The LIV Golf Invitational Series is holding its second event this week but there are several people in the Portland, Oregon, area who aren’t exactly welcoming Greg Norman’s breakaway tour with open arms.
According to a story by the Associated Press, the North Plains, Oregon, mayor, as well as officials from surrounding cities, have written Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s owner, Escalante Golf, expressing some concerns. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is also speaking out against the tournament.
“We oppose this event because it is being sponsored by a repressive government whose human rights abuses are documented. We refuse to support these abuses by complicitly allowing the Saudi-backed organization to play in our backyard,” said a letter signed by North Plains Mayor Teri Lenahan and 10 other mayors from nearby cities.
Wyden accuses the Saudi government of “sportswashing”.
“It’s just a page out of the autocrats’ playbook covering up injustices by misusing athletics in hopes of normalizing their abuses,” he said.
John Canzano, a longtime Oregon-based sports journalist, wrote two weeks ago that about 20 members quit the club. The head pro also resigned, although it’s unclear if it’s due to the pending LIV Golf event.
“A lot of members are like stuck between a rock and a hard place right now where politically they don’t agree with it at all,” Pumpkin Ridge member Kevin Palmer told the AP. “But I also joined last year and put down like $12,000, and if I leave I don’t get any of that money back.”
The Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit has its detractors for several reasons, key among them Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, including the murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In Oregon, however, there also is anger over the hit-and-run death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart in 2016. The AP story states:
Saudi student Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah was facing a trial on first-degree murder charges when he removed a tracking device and vanished. U.S. authorities believe the Saudi government helped arrange for a fake passport and provided a private jet for travel back to Saudi Arabia. The case was featured on “60 Minutes.”
“It’s wrong to be silent when Saudi Arabia tries to cleanse blood-stained hands, in the fight for Oregonians to get justice — Fallon Smart was killed very close to our house in Southeast Portland, and the person charged with the crime, a hit-and-run death, was, based on all the evidence, whisked out of the country by the Saudis before he stood for trial,” Wyden said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The city of Portland is known as a hot spot for activism and protests and residents are expecting more this week but fans who buy tickets will be prohibited from displaying any political signs.
Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson are the headliners of the circuit but the Portland event will mark the LIV Golf debuts of Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Abraham Ancer, who all defected from the PGA Tour after the first event in London.
There will be 48 players in the field competing for $20 million in prize money. There is also a team aspect which can earns players even more money. Charl Schwartzel pocketed $4,750,000 for winning the London event.
PGA Tour players who competed for LIV Golf have been suspended by the PGA Tour. Some of them voluntarily gave up their PGA Tour membership.
The LIV Golf Portland event, which will feature three rounds, 54 holes and no cut, is is June 30-July 2. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Illinois is June 30-July 3.
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, about 18 miles north of Portland, was the site of Tiger Woods’ third straight U.S. Amateur victory in 1996. Hilary Lunke won the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge.
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