The golf course is perhaps not the arena that immediately comes to mind when you’re thinking about geopolitics. But with one proposed golf business deal, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, just hit the geopolitical equivalent of a hole-in-one.
The surprise announcement this week that Saudi-backed LIV Golf would merge with the preeminent American PGA Tour under a new parent company means MBS has gained a powerful hand over American and international golf.
LIV Golf is a newish enterprise launched by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which is essentially the half-trillion-dollar piggy bank of the crown prince. Since launching in 2022, the tour used its massive budget to attract top talent away from the PGA Tour, even as human rights advocates, activists, and some players emphasized LIV’s connections to MBS and his brutal reign. LIV golfers sued the PGA Tour on the grounds that it is allegedly engaging in monopolistic behavior by barring its players from participating in LIV.
Many golfers were against the Saudi-backed entry into the sport. Tiger Woods declined some $700 million to join LIV. But others, with a dose of reluctance, took part. Golfer Phil Mickelson nabbed $200 million to participate in LIV, though even he conceded, “We know they killed [journalist Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights.” Other big players jumped on board too, but not without controversy and some anger. As recently as last month, onlookers in New York booed LIV golfers.
Then, on June 6, the PGA Tour announced that it was banding together with LIV and a Dubai-based European tour to establish a “new, collectively owned, for-profit entity.” Players took to Twitter to express their surprise at the deal, and even staffers at the PGA Tour were blindsided. Right now, the deal is just a “framework”; it will need to be finalized and approved by the PGA Tour’s policy board, and could face regulatory scrutiny.
But it’s already a dramatic…
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