Two PGA officials to testify to Senate committee over LIV Golf merger
Misty Severi
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Two PGA Tour golf officials will testify as witnesses in front of a Senate subcommittee hearing on the LIV Golf merger next week, the committee’s leaders announced Monday.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hear testimony from PGA Tour COO Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne on July 11, subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and ranking member Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said in a joint statement.
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“We appreciate the PGA Tour working with us and look forward to a robust, thoughtful exchange with both Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne on July 11, focusing on the details and background of this deal and what it means for this cherished American institution,” Blumenthal and Johnson said in the statement.
LIV Golf, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced an agreement last month for the creation of a new, unnamed, for-profit entity that will combine the commercial businesses of all three. The agreement also maintains PGA Tour Inc., a tax-exempt organization, will remain in place and will retain “administrative oversight of events for those assets contributed by the PGA TOUR, including the sanctioning of events.”
The subcommittee also sought testimony from LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, and the Saudi investment fund’s governor, Yasir Al Rumayyan but was told Norman and Rumayyan were unable to testify next week because of scheduling conflicts.
“We regret that Governor al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman’s scheduling conflicts will prevent them from attending the July 11 hearing,” the senators said.
“Both Governor al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman 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. Consistent with our subcommittee’s practice, we look forward to working with both witnesses to find a mutually agreeable date for them to appear in the very near future.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced his own investigation into the merger last month, particularly as it relates to national security and antitrust laws.
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“The merger raises significant questions about whether organizations that tie themselves to an authoritarian regime that has continually undermined the rule of law should continue to enjoy tax-exempt status [within the U.S.],” Wyden wrote in a memo about the investigation.
PGA Senior Vice President of Communications Joel Schuchmann said the company looks forward to the hearing to answer senators’ questions, according to NBC News.