The US Senate congressional hearing on the proposed deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, backers of the breakaway LIV golf league, has shed a dim light on how little detail is on the table regarding a future partnership between the two. destinations.
PGA Tour representatives, including PGA Tour operations chief Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne, were sworn in at the hearing Tuesday, facing several hours of questioning from senators from both sides of the house about the extent of the deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s PIF. It was first announced on June 6.
Among the few details that emerged from the questioning, one of the main understandings was that the deal was not a merger, as suggested in the initial announcement, that LIV Golf would not be included on the PGA Tour or vice versa, and that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would invest in the new for-profit entity as a minority investor. Through sponsorship funds and prizes.
When asked about the extent of the relationship between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Dunn, a PGA Tour policy board member who helped broker the arrangement, said: “There is no merger. There is no agreement. There is simply an agreement to try to work out an agreement and settle lawsuits.”
In response to Senator Richard Blumenthal’s question about the total value of the financial support, Ron Price, COO of the PGA Tour, said the investment would be “significant… north of $1 billion.”
It remains unclear how long the LIV Golf League will last in its current format, although it is believed that a 2024 schedule of 14 events will move forward, although details on that remain sketchy.
What is clear, however, is that controversial LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman is seen as surplus to requirements, with the PGA Tour insisting in some of its early talks with PIF that the Australian should be let go at the earliest opportunity. Speaking at the hearing, Dunn said “we wouldn’t have requirements for this kind of position” in direct reference to Norman’s role.
The Congressional Subcommittee Hearing does not have powers to prevent Saudi investment in the PGA Tour from occurring or to prevent the proposed partnership from moving forward.