PGA Tour policy board member Randall Stephenson has announced his resignation, after admitting he had 'serious concerns' with the Tour's decision to sign an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The PGA Tour had found itself in a 12-month dispute with newly emerged rival LIV Golf, but this appeared to have come to an end last month. As a result, the Tour announced it had made a ground-breaking deal with PIF, which will see them work in unison with LIV Golf, as well as the DP World Tour.
The announcement on June 6 took the golfing world by storm, with some of the biggest names in the game seemingly left in the dark over the deal, including a number of A-list players.
The agreement appeared to have been made between a select group, with Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the centre of it. The Framework agreement claims that the three tours will work under one entity named 'NewCo', but the idea has drawn widespread criticism from many.
This comes after commissioner Monahan had repeatedly slammed the LIV setup and its controversial relationship with Saudi Arabia, before opting the PGA Tour into the partnership. And this has come at a cost, with one of the Tour's most influential board members Stephenson stepping down.
The former AT&T executive confirmed his resignation last weekend, citing the controversy surrounding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a letter obtained by the Washington Post, he claimed the agreement "is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support, particularly in light of the U.S. intelligence report concerning Jamal Khashoggi in 2018."
Much has been said of the running of the PGA Tour since the announcement, something Stephenson also questioned. He added: "I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement.”
According to the Washington Post report Stephenson wanted to announce his resignation in June, but stalled the news due to the ill-health of Monahan. The commissioner took a step back from his duties one week after the deal was announced on medical grounds, but announced his return on Friday.
