• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Fox Analyst and Media Entrepreneur Greg Olsen to Speak at Tuned In Get your ticket now!

Senator Calls for PGA Tour to ‘Avoid the Sellout’ of LIV Golf Deal

  • Hearing reveals possibility of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods owning LIV Golf teams and “play in at least 10 LIV events.”
  • Negotiations included possible Augusta membership for Saudi PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayan.
The Senate conducted a LIV Golf-PGA Tour deal hearing.
Photo by A.J. Perez.

WASHINGTON — Greg Norman’s future as a golf exec is murky, and the head of the Saudi Public Investment fund that committed billions to fund LIV Golf sought an Augusta National membership as new details emerged from negotiations that led to an agreement aimed to mend the PGA Tour-LIV Golf split a month ago.

Those items — along with the possibility of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods owning LIV Golf teams and playing in at least 10 LIV events — became public during a hearing in front of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that explored the implications of the deal on Tuesday. 

“LIV put us on fire,” testified Jimmy Dunn, a PGA Tour Policy Board member who was among a small group that negotiated the agreement. “LIV put us in an incredibly difficult position. LIV was a constant every day. Who’s gonna go? It was very disruptive.”

And costly.

LIV Golf and the PGA Tour each spent tens of millions on litigation costs over nearly a year before the deal’s framework was announced on June 6. The tentative agreement called for LIV, PGA Tour, and PIF — LIV’s financial backer with about $700 billion in assets — to end legal actions against one another. 

“I would describe it as a situation where the PGA Tour stays in the same position, and our players and our charities win,” PGA Tour COO Ron Price said on the agreement. “I don’t know that anyone is losing.”

The end of the courtroom drama remains the only tangible outcome of the agreement, which sources told Front Office Sports is far from final. 

While negotiations continue, the hearing led by committee chair Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) focused on the more than $1 billion committed by PIF to back the new golf entity, PGA Tour Enterprises and Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the venture going forward during the hearing that spanned three hours. 

“We learned a lot, but we also have a lot more to learn, and we’re gonna continue the investigation because as many questions are raised by this so-called draft agreement, there are still,” Blumenthal told FOS after the hearing. “I think there’s a lot at stake here.”

Blumenthal said there could be another hearing once the final agreement has been reached, which is already being investigated by the Justice Department and will likely face regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe since the DP World Tour is also a cog in the agreement. 

Multiple versions of the framework were included among the more than 200 pages of documents obtained by the committee that were released during the hearing. 

The versions included “expectation that the services provided by Greg Norman … will cease upon the transition to [the] PGA Tour.” That portion was lined in one of the framework versions, and a source close to LIV told FOS that Norman’s ouster was not part of the agreement. 

Norman and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan were invited to testify, although each had scheduling conflicts and could not attend. 

That left Dunn and Price as the only witnesses, Blumenthal said in “his closing remarks that his hope is that the PGA Tour “will resist those buckets full of money” from Saudi Arabia. 

“I think a lot of players, a lot of sponsors, a lot of charities, and frankly, the 9/11 families are hoping that the PGA Tour will stand up and frankly avoid the sellout that this deal [is],” Blumenthal continued.

“We’re gonna be selling out to countries that can throw around hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re gonna lose. Not just financially but in terms of our democracy, treatment, institutions like golf. Sports are central to our society, to our culture, to our economy, to our way of life, to our self-image, and our image abroad.”

Meanwhile, Ron Johnson, the Republican Wisconsin Senator who serves as the committee’s ranking member, lamented that the hearing was called before a final agreement was reached. 

“That’s the point I kept making is there’s no deal,” Johnson said after the hearing. “I think a lot of people jumped to conclusions that they had to announce this because they had a public court filing where the charges were dismissed. I would say, a big win for everybody other than the lawyers.”

Not much new light was shed on what sanctions — if any — golfers like Phil Mickelson — who reportedly received $200 million to join LIV — and others like Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka would face before being allowed back on the PGA Tour.

As of now, all the golfers who left for LIV remain suspended. 

And then there’s how to make it right for the top golfers who remained loyal to the PGA Tour and resisted the nine-figure deals offered by LIV. One of the slideshows obtained by the committee spelled out the possibility of Woods and McIlroy each owning a LIV Golf team where they’d play in “at least” 10 LIV events.

Eight members of 9/11 Justice — a group once supported by the PGA Tour that protested and ran ads against LIV Golf — were in the audience for the hearing, standing room only for about the first half before the chamber thinned out. 

“I think some of the remarks are obvious, and they were powerful,” 9/11 Justice President and Co-Founder Brett Eagleson told FOS after the hearing. “I was really glad to see Sen. [Ron] Johnson’s commitment to transparency around 9/11 and the Saudi’s role in 9/11. That was our mission here today, to focus attention on Saudi’s role on 9/11. I think the mission was accomplished today.’

Blumenthal told FOS that the PGA Tour could find other investors outside Saudi Arabia. 

“There are investors who are willing to provide capital,” Blumenthal said. “We’re not talking here about hundreds of billions of dollars. It’s a billion dollars, which in the world of corporate America today is not insurmountable.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Sep 7, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; President Donald Trump prior to the final of mens singles at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Ryder Cup to Sort Out Trump Attendance After US Open Delay

The president is planning on attending the Ryder Cup’s opening round.
Aug 23, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) leads the team onto the field for warm ups before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

Slow Burn: The NFL’s Private-Equity Era So Far

Three deals have been struck to date. But the league is bullish.
Tennis

The US Open Is Groaning Under the Weight of Its Own Success

New York’s tennis major is more popular than ever.
Dec 21, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) gets ready to take the field prior to a game against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

How Brazil Game Fits Into NFL’s Plans for World Domination

Friday night’s Chiefs-Chargers game in São Paulo is big by design.

Featured Today

Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) celebrate their touchdown pass during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field.

TV Ratings Just Changed Again. The NFL Will Be the Big Winner

Nielsen’s new viewership system will have a big impact on sports.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates with offensive lineman Donovan Jackson (74) after a touchdown catch against Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025.
August 30, 2025

The Most Expensive Roster Year in College Football History

The House settlement created revenue-sharing—and a big NIL loophole.
August 26, 2025

‘You’re Going to Get Beat Up’: The Liberty’s All-Male Practice Squad

A select group suits up weekly to take on the defending champs.
August 24, 2025

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Connecticut Sun

Connecticut Senators Rip WNBA Handling of Sun Sale

The Senators are urging the league to stay out of the negotiations.
Jul 13, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; FIFA president Gianni Infantino and President Donald Trump carry the FIFA Club World Cup trophy during the presentation after the final of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium.
August 7, 2025

Swiss Politicians Want FIFA Chief to Lobby Trump for Tariff Relief

Could Infantino be a backchannel to Trump?
Donald Trump
September 6, 2025

Donald Trump Attending US Open As Rolex Guest

USTA asked broadcasters not to show “disruptions or reactions” to Trump’s attendance.
Sponsored

Trailblazer Cal Calamia Is Racing for ‘Advocacy, Storytelling, and Performance’

The marathoner wants excellence—not just inclusion—to be the goal for non-binary athletes.
Saquon Barkley
August 5, 2025

Saquon Barkley Rebuffs Trump As Other Athletes Line Up Behind Him

The White House has had a barrage of sports announcements in recent weeks.
Derek Dooley
August 4, 2025

Ex-Tennessee Football Coach Derek Dooley Running for Senate in Georgia

Dooley coached at Louisiana Tech and Tennessee from 2007 to 2012.
July 27, 2025

Venezuelan Little League Baseball Team Denied Entry Into U.S.

The Cacique Mara Little League team was not allowed into the country.
Yucca and Gary Rieschel are donating $10 million to be used to bolster the USOPC’s mental health program. Syndication Westchester County Journal News
July 23, 2025

USOPC Follows Trump Order Banning Trans Athletes in Women’s Sports

The change impacts governing bodies, which extend beyond Olympic competition.