PGA Tour merger with LIV Golf prevents criticism of Saudi Arabia, US Senate finds

US senators have discovered a ‘non-disparaging clause’ in the bomb deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that prevents golf chiefs from criticizing Saudi Arabia.

And PGA Tour officials couldn’t guarantee players wouldn’t be gagged once the shock merger — which ended golf’s bitter civil war — is formalized.

The clause, which is not uncommon, was revealed during a Senate hearing on the proposed partnership between the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said the non-disparagement — which is “as broad as I’ve ever seen” — was inserted on the eve of the PGA-PIF deal.

It means the PGA Tour cannot make “defamatory or disparaging” remarks about Saudi Arabia for its human rights record and allegations of sports laundering.

The golf chiefs were questioned by senators on Tuesday about the proposed merger with LIV Golf

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Before closing their deal, the two parties discussed several other measures that would have a drastic impact on professional golf.

According to documents released by the Senate Investigative Subcommittee at Tuesday’s hearing, which was attended by families of 9/11 victims, the ideas included:

• a global ‘World Golf Series’ team event that would end in Saudi Arabia
• Greg Norman is relieved of his role as CEO of LIV Golf
• Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy own LIV teams and participate in LIV events
• A membership in Augusta National for Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF

It’s not clear if any of those proposals are still pending.

Ron Price, the COO of the PGA Tour, and Jimmy Dunne – who negotiated the deal – were called before senators on Tuesday to discuss the proposed merger.

Families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks attended in Washington

They were repeatedly pressed by Blumenthal about the non-disparaging clause and whether it could affect players when the current framework agreement was formalized.

When asked to guarantee that the PGA will not penalize members who criticize Saudi Arabia, Price said: “I can tell you that under the framework agreement the players are absolutely free to express their views.”

Blumenthal again asked Price to commit to protecting player expression, even going to court to protect them.

“We are a membership organization and always consider the interests of players important and try to protect their interests.”

Blumenthal replied, “The answer to that question should be yes, we will do it with pride.”

The furthest Price would go was to say, “We wouldn’t recommend to the board any agreement that included that clause.”

They did reveal that there had been discussions about the level of Saudi investment in golf and that the suggested figure was “north of $1 billion.”

Price and Dunne insisted that the PGA Tour retain economic control and decision-making power over golf in the new entity, which would become a “PGA Tour-controlled subsidiary.”

The two sides discussed Augusta National membership for Saudi Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan

There was pressure over whether players would be free to express their views on Saudi Arabia

But Blumenthal insisted the hearing was “about much more than the game of golf.”

He said, “It’s about how a ruthless, repressive regime can buy influence…even take over—a cherished American institution, just to clean its public image.

“A regime that has murdered journalists, imprisoned and tortured dissidents, promoted the war in Yemen and supported other terrorist activities, including 9/11. That’s called sports washing.

It’s also about hypocrisy, and how huge sums of money can lead individuals and institutions to betray their own values ​​and supporters, or perhaps expose a lack of values ​​from the start.

“It’s about other sports and institutions that could fall prey — if their leaders make it all about the money.”

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