LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman added a second branch of the U.S. government to his plan of attack on the PGA Tour. Like his path through the federal judicial system, his route with the legislative branch came with immediate feedback, and much of it was a landslide of opposition.
Norman took his plea for the Saudi-funded rival tour to Capitol Hill last week, seeking to blunt the criticism from 9/11 victims’ families and human-rights activists and tout LIV Golf’s stated “grow the game” mission. He met with about 75 members of the Republican Study Committee, the GOP’s largest caucus, and lobbied on behalf of the first-year tour.
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee called Norman’s pitch “propaganda” after leaving the meeting early, telling Capitol Hill reporters: “This shouldn’t be taking up our time.” Rep. Chip Roy, whose Texas district includes the site of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, was even stronger in his criticism: “Don’t come in here and act like you’re doing some great thing while you’re pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money.”
Lawmakers are pushing for LIV Golf and its representatives to register as foreign agents. The PGA Tour, for its part, regularly lobbies Congress for favorable treatment as a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)6 organization.
Norman also reportedly met with Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, site of the Greenbrier Resort, a former PGA Tour host that is on Norman’s list of potential sites for LIV Golf. Norman reportedly got a welcome reception from Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican.
All that action on Capitol Hill comes amid former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of LIV Golf, which scheduled two tournaments in its inaugural season at Trump-owned golf courses.
Norman told reporters afterward that he got nothing but positive feedback from lawmakers behind closed doors, and a LIV Golf spokesman added that the “message about the benefits of competition was very well received, even if a couple of members of Congress say otherwise.”
The Justice Department is investigating whether the PGA Tour is illegally trying to crush competition. The tour has denied the allegations.
Norman’s plea to the judicial branch via LIV Golf’s antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour renews July 23, 2023, which is the date set by Judge Beth Labson Freeman in U.S. District Court in Northern California for summary judgment. A trial has been set for Jan. 8, 2024. READ MORE
LIV Golf released a letter signed by all 48 players who competed at the recent tournament near Chicago imploring Peter Dawson, chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking, to offer ranking points to the new tour. LIV Golf’s format does not meet the OWGR’s ranking criteria. READ MORE
Norman confirmed on his Instagram account that he has agreed not to attend this year’s QBE Shootout, an unofficial PGA Tour event which he helped launch in 1989 and for years was known after his nickname as the Shark Shootout. Norman has hosted and competed in the team event each year since its debut. READ MORE.
LIV Golf member Patrick Reed blasted the DP World Tour for its “slap in the face” after he said he was shoved into the shadows of last week’s Cazoo Open de France, where he missed the cut. In an interview with France’s Journal du Golf, Reed pointed out that he was not part of the pre-tournament pro-am field and was not granted a press conference despite being the only former Masters champion in the field. Reed then dropped out of this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. READ MORE
Another LIV Golf vs. DP World Tour showdown is anticipated this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Americans Talor Gooch and Peter Uihlein were among the dozen-plus LIV members on the entry list for play Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at three sites: St. Andrews’ Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. READ MORE
The Swedish Golf Federation cut ties with Henrik Stenson, the only Swede to win a men’s major championship, because of his ties to LIV Golf. READ MORE
The DP World Tour will launch the 2022-23 season this fall with a busy schedule of six events in a four-week span on two continents, the tour announced.
The tour will play concurrently in consecutive weeks in Australia and South Africa as it begins the season in late November. The DP World Tour will play a third event in South Africa before wrapping up the calendar year in Mauritius.
All six events are co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Sunshine Tour. The DP World Tour intends to announce its 2023 dates by the end of this year. READ MORE
TAP-INS
The inaugural Mizuho Americas Open will be played next year at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, the LPGA announced. The tournament, which will include an AJGA Invitational with 24 female juniors competing with the 120-woman LPGA field, will be June 1-4. Michelle Wie West will serve as host. READ MORE
The winner of the Women’s Latin America Amateur will earn an exemption into the Chevron Championship, the first major event of the LPGA season, the R&A announced. It will be the third major-championship exemption for the WLAA winner, who also earns spots at the Amundi Evian and the AIG Women’s Open. The Women’s Latin America Amateur will be played Nov. 17-20 at Pilar Golf in Buenos Aires, Argentina. READ MORE
The PGA Tour and Autograph, the web3 brand co-founded by NFL star Tom Brady, announced a multiyear agreement to create a digital collectibles Non-Fungible Tokens platform. The NFTs will pull from the tour’s video, data, imagery and other competition-related components. READ MORE
Jerry Matthews, who designed or renovated more than 200 golf courses, many of them in his home state of Michigan, and was a past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, died Sept. 15. He was 88. READ MORE
Baltimore Country Club in Maryland will be the site of two USGA championships in the coming decade. BCC’s East Course, a 1926 A.W. Tillinghast design, will host the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Women’s Amateur. READ MORE
Richard Sykes, who coached North Carolina State’s men’s golf team for 46 years (1971-2017), has died, the university announced Sunday. He was 78. No cause of death was cited. Sykes coached six Atlantic Coast Conference individual champions and 2009 NCAA winner Matt Hill. READ MORE
Dick Sullivan has been named executive chairman and CEO of PGA Tour Superstore, the Atlanta-based retailer announced Monday. Sullivan had been the company’s president and CEO. Jill Spiegel, the company’s longtime head of merchandising, was promoted to president.
Staff and Wire Reports