PGA Tour leaders worked overtime again last week to answer players’ questions about how the proposed business deal with the Saudis and their sovereign wealth fund is in the tour’s best interests.
Yet, one prevailing question could be impossible to answer: How can the tour provide detailed answers when the plan remains so unsettled?
While commissioner Jay Monahan takes a leave of absence with an undisclosed “medical situation,” tour executives Tyler Dennis and Ron Price faced a skeptical membership last week before the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. In their second meeting with members since the stunning June 6 announcement, PGA Tour leaders sought to assure the estimated 70 players in attendance at TPC River Highlands that the tour would retain control in the proposed deal.
The tour would benefit from an undisclosed cash infusion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that would bundle the PGA and DP World tours’ commercial interests into a new for-profit company called NewCo. As a deal sweetener for both sides, the unlikely marriage of the financiers behind rival LIV Golf and the established pro tour ended a year-long legal fight that had descended into lawsuits and countersuits in U.S. federal court.
Many players are concerned about the perception of a takeover of professional golf by the Saudis, who are linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and face continued scrutiny for human-rights abuses. Any deal would need to be approved by the PGA Tour’s Policy Board and then clear federal regulatory and legislative scrutiny.
“There are still lots of questions to be answered because we really only have this framework that was announced,” said Adam Scott, chairman of the Player Advisory Council. “So, although that seems fairly simple, I think the deal sounds quite complex and this could take a long time. I think hopefully everyone is cooling down and as things go along, there is transparency to the players and those questions get answered.”
Tom Watson and Davis Love III, both members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, recently wrote open letters to PGA Tour leadership in which they asked for clarity about the tour’s future. Watson wrote about how “the communication has been mishandled” and said the deal was made “without due process.” Love, who had been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf, called for patience and emphasized “player input” in whatever might be next.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, legislators on both sides of the political aisle have some questions of their own. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, invited Monahan, PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman to testify at a public hearing July 11 to examine the proposed agreement between the PGA Tour and the PIF and potential national-security risks. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hear testimony July 11 as the Justice Department investigates suspected anti-competitive behavior from the PGA Tour. The issue of the IRS 501(c)(6) not-for-profit status of the PGA Tour, which intends to continue to operate separately from NewCo and still be exempt from federal taxation, also is in Congress’ crosshairs.
“Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be. Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress – and the American people – answers in a public setting.”
With that backdrop, the PGA Tour has expanded its public-relations efforts to shape opinion about the proposed deal. According to a report in Politico, the tour has retained Washington power brokers that have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Perhaps the spin will work on Capitol Hill, but will it satisfy the tour’s own players? It could be weeks or even months before we’ll know. READ MORE
David Cannon, Getty Images
The USGA didn’t take long to announce a return to Los Angeles for the U.S. Open.
Three days after the recent Open at Los Angeles Country Club, the USGA disclosed that Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, will host the 2031 U.S. Open. Riviera, which last hosted the national championship in 1948 when Ben Hogan won the first of his four Open titles, is the site of the PGA Tour’s annual Genesis Invitational.
Riviera also will host the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open during the club’s centennial before it serves as the site of the men’s and women’s golf competition for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. READ MORE
The recent U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club was the most-watched U.S. Open since 2019, NBC Sports reported. Viewership was up 27 percent from last year’s Open and 9 percent from the most recent Open on the West Coast, in 2011 at San Diego’s Torrey Pines. The network averaged 8.8 million viewers in primetime and peaked at 10.2 million at 9:30-9:45 p.m. EDT as Wyndham Clark held off Rory McIlroy to win. READ MORE
The USGA collected $29.5 million in business-interruption insurance in 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Golfweek’s Adam Schupak reported, citing a review of the association’s 2021 IRS Form 990 filing as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. READ MORE
TAP-INS
England’s Lee Westwood vowed never to rejoin the DP World Tour, despite its recent commercial alliance with the Saudi financial backers behind LIV Golf, after he was barred from playing next month’s Senior British Open because he owes the former European Tour about £830,000 (about $1.06 million) in fines related to his defection, James Corrigan reported for The Telegraph of London. Westwood, who turned 50 on April 24, intended to make his senior debut this summer and play at the July 27-30 Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. READ MORE
The $3.6 million check received by Wyndham Clark for winning the recent U.S. Open likely is just the beginning of an anticipated windfall for the first-time major champion, David Rumsey reported for Front Office Sports. READ MORE
Maverick McNealy, a fourth-year PGA Tour pro, said he likely will miss the next few months of competition to treat an injured left shoulder. McNealy, 27, who is ranked No. 103 in the world, has missed the cut in four of his past six starts. READ MORE
Greg Nathan has been promoted to president and chief operating officer at the National Golf Foundation. Joe Beditz will remain the NGF’s president and CEO. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon