it’s really going to cost them is the check. Because the person who signs the checks always wins.”
Sports columnist Christine Brennan of USA Today called the move “a total slack by the PGA Tour. Just a horrible turnaround”, and said the organization “succumbed to Saudi blood money. PGA Tour now in sports washing.”
As part of the agreement, Saudi Arabian PIF is now the exclusive investor in the new golf entity and has the right of first refusal on any new investment.
American golfer Tiger Woods reacts on the 9th green during his second round on Day 2 of the 150th British Open Golf Championship at The Old Course in St Andrews in Scotland on July 15, 2022.
Glyn Kirk | AFP | Getty Images
Social media was teeming with self-described golf fans pledging never to watch the PGA Tour again. Even golf legend Tiger Woods, who previously turned down an offer from the LIV Tour could have made him more than $700 millioncriticized the Saudi league before the merger was announced, saying late last year that “an endless pit of money” was no way to “create legacies”.
‘shameless money grabbing’
Members of Congress also weighed in.
“Hypocrisy doesn’t begin in describing this brazen, shameless money grab. I’m going to dive into every part of Saudi Arabia’s deal with the PGA,” Democratic Oregon Senator Ron Wyden wrote on Twitter. “U.S. officials should consider whether a deal will give the Saudi regime improper control or access to U.S. property.”
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote in a Twitter post: “So weird. PGA officials were in my office a few months ago talking about how on a human rights record the Saudis should disqualify them from an interest in a major American sports. I think maybe maybe their concerns weren’t really about human rights?”
CNBC has reached out to the PGA Tour for comment.
Sports washing at its best
Human rights organization Amnesty International called the merger “sportwashing at its best”, saying: “We must not allow this announcement to overshadow Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record.”
Further criticism came from relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacksthrough the organization 9/11 Families United, which the PGA Tour previously called upon in its attacks on LIV Golf.
“PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan last year co-opted the 9/11 community into the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than damaging Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. a statement. “But now the PGA and Monahan just seem to have gotten more paid Saudi shills.”
A protester dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) with blood on his hands protests outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, on Oct. 8, 2018, demanding justice for missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Fifteen of the 19 September 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, and U.S. officials concluded that Saudi nationals helped fund the al-Qaeda terror group, though investigations failed to prove that the Saudi officials were complicit in the attacks.
CNBC reached out to Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington DC and the Saudi Foreign Ministry for comment. The Saudi government generally denies allegations of human rights violations and says it acts to ensure its national security and stability.
‘Enormous potential to take golf to the next level’
Not everyone is upset about the deal.
Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, an early recruit to the LIV Tour, told CNN that the merger is “the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf and I’m extremely proud to be a part of that…in the end, the game of golf wins.”
In response to the 9/11 Families United statement, DeChambeau said of the Saudis, “What they’re trying to do…is to be better allies…they’re trying to do good for the world and show themselves in a light that hasn’t been seen in a while, and no one is perfect, but we’re all trying to improve in life.”
Pro golfer Phil Mickelson, another member of the LIV Tour, tweeted “Awesome day today” in response to the news.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the G20 summit via video conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 30, 2021.
Royal Court of Saudi Arabia | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Investment bank Jeffries wrote in a note on Tuesday that “this unexpected agreement offers tremendous potential to take the sport of golf to new heights… PIF’s capital contribution represents a strong commitment to the growth and promotion of golf on a global scale.” The investment figure of the PIF is not yet publicly known.
In a memo to players obtained by CNBC, Monahan called the deal “a transformational agreement” and said that “with PIF’s collaborative investment, the immeasurable power of the PGA Tour’s history, heritage and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but also being propelled. for the future.”
The board of the new commercial entity will consist of PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan as chairman and Monahan as CEO.
The Saudi PIF on a mission
Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with the shirt after signing for Al-Nassr Football Club of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 30, 2022.
Al Nassr Football Club/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia too lured football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema with contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to play in local Saudi leagues, and is expected to bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
As one sports journalist noted at the time of Ronaldo’s signing with Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr, the kingdom did not pay top dollar just for a near-retired athlete to play on its globally obscure team. It paid for its following, for a new level of international reach to promote its image through one of the most followed celebrities in the world.
Pro golfer Rory McIlroy was one of the players who refused to join LIV as it battled with the PGA Tour, calling the Saudi venture a “money grab”. But sports analysts note that McIlroy now also works for LIV, whether he likes it or not, as does every professional on the PGA Tour, many of which only learned of the merger via Twitter.
— CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.
Correction: Rory McIlroy is a professional golfer. An earlier version misspelled his name.
