Senate launches probe into merger of Saudi-backed LIV Golf, PGA Tour

The Senate is launching an investigation into the controversial partnership between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Select Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman on Monday demanding records of communications, disputes and merger details dating back to October 2021, when LIV was launched.

PGA officials announced last week that their organization would create a “newly-formed commercial entity to unify golf” along with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns LIV. The PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

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LIV has been under intense scrutiny since its inception as critics dismiss it as a high-dollar front for Saudi Arabia to “sportswash” its reputation for human rights abuses. 

“While few details about the agreement are known, PIF’s role as an arm of the Saudi government and PGA Tour’s sudden and drastic reversal of position concerning LIV Golf raise serious questions regarding the reasons for and terms behind the announced agreement,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter. “Accordingly, I write to request documents and information related to this agreement.”

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Critics of LIV golf criticized the deal with PGA immediately after news broke. PGA players who had been encouraged to speak out against the Saudi-backed golf entity and the kingdom’s poor humanitarian record had claimed to be caught off-guard by the sudden merger, and the organization was labeled hypocritical by its detractors.

“PIF is an investment fund of more than $700 billion created by the Saudi government and run by a board that makes investment decisions under ‘the chairmanship and guidance’ of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the effective Saudi leader,” the Senate letter read. “PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.”

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Blumenthal suggested the merger was “an attempt to soften the country’s image around the world – given Saudi Arabia’s deeply disturbing human rights record at home and abroad.”

In addition to records about the deal and any disagreements, the senator also requested information on LIV’s corporate structure, as well as on any law enforcement investigations into the agreement or the two golf organizations’ interactions.