Senate hearings focused on the planned partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), will take place July 11 without principal leadership from LIV.
PIF governor Yasir al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman declined the request to appear before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations next week, citing scheduling conflicts.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who has been out of work dealing with a health issue for multiple weeks, will also not attend due to the illness.
The Tour plans to send COO Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne to the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Both are listed as witnesses on the Senate release for the hearing titled “The PGA-LIV deal: Implications for the future of golf and Saudi Arabia’s influence in the United States.”
Subcommittee chairman Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the Senate is looking “to find a mutually agreeable date for (al-Rumayyan and Norman) to appear in the near future.”
Blumenthal said the PGA Tour should be commended for sharing details of the planned combined entity, for which al-Rumayyan has been designated the chairman of the board. He said both LIV representatives “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.”
The PGA Tour submitted relevant documents to the subcommittee on June 26, including the agreed upon framework of the planned merger, which also includes the DP World Tour.
–Field Level Media