Documents released Tuesday ahead of hearings on Capitol Hill regarding the proposed merger between the two major tours and LIV Golf revealed that the PGA Tour sought the ouster of LIV CEO Greg Norman.
The trove of documents released by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations also revealed a proposal of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy owning LIV teams and playing in LIV events.
PGA Tour COO Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne were set to testify in Tuesday’s hearing titled, “The PGA-LIV deal: Implications for the future of golf and Saudi Arabia’s influence in the United States.”
Per the documents, a side letter to the main agreement between the tours and LIV called for Norman to be cast aside once the merger is complete. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s draft of talking points for the PGA Tour policy board read, “Norman will be assigned to an advisory role determined by PIF when the PGA Tour becomes the manager of the LIV Tour.”
The subcommittee said that its inquiry did not reveal if the “side agreement was ever executed.”
Further, it was revealed that in a presentation to Dunne and fellow board member Ed Herlihy that Woods and McIlroy would own LIV teams and play at least 10 LIV events per year. Documents also show that McIlroy met with al-Rumayyan last November in Dubai.
Other proposals by LIV in the April presentation, titled “The Best of Both Worlds,” included:
–PIF – or Saudi oil company Aramco – branding at two of the PGA Tour’s elevated events.
–Membership for PIF governor Yasir al-Rumayyan at Augusta and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews.
–A “LIV style team global event” with LIV, PGA Tour and LPGA payers in Saudi Arabia and Dubai that would include a televised draft.
–LIV golfers having their PGA Tour – or DP Tour – membership restored an OWGR ranking points retroactively reflected for results on the LIV circuit.
–Eligibility reinstated for the Ryder Cup.
Tuesday’s hearing was originally supposed to feature Monahan, Norman and al-Rumayyan. However, Norman and al-Rumayyan declined and Monahan was on the mend after an undisclosed health issue.
Dunne, according to the documents, is also a central player to the proposed deal. He was the first person contacted by the PIF through a British intermediary, Roger Devlin, in December 2022.
Dunne, along with fellow board member Herlihy, were tabbed for leadership positions on LIV after being the principal architects of the merger.
Devlin first contacted Dunne on Dec. 8 “in the strictest of confidence” about talks. That eventually led Dunne to contact al-Rumayyan on WhatsApp in April to explore a deal between the entities.
Another early player in the talks was Amanda Staveley, advisor to al-Rumayyan and chief executive of international private equity firm PCP Capital Partners.
Devlin told Dunne over email that al-Rumayyan was prepared to establish a “substantial equalization fund” for players who remained loyal to the PGA Tour in exchange for reinstatement for the players who jumped ship.
Following the April presentation, Dunne, Herlihy and Monahan met with Staveley, al-Rumayyan and several others May 11-12 in Venice and again in late May in San Francisco.
The deal was announced June 6.
–Field Level Media
