The 151st Open Championship will draw the crème de la crème of golfers to Royal Liverpool. Nobody wants to miss the action as the final major of the year prepares to start.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), will also be there, according to The Telegraph. He will be the guest of one of the major supporters of the R&A.
That’s probably going to get a lot of attention and concern. Along with the USGA, the R&A is one of the main organizations that oversees golf worldwide.
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Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s CEO, held his customary pre-event news conference on Wednesday. He admitted during the conference that he would think about the PIF as a potential investment.
“The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis,” said Slumbers.
We will take all available options into account while keeping in mind all the criteria.
It is said that the Saudi PIF is valued at $720 billion. Is his presence as a guest of an existing sponsor a chance to discuss potential future business? Time will only tell.
The framework agreement between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour is still being finalized.
The Senate hearing was held last week. Along with LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Al-Rumayyan received an invitation. But none of them showed up.
Al-Rumayyan has stated that he hopes to join Augusta National and the R&A, despite being unable to attend those hearings. Additionally, texts exchanged between Jimmy Dunne and Al-Rumayyan, a member of the PGA Tour policy board, were made public.
In these legal disputes between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, Al-Rumayyan and PIF seem to be requesting immunity under the law.
Regarding the “agreement to have an agreement,” there are still a lot of unanswered questions. But it’s obvious that the PIF wants to make a mark on all sports in the world.
