Two PGA Tour executives are set to testify before a Senate subcommittee investigating the agreement between the PGA Tour and the Saudia Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns and operates LIV Golf. U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will meet on Tuesday, July 11 for a hearing entitled “The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia’s Influence in the United States.”
Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and ranking member Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced Monday that while the subcommittee had invited representatives of both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to attend the hearing, only two PGA Tour executives have confirmed their attendance: Ron Price, the chief operating officer of the PGA Tour, and Tour board member Jimmy Dunne, the person who’s been credited with orchestrating the deal with the PIF.
Representatives for LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and Saudi PIF governor Yasir al-Rumayyan informed the subcommittee that they will be unable to attend the hearing due to scheduling conflicts.
“We appreciate the PGA Tour working with us and look forward to a robust, thoughtful exchange with both Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne on July 11, focusing on the details and background of this deal and what it means for this cherished American institution,” Sens. Blumenthal and Johnson said in a joint statement.
“We regret that Governor al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman’s scheduling conflicts will prevent them from attending the July 11 hearing. Both Governor al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman have valuable information to share about the operations of the Public Investment Fund, the future of LIV Golf, and Saudi Arabia’s plans to invest in golf and other sports. Consistent with our subcommittee’s practice, we look forward to working with both witnesses to find a mutually agreeable date for them to appear in the very near future.”
The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF announced a framework agreement in early June that would see the three competing tours operate under the same umbrella of a new, for-profit company which has yet to be named.