LIV Golf Draws Big Names and Heavy Critics to Oregon

[ad_1]

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. The Saudi government-backed LIV Golf Invitational series arrives in the United States on Thursday as it continues to rock a distinguished sport with a slogan that promises, Golf, but louder. Except that’s probably not the kind of noise his supporters had in mind.

Some vehemently oppose holding the three-day tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, about 20 miles northwest of Portland. Disapproval came from politicians, a group of 9/11 survivors and their family members, club members who quit in protest, and at least one outspoken member of the club’s board of directors. Critics have denounced what they describe as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to use sport to soften perceptions in the West of its grim human rights record.

Portland is the first of five LIV tournaments (a Roman numeral referring to the 54-hole format) to be held in the United States this year. The newly formed tour, with its lucrative prize money and eight-figure entry fees, has quickly become a threat to the long-established PGA Tour as big-name players such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka have joined the Saudi company.

The Portland tournament will take place as local furor still simmers since the 2016 death of Fallon Smart, a 15-year-old high school student who was killed as he crossed a Portland street by a driver driving nearly 60 miles away. time. A Saudi community college student charged with manslaughter and hit and run in the death of Smarts removed a tracking device and disappeared before trial, apparently returning home with the help of Saudi officials .

Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, urged justice for Smart and implored the White House to hold the Saudis more accountable. He criticized the LIV golf tournament, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, as an attempt to clean up the country’s human rights record, a tactic known as sportswashing.

No matter how much they cough, they won’t be able to erase that reputation, Wyden said in an interview. Referring to Smart’s death, he added, the Saudis could not have chosen a more insulting and painful place to hold a golf tournament.

Teri Lenahan, the mayor of the tiny North Plains, which has a population of 3,440, signed a letter with 10 other area mayors opposing the LIV tournament, although they acknowledge they cannot stop it. Some members of Pumpkin Ridge quit in protest.

Some family members and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have scheduled a press conference for Thursday to discuss what they called golfers willing to be complicit in taking money from a country whose citizens included 15 of the 19 hijackers.

Tournament critics note that US intelligence officials have concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, ordered the murder and dismemberment of dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018; that 81 men were executed in Saudi Arabia in a single day in March, calling into question the fairness of its criminal justice system; and that Saudi women were only allowed to drive in 2018 after a long-standing ban and still need to get permission from a male relative to make many decisions in their lives.

I really felt it was a moral obligation to speak up and say we can’t support this golf tournament because of where the funds to support it are coming from, Lenahan said in an interview. The problem is that the Saudi government publicly executes people, oppresses women and considers them second-class citizens. And they killed a journalist and dismembered him. It’s disgusting.

Escalante Golf, a Texas-based company that owns the Pumpkin Ridge course, did not respond to requests for comment.

The LIV tournament will continue against a backdrop of realpolitik. As a candidate, President Biden has vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah for Khashoggi’s murder. But Biden will visit Saudi Arabia in mid-July, seeking, among other things, relief from the oil-rich kingdom for soaring gasoline prices in the United States.

In truth, the issue of human rights often takes a back seat to financial and marketing concerns in international sport. China, for example, has been slated to host the Winter Olympics in 2022 and the Summer Games in 2008. And the NBA is doing strong business there. A recent report from ESPN said that the owners of major league teams have invested more than $10 billion in China.

Greg Norman, the golfing legend who is the face of the LIV series, recently claimed that the PGA Tour has 23 sponsors making over $40 billion in revenue in Saudi Arabia, saying in an interview on Fox News: The hypocrisy in all of this is so strong. It’s deafening.

There have been awkward moments in favor of Saudi involvement in golf. Asked about Khashoggis’ murder last month at a promotional event in the UK, Norman said: Look, we’ve all made mistakes.

The creation of the LIV Tour resurfaced long-standing questions about the moral obligations of athletes and their desire to compete and earn money.

Generally speaking, Wyden, who briefly played college basketball, said the Saudi approach was very much part of an autocratic playbook. He continued: They come in and try to buy everyone, buy their silence, thinking that something someone is going to be upset on Tuesday, everyone is going to forget on Thursday.

The Portland tournament will feature $25 million in prize money, including $5 million for team play and $4 million for the individual winner.

At press conferences here, golfers have acknowledged the financial appeal of the LIV circuit. And they said they respect various opinions about their involvement. Some have played down human rights issues, while others, like Sergio Garca and Lee Westwood, have said they believe golf can be a force for good.

If we can help any country or any place in the world, that’s what we’re going to do, Garca said.

Pat Perez, a fellow American golfer, candidly stated that playing golf and being able to spend less time on the road while competing in the LIV series was his only concern.

I understand the topics you’re trying to address, and these are horrible events, but I’m here to play golf, Perez said. It’s my job.

Koepka, a former world No. 1-ranked golfer and two-time US Open and PGA Championship winner, called Perez’s remarks about right, saying: We were here to play golf.

2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau was asked if he was confused about the source of the prize money at LIV events. DeChambeau said he believes golf is a force for good, and I think over time I hope people will see the good that they do and what they’re trying to accomplish, rather than to look at the evil that has happened before. He continued, I think it’s important to move on.

Pumpkin Ridge board member Andy McNiece, who acts strictly in an advisory capacity, could not move on.

Escalante Golf, the owner of the club, only seems interested in the money to host the LIV tournament, McNiece said in an interview. As he told other reporters, McNiece said that Escalante sold his own honor, Pumpkin Ridges honor, and in some weird way they sold some of my honor, and I don’t don’t like that.

He said he planned to visit the course to see the tournament setup, but would not watch the competition. He gave his four tickets for each of the three days to others. That way, McNiece said, LIV doesn’t take any money from them.

[ad_2]