The Saudi Image Laundering Through Golf

 

Saudi Arabia's LIV Golf hustle seeks to upgrade the sorry image of the desert kingdom by offering an alternative to the US PGA tour, and a number of professional golfers have taken Saudi money and signed up with them. Greg Norman, the aging duffer who's been pushing products since his tournament days are over, is the chief executive of the Saudi gambit, and cynically downplayed the 2018 murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman:

"It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.” (our emphasis)

The Saudi sovereign fund is doling out huge sums to bribe golfers like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Lee Westwood away from the PGA tour in an effort to recast itself as a normal nation among nations:

"LIV Golf is offering staggering purses -- the total prize money is $255 million this year, including $25 million for each of the seven regular-season tournaments -- that are the richest in professional golf. The eight-event LIV series will feature five tournaments played in the United States, including a team championship match-play finale at Trump Doral in Miami Oct. 28-30. The second LIV event is scheduled for July 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon."

It's fitting that one of the matches is at the insect-infested Trump Doral, since the Saudi regime -- and Bone Saw in particular -- misses the Malignant Loser and his look-the-other-way / take their money approach to Saudi human rights abuses.

To their undying credit, a number of notable golfers including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas have spurned the Saudi's bribes to join the LIV Golf hustle and will remain with the PGA tour. Unfortunately for too many, obscene prize money and outright bribes to participate in LIV Golf will mean they're not going anywhere soon.