Saudi golf backer sought Augusta National membership in LIV deal

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta National Golf Club was brought up this week at the Capitol Hill hearing on the controversial merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

Documents released by a Senate subcommittee show the head of the Saudi investment fund wanted a membership at Augusta National as part of the deal.

The documents also claim he wanted a membership from the organizers of the British Open, as well.

So far, Augusta National Golf Club has not commented.

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Meanwhile, lawmakers will continue looking into the merger.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has agreed to invest more than $1 billion in the new commercial entity controlled by the PGA Tour, a tour executive told Congress on Tuesday.

And Greg Norman will be ousted as the CEO of LIV Golf if the business deal between the Saudis and the tour is finalized,

The agreement between the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the primary funder of LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour shocked the golf world when it was announced last month.

There was no indication during Tuesday’s hearing that Congress would block the tour from going into business with the Saudis.

The subcommittee chairman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he was troubled by the geopolitical implications of Saudi investment in American sports and efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi leader, to whitewash the kingdom’s human rights abuses.

However, Republicans on the committee were more sympathetic to the PGA Tour and the existential threat it faced from the PIF, which controls $600 billion in assets — roughly 500 times what the tour is worth.

“We’re here because we’re concerned about what it means for an authoritarian government to use its wealth to capture an American institution,” Blumenthal said.

The PGA Tour and the Saudis announced on June 6 that they agreed to drop all lawsuits against each other and combine their commercial interests into a new for-profit company while maintaining the tour’s nonprofit status. Asked by Blumenthal how much money the Saudis have committed to the new venture, Ron Price, the PGA Tour’s chief operating officer, testified the amount was “north of $1 billion.”

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