PGA Tour commisioner Jay Monahan blames US government for forcing their hand in Saudi merger
- Michael Schmitt
- 13 June 2023
The PGA Tour boss feels the tour was left to fend for itself amid hostile attacks from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the LIV Golf Tour.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan took aim at the United States government last week, blaming them for leaving the tour to fend for itself as it faced a hostile incursion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
Monahan has taken a lot of heat since news of the merger sent shockwaves through the sport, with many in golf accusing the PGA Tour boss of hypocrisy for his sudden about turn, having earlier taken a moral stance in criticising the intrusion of the breakaway LIV Golf tour and its Saudi Arabian backers.
Now it has also emerged that the PGA Tour is facing heat from the US government. The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations sent a letter to the tour on Monday, requesting records and communications related to the tour's dealings with the PIF.
Concerns were raised by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal regarding the Saudi government's influence on the partnership and the potential risks associated with a foreign government entity taking control of an American sports institution.
However, it has since emerged that Monahan sent a letter to Congress on June 9, insisting they left him no choice but to make a deal with PIF.
The letter was obtained and published by Politico on Monday.
"Over the past two years, the PGA Tour has fought an intense and highly publicized battle as the Saudi Arabian PIF-backed LIV golf league attempted to 'buy' PGA Tour players and take over the game of golf in the United States and beyond, creating a fractured golf ecosystem and fomenting a heated divisiveness into the game," Monahan wrote.
"We believe that we did everything we could possibly do to defend what we stand for, including spending tens of millions of dollars to defend ourselves from litigation instigated by LIV Golf - significant funds diverted away from our core mission to benefit our players and generate charity. As part of the litigation, we were successful in securing a court ruling that the PIF was not protected under sovereign immunity with respect to litigation discovery and potentially liability, something which had never been done before in the United States.
"During this intense battle, we met with several Members of Congress and policy experts to discuss the PIF's attempt to take over the game of golf in the United States, and suggested ways that Congress could support us in these efforts. While we are grateful for the written declarations of support we received from certain members, we were largely left on our own to fend off the attacks, ostensibly due to the United States' complex geopolitical alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This left the very real prospect of another decade of expensive and distracting litigation and the PGA Tour's long-term existence under threat."
Monahan also pushed back at the suggestion that a foreign funded entity had now taken over an American sport. He said the PIF will be a minority investor in the new commercial entity, with the tour retaining majority equity. He said the partnership will allow the tour to help protect the game and the tour's work.
"Rather than a foreign funded entity taking over an American sport, the end result is that the PIF has agreed to work within the existing golf ecosystem as a minority investor with the PGA Tour in full control," Monahan added. "The PGA Tour is, and will remain, an American institution dedicated to its players and generating charity in the communities where we play."
Meanwhile, in an official statement released on Monday, the PGA Tour said it is "confident" it will be able to assure Congress it controls the shock new venture with PIF.
"We are confident that once Congress learns more about how the PGA Tour will control this new venture, they will understand the opportunities this will create for our players, our communities and our sport, all while protecting an American golf institution."
The PIF-PGA Tour alliance could face scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which assesses potential security threats related to mergers.
