Highlights from Tuesday's hearing on the LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger:
- The Senate Homeland Security Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a three-hour hearing on PGA Tour's planned merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf.
- The committee heard testimony from PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and the Saudi investment fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, did not appear because of scheduling conflicts.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chaired the panel, was most critical of the deal, repeatedly urging PGA Tour officials not to go through with it. Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, were more supportive.
- The merger was announced last month. Experts say it is the latest move by Saudi Arabia to flex its influence in the U.S. and jump on economic opportunities, following accusations of human rights abuses and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Details of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger are ‘very murky,’ Sally Jenkins says
Blumenthal's closing remarks: 'We need to learn more'
In his closing remarks, Blumenthal expressed mild dissatisfaction with how incomplete the hearing proved, especially given the absence of the two key players in the proposed agreement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Saudi investment fund’s governor.
"We need to learn more," Blumenthal said. "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."
Blumenthal told the Tour officials present that America is "on your side" and urged them to set aside the immediate financial concerns.
"It shouldn’t be about the money, the disruption, the uneconomic offers," Blumenthal said.
"I recognize you can’t say you're going to walk away, but I hope you bargain hard," Blumenthal said. "We will continue this inquiry. Uncovering more of the facts is in the national interest and part of our obligation."
Johnson calls for 'time and space' to let LIV and PGA Tour make deal
Johnson's closing remarks were largely uncritical of the merger, noting that deal would allow "the game of golf" to "bridge divides" between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
He also expressed some skepticism around concerns about the deal based on allegations of the Saudi government's involvement in 9/11, citing Dunne's testimony and saying that he "trust[s] his judgment."
Johnson seemed to support the deal moving forward, calling for LIV and PGA Tour to be given "time and space and privacy" to "conclude the deal."
Dunne commits to meeting with 9/11 families attending hearing
Asked by Blumenthal if he would commit to meeting with the families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks present at the hearing, Dunne responded: "Yes."
As Dunne answered Blumenthal's question, a spokesperson for the 9/11 families, Brett Eagleson, approached the witness desk and dropped off what appeared to be a few papers.
NBC News viewed one of the documents after the hearing: It was a redacted document on Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attack.
The hearing has ended
Sen. Blumenthal gaveled out the hearing just before 1 p.m. ET, after about three hours of testimony.
The golf world's (non) reaction so far
Two hours into today's Senate hearing, there's been a notable silence from leading voices in golf about what has transpired.
For example, Phil Mickelson, the highest-profile current LIV and former PGA Tour member who is usually active on social media, has not tweeted.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlory, the two highest-profile Tour members who rejected LIV's overtures and who usually post on Instagram, have also not posted.
But there's a general sense among what's become known as "golf Twitter" — mostly golf writers — that Democrats, who control the Senate, are not in favor of the deal.
The deal's failure would likely be fatal to the Tour — and possibly allow the Saudis and LIV to win anyway, as Andy Johnson, who writes for The Fried Egg, a golf blog, tweeted.
Price: We would not allow censorship of our players on gay rights
Blumenthal pushed Price on whether he would allow players to be censored on LGBTQ issues, bringing up the example of Qatar restricting the ability of attendees, players and teams to have rainbow flags and other items when the nation hosted the FIFA World Cup last year. Blumenthal pushed Price on whether he would allow a host country such as Saudi Arabia, which criminalizes homosexuality, to do the same.
Price said that the PGA Tour would "never impose" those rules and that tour officials "determine where events are played."
Meanwhile, another Senate committee has launched its own investigation
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced last month that he has opened an investigation into the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger.
Wyden has been critical of the agreement and is seeking information from the PGA Tour, from details about the framework of the deal to an assessment of the merger’s implications for national security.
In a letter to the organization’s leadership, Wyden wrote that 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” in the U.S.
Ex-Sen. Mark Pryor, lobbying for Saudi fund, spotted in hearing room
Former Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who now works for the firm that helped Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund prepare for today's hearing, is here in the room.
Last month, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) hired Pryor's employer, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, ahead of today's high-stakes hearing, according to the Politico Influence newsletter.
Politico reported that the firms' team — including former Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, former diplomat Samantha Carl-Yoder and "a crew of former Hill aides," like Nadeam Elshami, who worked for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — would "provide PIF with 'education and advocacy'" before the U.S. government, including the PGA Tour agreement.
Sens. Johnson and Blumenthal call for release of more 9/11 documents
In an exchange in the opening of the hearing, Johnson and Blumenthal agreed on the need to release more documents relating to 9/11, hoping that a bipartisan effort could come out of the LIV merger hearings.
The families of 9/11 victims, some of whom are at the hearing today, have long campaigned for the release of more information about the attacks, specifically related to Saudi involvement. President Biden released some documents in 2021, but families are calling for the release of more.
