PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, speaks to the media in a press conference prior to THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 07, 2023. | Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Numerous politicians and the federal government have grown weary of the PGA Tour’s pending deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Any process involving the federal government usually takes months, sometimes years, to complete.
Yet, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations (PSI), noted on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that congressional hearings discussing the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) could happen “within weeks.”
“The Saudis have been very explicit that they have a strategic objective here,” Blumenthal said Sunday, per Golf Digest. “They have been engaged in numerous malign activities antithetical to American interests and values, killing [Washington Post reporter] Jamal Khashoggi, as well as other journalists, torturing and imprisoning dissidents and critics and supporting anti-democratic activities, even terrorist activities, like 9/11, as well as the internal war in Yemen.”
Blumenthal also worries about the Saudis taking over “this American institution.” He hopes the PSI, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) “get to the bottom” of this deal.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
STERLING, Va. — Phil Mickelson, one of the faces of LIV Golf, looks on from the 18th green during day two of the LIV Golf Invitational – DC at Trump National Golf Club on May 27, 2023.
On Jun. 12, Blumenthal penned a letter to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan discussing this deal. Within that letter, Blumenthal raised several concerns.
“PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution,” Blumenthal wrote. “PIF has announced that it intends to use investments in sports to further the Saudi government’s strategic objectives.”
Blumenthal also mandated that Monahan and the tour provide all communication and documentation related to this deal by Jun. 26, the Monday after the Travelers Championship.
Many unknowns about this deal remain, but with the federal government now involved, the deal could get blocked, as Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee inferred last week.
Regardless, more information may emerge within the coming weeks.
