PGA Official Tells Senate Lawmakers Saudi Investment In New Entity Will Be “North Of $1 Billion”
deadline.comPGA officials were in the hot seat on Tuesday as they faced lawmakers questions about the tour’s abrupt reversal that led to a deal with Saudi-backed rival LIV, despite months of criticism over the human rights record of the Saudi gpvernment.
At a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations, PGA COO Ron Price, pressed to provide an estimate of just how much the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund would contribute to a new entity, said that “north of $1 billion” was being discussed, but that negotiations on a final agreement were ongoing.
Price and Jimmy Dunne, board member of the PGA Tour, said that the new entity would still be controlled by the PGA. They each stressed to lawmakers that the PGA decided to enter into the agreement rather than face years of litigation and a division among athletes, as well as the threat posed by LIV backed with $800 billion in assets.
But Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the chairman of the subcommittee, blasted the deal, saying that it was “about much more than a game of golf.
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