A PGA Tour chief has claimed the American-based circuit feared 'they would be destroyed' by the growth of their LIV Golf rivals, after they defended their decision to strike a deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
On Tuesday, Tour officials appeared at a U.S. Senate hearing ran by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to discuss their proposed agreement with PIF. The ground-breaking deal will see the PGA Tour work in unison with LIV Golf, as well as the DP World Tour.
Following the shock announcement on June 6, the Tour have been criticised and accused of hypocrisy by many, after initially slamming the formation of the breakaway circuit, and the Saudis involvement in the sport.
In defence of their decision, PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne claimed the American-based circuit worried for its existence due to the financial backing of their rivals. Speaking in front of the committee Dunne said: "My fear is if we don’t get to an agreement, they are already putting billions of dollars into golf.
"They have a management team that wants to destroy the tour. And even though you could say they [only] take five or six players a year, they have an unlimited horizon and an unlimited amount of money. It isn’t like the product is better, it is just that there is a lot more money that will make people move.
"I am concerned if we do nothing, they will end up owning golf. They can, they can do it. It isn’t that big, it is only a couple of hundred players. I am deeply concerned.” LIV Golf has infamously signed a whole host of the PGA Tour's biggest names in the past year, with Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson just a few of the many who have benefited from mega-money deals.
Dunne's defence was also echoed by his colleague Ron Price, who claimed seeking funding from elsewhere was not an option amid the ongoing costly legal dispute between the Tour and LIV Golf. "Had we gone down that path, we would still be fighting the very expensive and disruptive litigation," Price claimed.
"LIV would have continued to recruit our players and put our tour in jeopardy. They could have become the leader in professional golf and operated it for the benefit of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” Senator Richard Blumenthal confirmed the investigation would continue following the hearing, and hoped to hear from a number of other executives involved in the deal, no doubt referring to PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV CEO Greg Norman.
The Senator said: "We need to learn more. We're going to ask the other potential witnesses who we invited to actually come to share their perspective and information... The more we know, the more we can support the values and freedoms that we have espoused here today."
