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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Sportswashing Open Thread: Saudi Princes Just Bought (Off) the PGA

Late Night Sportswashing Open Thread: Saudi Princes Just Bought (Off) the PGA

by Anne Laurie|  June 7, 202311:01 pm| 66 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Sports

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As part of the merger, the PGA will control holes 1-8 and 12-18.

The Saudis do 9-11.

— James Hesky (@JamesHesky) June 6, 2023

It was nice that the Tour stood up and declined to get Jamal Khashoggi's blood on its hands, for as long as that lasted. https://t.co/lAU4L5ibgG

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 7, 2023

For those of us who cover sports, even on a limited basis, it was something only a bit short of Jesus In A Tomato miracle to see the PGA Tour actually taking a moral stand against billionaires. When Saudi Arabia attempted to sportswash its dismal reputation by launching the LIV professional golf tour, fueled by over-the-hill dingbats like Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman, and there was an outcry by all decent people including the families of 9/11 victims, the PGA Tour stood up and declined to get Jamal Khashoggi’s blood on its hands. It knuckled the current pros who went over to the Bonesaw Tour. And it sued the LIV Tour, which countersued. But the idea that the PGA Tour would find a group of rich guys with whom it didn’t want to do business was a Black Swan event of gigantic proportions.

You just knew it wouldn’t last…

i've been asleep for two decades and let me tell you I am shocked that wealthy american gentry would collaborate with petroprincelings for profit, simply shocked https://t.co/v1sDhqeALO

— Walter Hickey (@WaltHickey) June 6, 2023


The surprise PGA/LIV golf merger is almost certain to attract DOJ antitrust scrutiny and the Department, which is already investigating the PGA tour for possible antitrust violations, is watching closely https://t.co/kvBCDzDz7R

— Josh Sisco (@joshua_sisco) June 6, 2023

"The Saudis did 9/11 but their money spends just fine" is an extremely funny position to take https://t.co/q6jxvaFE2I

— Joe (@JoePostingg) June 6, 2023

is this about golf or democracy https://t.co/jbzlIS9SVr

— jesse spector (@jessespector) June 6, 2023

if you think golf fans are going to be outraged you have not seen the crowds at newcastle or manchester city matches. sportswashing works, it’s why regimes do it.

— world famous art thief (@famousartthief) June 6, 2023

so while it's *also* and inevitably an influence op, and we're seeing some glimmers of Really Bad Legal Shit re: FARA registrations and if I had to guess the Trump prosecution, there are legitimate economic reasons for them to be doing things like this

— post malone ergo propter malone (@PropterMalone) June 6, 2023

if Trump did in fact sell our Iran war contingency plans KSA is the obvious buyer

— post malone ergo propter malone (@PropterMalone) June 6, 2023

there are certainly things better than hypocrisy but flamboyant evil is worse https://t.co/nsUJMmmnB8

— Dorothy Fortenberry (@Dorothy410berry) June 7, 2023

Sports Greenwashing Open Thread: Saudi Princes Just Bought (Off) the PGA

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Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 8, 2023 at 1:46 am

    How fucking depressing.

  2. 2.

    JWR

    June 8, 2023 at 1:49 am

    I’m just now catching up on the day’s threads, and boy, did I pick the wrong day to nap! Holy Moley, Batman!

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    June 8, 2023 at 1:58 am

    Not a huge golf fan, but this seems odd for a sport that likes to revel in history and tradition.

  4. 4.

    Viva BrisVegas

    June 8, 2023 at 2:07 am

    Succession was a documentary.

  5. 5.

    SpaceUnit

    June 8, 2023 at 2:21 am

    This only reinforces my opinion regarding the “sport” of golf.

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 8, 2023 at 2:27 am

    Man, I am so sick of their bullshit

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    June 8, 2023 at 2:35 am

    Entirely new definition of foreplay.
    //

  8. 8.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 8, 2023 at 2:41 am

    As part of the merger, the PGA will control holes 1-8 and 12-18.

    The Saudis do 9-11.

    That is genius!

  9. 9.

    DMcK

    June 8, 2023 at 2:53 am

    @Viva BrisVegas: So was Caddyshack.

  10. 10.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    June 8, 2023 at 3:22 am

    Speaking of pieces of shit, TFG is really off the rails and now he’s calling Mr. Smith “salacious”…lol!

  11. 11.

    Keith P.

    June 8, 2023 at 4:04 am

    @Viva BrisVegas: Don Jr. was interested in politics at a very young age.

  12. 12.

    sab

    June 8, 2023 at 4:13 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: All those inflammatory “s” words. “Salacious”…”sanctimonious”…  He needs to turn to a new page in his thesaurus.

  13. 13.

    TriassicSands

    June 8, 2023 at 4:17 am

    The PGA — money is all that matters. What a huge surprise.

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    June 8, 2023 at 4:24 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    Actually, I wouldn’t mind hearing about it if Jack Smith had occasion to charge TFG with salacious misdeeds.

  15. 15.

    JWR

    June 8, 2023 at 4:33 am

    OMG! If you haven’t watched this Pence clip, I guess you’re today’s lucky duck. (No really, go watch it. The hypocritical flip-flop is amazing!)

    “Sir, I just want to clarify what you’re saying is if they believe he committed a crime, they should not go forward with an indictment? You just talked before about committing to the rule of law.” pic.twitter.com/8tk5XBZOxe
    — Acyn (@Acyn) June 8, 2023

  16. 16.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    June 8, 2023 at 4:40 am

    The Nazi’s could have kept the U.S. from entering WWII by simply sponsoring a golf tournament

  17. 17.

    Michael Bersin

    June 8, 2023 at 4:53 am

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:

    That would have made a close fit with country club membership restrictions…

  18. 18.

    gene108

    June 8, 2023 at 4:54 am

    @JWR:

    Pence is so pathetic. TFG’s never going to forgive you for betraying him on J6. His followers wanted to hang you. They built gallows.

  19. 19.

    sab

    June 8, 2023 at 4:59 am

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: And that would have been so much better for the world?!

    I really don’t think golf matters much. Bores me. But I am biased. Can my husband now stop watching golf all day all through every weekend? I like golf on tv but as background. I play badly so following it seriously is stressful.

    I do kind of feel for those golfers who took a moral stance and didn’t take the huge bucks and then got completely undercut by Jay Monaghan. What was he thinking? His product is those golfers and he just chopped them off at the knee.

    I will never understand rich people. They are not smarter than the rest of us. They are just more sociopathic than the rest of us.

  20. 20.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 5:04 am

    As long as the Saudis stay out of pickleball, I’m good.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    June 8, 2023 at 5:06 am

    @sab:

    I will never understand rich people. They are not smarter than the rest of us. They are just more sociopathic than the rest of us.

    Sounds like you understand most of them

    Quite well in fact.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 5:19 am

    @JWR:

    Something, something, about who the rule of law protects and who it binds.

  23. 23.

    sab

    June 8, 2023 at 5:21 am

    @Baud: Lol. My little neighborhood needs to convert its unused single tennis court into a pickleball court. Lived here 20 years and I have yet to see a single tennis game. The basketball court never stops, but the tennis court, meh.

  24. 24.

    gene108

    June 8, 2023 at 5:24 am

    @gene108:

    I wish the media would always ask Pence, who won the 2020 presidential election? Did you and Donald Trump lose to President Biden and Vice President Harris?

    I just want to see the lies he tells to avoid answering it. I wish I could lie as easily as Pence.

  25. 25.

    sab

    June 8, 2023 at 5:35 am

    @Ruckus: I sorta do understand them. In my mis-spent youth my parents made me be a debutante in my godforsaken small midwestern city. My escort at the charity ball was a lovely hilarious not yet out gay guy. My best friend at that point in our lives. He died of AIDS ten years later

    ETA  Even (or especially) life in the boondocks is complicated.

  26. 26.

    JWR

    June 8, 2023 at 5:55 am

    Things got pretty hot yesterday afternoon in BillinGlendale’s back yard.

    Outrage as anti-LGBTQ+ protest at California school board turns violent

    Democratic politicians across California condemned a volatile anti-gay protest outside a suburban Los Angeles school board meeting on Tuesday, as the school board heard public comment on whether to officially designate June as LGBTQ+ Pride month.

    Footage from a local television station showed crowds of people shoving, kicking and throwing punches outside a school district building in Glendale, California.

    Adam Schiff, the Democratic congressman who represents Glendale, shared video of the melee, condemning the “continued acts of violence and hate towards our LGBTQ community” as “horrific”.

    “We will not apologize for celebrating the strength and the diversity of our LGBTQ community,” he wrote on Twitter.

  27. 27.

    BellyCat

    June 8, 2023 at 6:20 am

    Entirely predictable (and unfortunate).

  28. 28.

    BellyCat

    June 8, 2023 at 6:23 am

    @JWR: To be permitted airtime for debates on Fox, candidates must agree to support the nominee. So Pence flips.

  29. 29.

    The Thin Black Duke

    June 8, 2023 at 6:25 am

    Golfers are the greediest and most immoral athletes in the world. Golf is a ridiculous sport that is monstrously damaging to the world ecologically. They deserve each other.

  30. 30.

    VeniceRiley

    June 8, 2023 at 6:33 am

    Whither the LPGA?

  31. 31.

    Geo Wilcox

    June 8, 2023 at 6:37 am

    The dumbest thing the PGA did was to sue people with endless stacks of money. If the PGA had just ignored the whole LIV thing, it would have died away eventually leaving th PGA with the moral high ground. But noooooooo, they poked a huge bear with a big sick. FAFO idiots.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 6:37 am

    All the sand pits will now have oil rigs in them.

  33. 33.

    oatler

    June 8, 2023 at 6:48 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I said something like that about football and got tag-teamed here. As a fan of G&O’s “Sports Go Sports” I think either all sports are silly or none of them are.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 6:56 am

    @JWR:

    Glendale is the porn capital of the country, so it makes sense.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 7:03 am

    Today Show is already promoting next year’s Paris Olympics.

  36. 36.

    The Thin Black Duke

    June 8, 2023 at 7:07 am

    @oatler: Oh sure. As usual, things are complicated, especially the things people decide to invest their time and money into. Still, when I see the images of NY looking like a scene from The Martian and I think about all the real estate golf takes up and the water used to maintain it, I wish humanity would find other means to entertain ourselves that weren’t so self-destructive.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    June 8, 2023 at 7:08 am

    @Baud: There could be geopolitical undercurrents here. Reports are that many of the Glendale protesters against the Pride Month were Armenian Ameriricans. And Turkiye has just banned Only Fans. “Wheels within wheels.”

  38. 38.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 7:20 am

    @Geminid:

    I’m looking forward to the First Human Sexuality War.

  39. 39.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 8, 2023 at 7:23 am

    @Geminid:

    Reports are that many of the Glendale protesters against the Pride Month were Armenian Ameriricans.

    Where have they been for the last 10 years when LGBTQ+ acceptance went mainstream? Why now all of a sudden?

  40. 40.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    June 8, 2023 at 7:28 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: ​
      NY looks more like the opening of “To Live and Die in LA” (photo)

  41. 41.

    Kay

    June 8, 2023 at 7:30 am

    War on Woke is going well:

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has seen his approval rating fall dramatically two weeks after announcing his 2024 presidential bid. According to online polling company Civiqs’ dynamic approval rating graph, DeSantis currently has a net approval rating of negative 19 points, with an average of 55 percent of respondents disapproving of him, compared with 36 percent who have a favorable view of the Republican.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 7:31 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    💵💵💵

  43. 43.

    oatler

    June 8, 2023 at 7:33 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Golf on TV is good-looking because the players are thin and the landscaping is gorgeous, though I agree golf and landscaping are sucking the water tables dry. Kind of an issue in AZ here.

  44. 44.

    The Thin Black Duke

    June 8, 2023 at 7:35 am

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: One of my favorite movies. It’s a superb example of a contemporary neo-noir that subverts the usual tropes.

  45. 45.

    JWR

    June 8, 2023 at 7:38 am

    @Baud: Whatever it is, (prurient interests aside, natch), these “grassroots” events are going on all over SoCal this week, and they’re getting big coverage on the local news.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    June 8, 2023 at 7:41 am

    Bloomberg Law
    @BLaw
    NEW: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas received a 90-day extension for his 2022 financial disclosure report, according to the administrative office for the federal judiciary.

    Bloomberg Law
    @BLaw
    ·17h
    As he has in the past, Justice Samuel Alito also received an extension, according to the administrative office for the federal judiciary.
    The other justices filed their disclosure reports.

    The two furthest Right and most scolding, complaining and unforgiving justices just blow past deadlines, because rules are for little people.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    June 8, 2023 at 7:43 am

    @JWR:

    Are they reporting that the violence is being ginned up by members of the Proud Boys, or that the same “parent protestors” show up at each event? Because surely that should be in the story. There’s video- all they have to do is watch it.

  48. 48.

    Mousebumples

    June 8, 2023 at 7:43 am

    @Kay: The two furthest Right and most scolding, complaining and unforgiving justices just blow past deadlines, because rules are for little people.

    I’d like to believe Thomas, at least, is actually going to report things, after the outcry, but lololol. I wouldn’t count on it.

  49. 49.

    Tony Jay

    June 8, 2023 at 7:46 am

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:

    The Undead are making their move, sheeple! Get a grip on some wood, touch up your local pastor for a splash of his blessed liquid, and trust no one who’s out of doors in a bedgown, especially not hot, hippie chicks, they’re the absolute worst.

    And whatever you do, ignore that scratching at your window, it might be Rick Scott.

  50. 50.

    TS

    June 8, 2023 at 7:49 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Where have they been for the last 10 years when LGBTQ+ acceptance went mainstream? Why now all of a sudden?

    Don’t have abortion as their launch pad into peoples bodies anymore so looking for another group to attack. Takes peoples minds away from what really makes their lives miserable.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    June 8, 2023 at 7:49 am

    @Mousebumples:

    I genuinely do not understand why they can’t meet these deadlines. If they’re too lazy or too busy or out on yachts or whatever they could hire someone. You can read the form they fill out at the link- this isn’t difficult. They’re just deliberately thumbing their nose at deadlines and rules and they are judges. Thomas regularly orders that people be executed because their lawyers missed a deadline- he orders the client be killed immediately. Missed deadline.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    June 8, 2023 at 7:51 am

    @JWR:

    That’s good, right? Hopefully, more people will see what we’re up against.

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    June 8, 2023 at 8:02 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): There were just a few score protesters at most. There is a movement generally to protest Pride events and my guess is that these protesters were influenced by it, if not directly organized by outsiders.

    I saw pictures and video of the melee on Twitter, and that’s where I saw  protesters identified as Armenian Americans. So this is not a certain identification. Now I am curious though, and will try to find out more through local media. I expect it’s a big story in Glendale.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    June 8, 2023 at 8:06 am

    @JWR: Wow, I kept thinking he would burst into flames.  I have a question for the 10 people who clapped for that answer – how can  you clap for someone who says we shouldn’t indict the guy who committed a million crimes because he’s a former president, and at the same times says he believe in equal treatment under the law?

  55. 55.

    Almost Retired

    June 8, 2023 at 8:10 am

    Horrified but not surprised. The PGA lost me 20 years ago, when they reused to accommodate Casey Martin’s disability with a golf cart, arguing that it would alter an essential function of the game. Yeah. OK.
    Is the essential function of the sport the ability to hit a ball into a hole with a stick? Or is it a sport for endurance athletes? IIRC, he eventually won and the sport survived.

  56. 56.

    Chief Oshkosh

    June 8, 2023 at 8:20 am

    @oatler: Weeeellll…

    Some sports have a greater negative impact on uninvolved people than others. Golf courses take up lots of room, often in areas that need more greenspace available to all (which courses decidedly are not), and out west, lots of water that’s needed for other things.

  57. 57.

    Soprano2

    June 8, 2023 at 9:48 am

    @JWR: Just wow wow wow………”restore rule of law” and “find a way to not indict TFG for the things he did that were against the law” don’t really fit together. They are all really terrified of him, aren’t they?

  58. 58.

    boatboy_srq

    June 8, 2023 at 9:52 am

    Re: Hesky’s tweet: doesn’t LIV take 1-6?

  59. 59.

    Yutsano

    June 8, 2023 at 9:54 am

    If you need any more evidence that golf is destructive and wasteful, look at the number of golf courses around Phoenix, AZ. A place with such a limited water supply doesn’t need that many.

  60. 60.

    artem1s

    June 8, 2023 at 10:33 am

    Well the Bush Crime Family sold out to the Saud’s decades ago. Why shouldn’t the Richie Rich’s think it’s OK to pal around with terrorists and torturers?

  61. 61.

    opiejeanne

    June 8, 2023 at 10:39 am

    @Yutsano: Don’t they use gray water for those courses? By law in California, that water, no matter how clean after going through a treatment plant, can not be added to the available drinking water so they use it for landscaping and as a barrier to keep sea water from entering the water table.

  62. 62.

    OverTwistWillie

    June 8, 2023 at 11:25 am

    Golf has all the usual problems of an analog leisure class activity in the digital age, plus the elitism, sexism, and racism.

    The drop off of in the number of courses and rounds played as Boomers hit the drop zone has been significant. Sales to duffers was a big chunk of the sponsorship dynamics.

    See also: pari-mutuel, where handles went to shit, tracks closed everywhere and Saudi money now props up the top of the line events.

  63. 63.

    KenK

    June 8, 2023 at 11:28 am

    Out of curiosity; how much Saudi $$$ was in Monaghan’s envelope to get him to sell out?

    As an avid golfer, and human, this pisses me off. It looks like my golf viewing is down to USOpen, The Open, Masters and Ryder Cup – all non-PGA run events.

  64. 64.

    Paul in KY

    June 8, 2023 at 11:30 am

    @Steve in the ATL: He won the intertubes that day!

  65. 65.

    Feckless

    June 8, 2023 at 11:45 am

    This is great

    I never ever have to watch golf again f*** all of those people

  66. 66.

    Paul in KY

    June 8, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): They were probably paid.

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