{"id":309944,"date":"2023-06-20T00:58:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T00:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=309944"},"modified":"2023-06-20T01:58:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T01:58:13","slug":"icons-hypocrisy-claim-in-letter-fuming-at-liv-merger-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=309944","title":{"rendered":"Icon's 'hypocrisy' claim in letter fuming at LIV merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight-time major champion Tom Watson wants answers on the PGA Tour<\/a>\u2019s new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf<\/a>, asking in a letter to commissioner Jay Monahan if the deal was the only way to solve the tour\u2019s financial hardship.<\/p>\n

That was one of several questions posed by Watson in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press and was sent to Monahan, the PGA Tour board and \u201cmy fellow players".<\/p>\n

He said the questions were \u201ccompounded by the hypocrisy in disregarding the moral issue".<\/p>\n

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On the day after Wyndham Clark became the latest major champion by winning the US Open<\/a>, focus shifted back to an issue that has consumed golf for the last three years. It took a stunning turn earlier this month when the PGA Tour announced it had joined with Saudi Arabia\u2019s national wealth fund and the European tour<\/a> to put commercial businesses under one roof.<\/p>\n

\"Jay<\/p>\n

Monahan has referred to it as a \u201cframework agreement\u201d and he had few answers for players in a meeting two weeks ago at the Canadian Open. A Player Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday ahead of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

Monahan, who stepped away for a \u201cmedical situation\u201d last week<\/a>, is not expected to attend. Two of his top executives are in charge of the tour\u2019s day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

The tour said in the announcement that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, would be chairman of the new company and Monahan would be the CEO. Two PGA Tour board members, Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, would join them on the executive committee.<\/p>\n

The deal contains assurances the tour would keep a controlling voting interest in the new commercial entity regardless of how much the PIF contributes, according to a person who has seen the agreement.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/p>\n

The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been made public, said the agreement allows for a financial investment from PIF and pooling the three parties\u2019 current and future golf-related investments. That would include LIV Golf.<\/p>\n

The agreement said the new company\u2019s board would have majority representation appointed by the PGA Tour, the person said. The PGA Tour would still have full authority on how it runs its competition.<\/p>\n

Still missing are key details such as the future of LIV Golf. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau have said they are planning for a 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Senator Richard Blumenthal suggested that congressional hearings could be held within weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/p>\n

Blumenthal is chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He said on CBS's \u201cFace the Nation\u201d the subcommittee wants facts on what went into the deal and who was behind it and details on the structure and governance of the new company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very, very few details,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cBut remember, what we have here is essentially a repressive, autocratic foreign government taking control over an iconic, cherished American institution for the clear purpose of cleansing its public image,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One key to the agreement was ending all litigation. The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice the antitrust lawsuit LIV players filed in August, the countersuit the tour filed in September and even a PIF appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to avoid having to give depositions in the lawsuits. They cannot be refiled.<\/p>\n

Monahan has said the lawsuits \u2014 a trial date was not expected until at least the middle of 2024 with plenty of filings in between \u2014 had contributed to a \u201csignificant\u201d hit to the tour.<\/p>\n

\"Smith<\/p>\n

Watson said in his letter: \u201cIs the PIF the only viable rescue from the Tour\u2019s financial problems? Was\/is there a plan B? And again, what exactly is the exchange?\u201d.<\/p>\n

He mentioned hypocrisy twice, especially as it relates to criticism from groups such as 9\/11 Families United on the tour's reversal.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy loyalty to golf and this country live in the same place and have held equal and significant weight with me over my lifetime,\u201d Watson said. \u201cPlease educate me and others in a way that allows loyalty to both, and in a way that makes it easy to look 9\/11 families in the eye and ourselves in the mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson isn\u2019t alone among his questions. The Justice Department\u2019s antitrust division has been reviewing the golf landscape since last year, and now it is starting to look at the tour\u2019s agreement with the Saudis and whether it violates federal antitrust laws. The inquiry is in its early stages, as the agreement is barely two weeks old and still is being finalised.<\/p>\n

Monahan has said everything in the framework agreement would be subject to board approval.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight-time major champion Tom Watson wants answers on the PGA Tour\u2019s new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf, asking in a letter to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":307228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309944"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=309944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309954,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309944\/revisions\/309954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/307228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=309944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=309944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=309944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}