WASHINGTON (AP) – The PGA Tour said on Wednesday that it would appear next month before a Senate sub-committee whose leader asked executives from the tour, Saudi golf interests and LIV Golf to testify as Congress investigates the business deal that upended the sport.
Senator Richard Blumenthal announced that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations would hold a hearing on July 11 to examine the agreement involving the PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the European tour to pool commercial business and rights in a new company.
“Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
“Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be.
Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress – and the American people – answers in a public setting.”
Blumenthal invited PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Chief Executive Officer Greg Norman to testify.
Monahan had sent a letter to various lawmakers on June 9, three days after the PGA Tour’s stunning announcement of an agreement that would end all lawsuits between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund.
In the last year, LIV Golf lured away some of golf’s biggest stars with signing bonuses of USD100 million or more, prompting the PGA Tour to respond by pouring millions into its own tournament purses.
“We look forward to appearing before the Senate subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement we believe keeps the PGA Tour as the leader of professional golf’s future and benefits our players, our fans and our sport,” the tour said in a statement.
“Already, the first phase of this framework has resulted in the end of costly litigation with LIV Golf.
