SIMON BRUTY, AUGUSTA NATIONAL
Senate subcommittee probes PIF’s golf foray
The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s interest in golf has led to proposed legislation that could limit influence in U.S. companies by foreign sovereign wealth funds.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) released a report Friday from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on the PIF’s efforts in the U.S. It also included a proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparency Act, which would “fix loopholes within FARA [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] and provide [the Department of Justice] with additional means to combat foreign influence.”
Blumenthal held hearings in July 2023 into the framework agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour, its potential impact on the future of men’s professional golf and the PIF’s influence in the deal. That initial agreement, which ended months of litigation between the two sides, has failed to produce any tangible moves to reunite the game. READ MORE
Following their tee shots to open the Masters on Thursday, honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player shared their views on the ongoing PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga. While Nicklaus opined that the PGA Tour is doing just fine and Player stressed the importance of forgiveness, Watson was less than optimistic about the potential for a meeting of the minds.
“I don’t see a real working mechanism for the two tours to get back together,” Watson said. “I think that’s one of the reasons you haven’t seen an agreement, as you said, since June two years ago. … It’s really up to the powers that be to see if there’s a framework in which the two tours can cooperate. I don’t see that framework happening.” READ MORE
Retired Kent State University golf coach Herb Page was rooting from afar for his former players Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith as they competed in the Masters last week. In the past, he has been at Augusta National for the Masters debuts of former charges Ben Curtis, Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, but as Pendrith made his maiden start this year Page was 675 miles away at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, receiving his third of six doses in his latest batch of chemotherapy.
“I’m making the turn,” Page told Golf Channel’s website as he watched first-round coverage from his laptop, wearing a green Masters polo and green Masters hat while an IV administered the drugs into his body.
The 74-year-old Page has lost 40 pounds, down to 112, since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall. But he said because his disease was detected early, his prognosis is “very, very good.” READ MORE
Among the luminaries at the Masters was basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, the former University of Iowa superstar. Clark, who will begin her second season with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever next month, was in defending champion Scottie Scheffler’s gallery during the second round but failed to catch his eye despite being positioned to do so as he left the first green, according to one report. READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Nico Echavarria won the Masters Par-3 Contest on Wednesday, beating J.J. Spaun with a birdie on the second playoff hole after each shot 5-under 22. Keegan Bradley, Tom Hoge and Brooks Koepka scored holes-in-one during the event. READ MORE
Scottie Scheffler will defend his title this week at the RBC Heritage, the fifth PGA Tour signature event of the season, at Harbour Town in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. READ MORE
The Masters raised its prize money by $1 million this year, making the total purse $21 million with $4.2 million going to the winner. READ MORE
Going head to head with LIV Golf on broadcast TV for the first time two Sundays ago, the PGA Tour outdrew the rival league handily. The tour averaged 1.75 million viewers for Brian Harman’s three-shot victory in the Valero Texas Open, while LIV averaged 484,000 viewers for Marc Leishman’s victory in Miami. LIV’s previous viewership high came for its season opener in 2024, when it drew 432,000 viewers on the CW Network. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity