A stunning merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf is turning heads across Washington, DC, drawing the ire of lawmakers and sparking debate over investigations.
The deal follows more than a year of antitrust lawsuits between the two leagues after LIV Golf snapped up some of golf’s top talent with mega deals. The PGA responded by banning those who transferred to the new league from participating in their own tournaments.
Now the partnership puts the PGA in the crosshairs of critics, who denounced the move as an attempt to establish a monopoly on the sport alongside a foreign power with well-documented human rights abuses.
“The PGA Tour has spent two years berating the sport of Saudi Arabia, denigrating the integrity of golf and paying lip service to what is now being blatantly used by the kingdom to distract from its many crimes,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn .) said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The PGA Tour has put a price on human rights and betrayed the long history of sports and athletes working for societal change and progress. I will be keeping a close eye on the structure of this deal and its impact,” he added.
Why PGA merged with LIV Golf
An agreement reached earlier this week would end a lawsuit brought by the non-profit PGA and LIV and combine the two leagues – along with the DP World Tour – into a single for-profit entity, partially financially backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The rival league, run by former PGA golfer Greg Norman, was founded in 2021 and caused controversy after poaching golfers from the PGA with lucrative contracts.
These players were then banned from attending PGA events, prompting an investigation into possible anti-competitive acts by the Tour and whether LIV acted unlawfully by interfering with Tour members’ contracts.
The PGA Tour added in its announcement that the three organizations will work together in good faith to establish “a fair and objective process” for any player who wishes to reapply for PGA membership after the 2023 season.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement.
Lawmakers criticize ‘shameless money heist’
Following Tuesday’s announcement, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden slammed Monahan, accusing him of hypocrisy and calling the move a “shameless money grab” that would fit the challenges on Capitol Hill.
Monahan told reporters after meeting PGA players after the deal was announced that he accepted the likelihood of being accused of hypocrisy. He had previously slammed LIV and the golfers who had joined him, citing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and its alleged links to the 9/11 attacks.
“I realize people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan said after the merger.
“I accept this criticism. But circumstances are changing.”
According to the CIA, the Saudi PIF is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ordered the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
President Biden previously promised to make bin Salman a “pariah” for the killing.
Saudi Arabia has also been at the center of recent human rights abuses, including a crackdown on women’s rights activists in 2019 and mass executions of detained civilians in the same year.
And private comments the crown prince is said to have made as gas prices soared last year shed further light on his strained relationship with Washington.
After Biden promised consequences in response to Saudi Arabia’s oil cuts, bin Salman said privately last fall that “he will no longer negotiate with the US government” and later promised “significant economic consequences for Washington,” the Washington Post reported on Friday.
The commissioner also dismissed the idea that combining the two leagues along with the European tour would create de facto antitrust problems.
“Every single player in men’s professional golf is going to have more opportunity and more growth,” Monahan said in a recent interview with CNBC. “We will let our industry grow. It’s all positive.”
Meanwhile, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said the decision to merge “is at odds with PGA players, who have turned down hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from the Saudi-backed LIV to join the… right side of history.” and human decency.”
Garamendi introduced the No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act on Wednesday, which would strip the PGA Tour of its federal tax exemption.
“The notion that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund would not pay taxes on its blood money and potentially billions of dollars in profits while countless American families are paying their fair share while struggling to make ends meet is ridiculous,” he added.
Will DC try to break up the deal?
Critics of the merger in Congress are looking at ways the deal could violate antitrust or national security laws.
Wyden vowed to “dive into the full details of Saudi Arabia’s deal with the PGA.” First, U.S. officials must consider whether a deal would give the Saudi regime undue control or access to U.S. properties.”
The merger of the leagues could raise concerns that a foreign power could influence policy, Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a veteran intelligence analyst, told The Hill.
“The Saudis already own significant property in the United States, so the security implications of this deal only heighten concerns that the kingdom can influence politics in America by showing favors to rising politicians,” Riedel said.
However, it is unclear whether the potential threat will reach the scale of an investigation into foreign investment by the US Committee on Foreign Investments (CFIUS), which has the power to block foreign takeovers of US companies.
Experts told The Hill that CFIUS would require both jurisdiction and proof of a real national security risk to get involved.
Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security, told The Hill that publicly available information about the deal appears to indicate a merger in which the Saudis would have significant control over important PGA Tour-related matters, giving the legal threshold of jurisdiction at this would be covered.
But in terms of national security, there are questions about the foreign actor’s intent to do something nefarious, whether the foreign actor can exploit a vulnerability in taking over, and what the consequences of a harmful action would be, Kilcrease said.
“Obviously, people are worried about the Saudis for very good reasons. “At this point I don’t see what they can do with the PGA Tour that would increase the level of a national security risk,” Kilcrease continued.
“Obviously, they’re getting involved here because they’re trying to draw attention to themselves or distract from their human rights abuses,” she added.
Why Trump hailed the merger
Former President Trump praised the leagues’ agreement on his Truth Social account earlier this week, calling the deal “big, beautiful and glamorous” for golf.
“Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful and glamorous offering to the wonderful world of golf. Happy birthday everyone!!!” Trump wrote in capital letters on his account.
Trump, whose golf courses are an important part of his brand and business, has hosted LIV events at his own facilities this year, with a total of three on the schedule.
The former president predicted on Truth Social last year that the two leagues would eventually grow together and players who stayed with the Tour would receive “nothing but a big thank you” from PGA officials.
Trump and his family were also involved in lucrative deals with Saudi Arabia after his presidency.
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A Saudi real estate company in November signed a more than $1 billion deal with the Trump Organization to use the Trump name on its hotels, golf courses and mansions, The Associated Press reported.
And Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, received a $2 billion investment from the PIF in his investment firm after Trump left the White House, according to a U.S. House panel.
“They make no secret of the fact that they prefer Trump and his family to Biden,” Riedel said of the Saudi royal family.
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