The PGA Sells Out

Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident and columnist for the Washington Post who frequently criticized Saudi Arabia’s leaders, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul one day to get papers for his upcoming wedding. While inside the consulate he was strangled by Saudi agents and then his body was dismembered. U.S. intelligence agencies believe that the killing was directly ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

In addition to murder, the Crown Prince enjoys golf.

So much so that he’s spending billions of dollars of his government’s money to buy the PGA. That’s essentially what just happened when the PGA, which had adamantly and self-righteously fought the Saudi’s LIV tour, suddenly announced its merger with same after weeks of secret negotiations. In the short-run the PGA would have control of the board for the new entity, but a Saudi will lead the board and the Saudi government promises even bigger investments in the future. It’s pretty clear that eventually they’ll use their money to buy control.

The Saudis did it to sports wash their murderous and repressive regime. I don’t often agree with hard-right Texas Congressman Chip Roy, but he was right when he said, “In the end, it’s always about the money. Saudi Arabia just bought themselves a one-world golf government.”

The PGA did it for the money and perhaps survival. Over time, LIV would pick off more of the tour’s top players and take a bigger and bigger bite out of the PGA’s television revenues.

The families of 911 victims are furious with the PGA as are most of its players. It’s estimated that 90% of PGA players, many of whom turned down hundreds of millions of dollars to play for the Saudis, are against the deal. Many have called for the resignation of Jay Monahan, the PGA director who had, up until yesterday, said that any player who played for LIV would never compete in a PGA tournament again.

The 911 families are justifiably upset because they feel lied to by Monahan as well. They have opposed LIV because most of the 911 terrorists were Saudis and the Saudis have been sponsoring terrorism for years.

And, as if things couldn’t get any more disgusting, there’s a Donald Trump connection. Trump admires dictators, even murderous ones (maybe, especially murderous ones) and so he’s hosted LIV tournaments at his golf courses. In fact, LIV has pumped millions into Trump coffers by giving him tournaments to host after the PGA pulled one from his New Jersey course in response to his role in the January 6th insurrection. The Saudis don’t have any trouble with efforts to undermine democracy. They’ve never been much into democracy anyway.

Now, it’s not like the PGA’s a bunch of Boy Scouts either. They are currently being investigated by the Justice Department for anti-trust violations. While the merger won’t erase those investigations, there’s little question that part of their motivation here is to make those alleged violations seem moot. In any event, the PGA doesn’t torture and murder people or train terrorists to fly planes into buildings.

Pretty much every major sports league or oversight group is awful in some way. The NFL does all it can to down play head injuries. The NCAA exists to make sure college athletes don’t get paid for their work. The International Olympic Committee has a history of being run by fascists. FIFA has long been a pack of scoundrels. LIV fits right in.

So, will the merger allow LIV to be white washed by the PGA or will the PGA be sullied by LIV? It doesn’t really matter. It’s all about the money. Too bad Jamal Khashoggi couldn’t putt.