At Senate hearing, PGA Tour-Saudi emails show origins of LIV deal

As they charged toward a shocking partnership, the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund discussed a variety of dramatic measures that would significantly alter the landscape of professional golf, according to a trove of documents released by a Senate investigative subcommittee during Tuesday’s hearing on the proposed deal.

Among the proposals that were floated: a global “World Golf Series” team event that would conclude in Saudi Arabia; LIV Golf continuing to operate as an independent tour with its schedule confined to the fall season; Greg Norman being sidelined and removed from his role as LIV Golf chief executive; Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being given ownership of LIV Golf teams and participating in LIV Golf events; two elevated PGA Tour events branded by either PIF or the Saudi oil company Aramco; and a membership to the Augusta National Golf Club for Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF who is poised to be among the most powerful men in golf if the shocking alliance is finalized.

Many of the details of the deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi investors are unknown and still subject to negotiation, but the documents released Tuesday during the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing into the surprising agreement give the fullest picture to date of what the key stakeholders had hoped to get out of the partnership.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chair of the subcommittee, shared a 10-page summary document plus an additional 265 pages of supplementary emails, messages and other communications that were submitted to the subcommittee by the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in advance of Tuesday’s hearing.