US senator extends inquiry into PGA Tour, LIV Golf agreement

July 11, 2023: The PGA Tour has stated its public security of its agreement with the Saudi supported LIV Golf before a critical Senate announcement slated for Tuesday.

The tour’s Chief Operating Officer Ron Price, who is set to testify on Tuesday, released an op-ed in The Athletic on Monday defending the deal and explaining why it was the most suitable outcome for the future of golf. He also argued the agreement should not be considered a merger.

“Given the well-chronicled legal arguments between the PGA Tour and PIF, we comprehend the fair and valid questions raised by PGA Tour members, Tour partners, media, and now Congress,” Price said in the op-ed.

The piece comes days after a shakeup at the PGA Tour’s policy board that added another gather to what could be a rocky road toward approval of the deal.

On Saturday, former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board, which he served on since 2012. Stephenson stepped down as lawmakers seemed likely to start a broad probe into the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV, beginning with Tuesday’s Senate hearing.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman and which ranks of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, respectively, called the meeting on Tuesday. The senators asked officials from the tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund to appear before the panel.

While the senators requested testimony from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Price, and policy board independent director Jimmy Dunne will instead appear, the tour expressed in a statement last week. Monahan has been on a leave of absence because of an unspecified medical situation but recently announced he will return to his role on July 17.

“We look forward to appearing before the Senate Subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement that keeps the PGA TOUR as the leader of professional golf’s future and benefits our players, our fans, and our sport,” a PGA Tour spokesperson said in a recent statement.

The senators had said in an earlier letter that the subcommittee would examine the proposed deal and the Saudi fund’s “investment in golf in the United States, the risks associated with a foreign country’s acquisition in American cultural institutions, and the implications of this prepared understanding on professional golf in the United States going ahead.”