Tag: Christine Brennan

Brennan: Saudis getting latest laugh as Masters officials allow LIV golfers to help with sportswashing scheme

Augusta National Golf Club was pleased to display a photo of its Masters Champions Dinner on Tuesday. Others were too.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National Golf Club was very pleased to display a photo of its Masters Champions Dinner Tuesday night on social media for all the world to see. Thirty-four men in green jackets, decades worth of Masters champions surrounding club chairman Fred Ridley, all of them smiling for the camera enjoying a celebration of the most famous brotherhood in golf.

You know who else was especially thrilled to see that photo spreading across the globe?

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the mastermind of the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, as well as his golf-bro buddies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the nation responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States nearly 22 years ago and the abysmal human rights violations against women and the LGBTQ community in particular to this day.

Six men who left the world of real golf tournaments to go into business with bin Salman and the Saudis in exhibition-style LIV Golf were conspicuously present in that photo: Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel. They were interspersed with golfers they have been fighting and arguing with for months, if not face to face, certainly in interviews, on social media and in the occasional legal document.

But all apparently is forgiven now. This was a picture of happiness, of harmony, of guys who all appeared to be friends again. This was Augusta National, the public face of golf, the best-known club on earth, welcoming bin Salman’s boys with open arms.

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It also was a picture of something else: Sportswashing. That photo is the textbook definition of the word. By allowing the six Masters champions who escaped to LIV, and the 12 other LIV golfers who met the qualifications to be in the 88-player field, Augusta National has done something both historic and repulsive: it is legitimizing, even dignifying, LIV Golf.

In one photo, it has given the Saudis and LIV Golf much more than they ever could have hoped for when they set off to careen through the staid game of golf. It has not only given LIV Golf a publicity shot for the ages. It has given the silly, no-cut circuit an undeniable sign of respect.

I asked Ridley about this Wednesday morning at his annual press conference. My question: “Back in December you used the words, “Regrettably … diminishing the virtues of the game and the meaningful legacies of those who built it,” and you said you were “disappointed,” presumably because of the golfers who left their jobs and went into business with the Saudis responsible for 9/11, the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi and terrible, abysmal human rights violations.

“So now they are here, obviously. You have 18 here. The picture last night was six of them (at the Champions Dinner). Are you at all concerned that you are actually helping the Saudis sportswash because of their joy in seeing a picture like that last night? Are you helping them actually sportswash their reputation?”

Ridley’s reply: “Let me go back – let me go back to our statement – that was a long question, Christine, but I’ll try to start from the beginning.

Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament Fred Ridley speaks to members of the media in a pre-event press conference ahead of a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club, Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

“Our statement in December, and particularly the comment that these actions had diminished the virtues of the game, I want to make a couple points. The first is I know many of these players who are no longer on the PGA Tour. Some of them I would consider friends. So anything I might say is not a comment, a personal comment, against their character or anything else.

“What I was trying to point out, and I alluded to it in my comments, the platform that these players have built their careers on were based on the blood, sweat and tears of their predecessors, people like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods.

“I had the privilege of being a member, a partner in a law firm that’s 180 years old, and we exist today because of many generations of lawyers who thought it was important to leave our organization better than they found it. So this is just my personal opinion. Doesn’t mean that everyone has to think this way.

“So my comment in December was really more that I was expressing some disappointment that these players were taking the platform that had been given to them – that they rightly had earned success on, by the way – and moving to another opportunity, perhaps not thinking about who might come behind them.

“As relates to your comment about sportswashing, I certainly have a general understanding of the term. I think, you know, it’s for others to decide exactly what that means. These were personal decisions of these players, which I, you know, at a high level, don’t necessarily agree with, but it really wasn’t intended to go beyond that.”

Terry Strada, the national chair of 9/11 Families United whose husband Tom was killed in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, was watching Ridley’s press conference from her Florida home after appearing at a press conference of her own Tuesday in Atlanta to protest Ridley’s decision to allow LIV golfers into the first men’s major tournament of the year. Strada and Ridley also had a private conversation on the phone Monday, Strada said.

“What Mr. Ridley fails to understand is his actions cause real pain to real people,” Strada said Wednesday afternoon in a text message. “By insinuating there is no issue with the Saudi-backed sportswashing entity because the boys are all partying together is disingenuous.

“Last week, I wrote a letter to him highlighting why it is problematic for the 9/11 community to give the Saudis and LIV Golf an international platform and certainly expected he would acknowledge the issue and not pretend it doesn’t exist. On Monday, we had a candid conversation on the phone on the Saudis’ goal of sportswashing. Then, today in his press conference, he completely dismissed the 9/11 community’s position by acting like, hey, if they’re all having fun, I’ve done nothing wrong by having them here.”

In the last year, the Saudis have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps as much as $1 billion, to buy golfers who they hoped would help the world forget all about their atrocities. It looks like they got their money’s worth with one simple, iconic photo at Augusta National.

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Brennan: Greg Norman’s comments show he’s become despicable epitome of unabashed greed

If we as a society have any sense of collective outrage left in us, Norman as a pitchman should be finished. Done. Gone.

A long time ago, Greg Norman was a very good golfer with a flashy nickname who was best known for losing major tournaments in the worst way possible.

Today, he is something else entirely: the despicable epitome of unabashed greed, a man apparently with neither soul nor conscience who just uttered one of the most reprehensible sentences ever heard in the world of sports.

As he fielded questions about the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Wednesday at a media day for his Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London next month, Norman said this:

“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

That’s the quote, word for word, according to The Times of London. “We’ve all made mistakes,” Norman, 67, said about the country and the man — his business partner — who ordered the kidnapping and assassination of another human being.

Human rights organizations and intelligence services have said that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman sanctioned the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. Bin Salman is chairman of the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund. That fund is bankrolling Norman’s LIV Golf.

If we as a society have any sense of collective outrage left in us, Norman as a pitchman, figurehead and aging public figure should be finished. Done. Gone.

His golf tour funded by Saudi blood money should join him. Finished. Done. Gone.

Dec 11, 2020; Naples, FL, USA; Greg Norman greets players on the first hole during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburon Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Chris Tilley-USA TODAY NETWORK

Any golfer who still talks about playing in tournaments on the Saudi series — to date, that’s the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood — should be ostracized and punished for their selfishness and arrogance. Any sponsor still hanging onto those players should cut them loose. Finished. Done. Gone. Why not? This is that bad. The golfers know better, yet they cannot stop themselves from wanting to take money from the worst among us.

The Saudi squad of Mickelson, Garcia and Westwood has sought releases from the PGA Tour to play in LIV Golf events. This week, the Tour denied its members permission to play in the London tournament, Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reported.

Mickelson hasn’t played competitively since his Norman-esque comments in February trying to explain why a guy like him would want to join a tour like the one being run by the Saudis.

“They’re scary (expletive) to get involved with,” Mickelson said, according to author Alan Shipnuck. “We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

It was terrible when he said it, but paired with Norman’s comment, it looks even worse now. My goodness, how history will judge these people. Mickelson apologized and disappeared, but his quote speaks for itself in all its cravenness: “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

These multi-millionaires want to be freed from the Tour that has made them so rich so they can get richer being associated with this: On March 12, Saudi Arabia put 81 men to death in a mass execution.

Norman was asked about that by journalists Wednesday in London and answered by saying he didn’t want to be bothered thinking about it.

“I got a lot of messages but quite honestly I look forward,” he said. “I don’t look back. I don’t look into the politics of things. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever else happens in someone else’s world. I heard about it and just kept moving on.”

For decades, Norman was called “The Shark” because of his blond hair, rugged profile, aggressive play and Australian roots. It always seemed like the perfect nickname. And it still is. Just remove “the” and replace it with “a.”

A shark, through and through.

Christine Brennan writes columns on national and international sports issues for USA Today. She’s also a commentator for ABC News, PBS NewsHour and National Public Radio, and the best-selling author of seven books. Click here to see more of her recent work.

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Opinion: Masters with limited attendance becoming a new tradition unlike any other

As Christine Brennan writes, if an outdoor sport, with built-in social distancing, can’t bring back the masses, it’s clear COVID-19 remains.

At the spectator-less November Masters, there was the hope that the 2021 tournament would be able to be played as close to normal as possible, with throngs of golf fans returning to the game’s American mecca.

Those dreams were dashed Tuesday morning when Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, announced that the club “intends to limit attendance” at the April event, employing the bubble-like health and safety standards that were used two months ago for the delayed 2020 tournament.

“With these protocols in place, efforts are being made to include a limited number of patrons, provided it can be done safely,” Ridley said.

When a sport that is played outside, with built-in social distancing, cannot bring back the multitudes, the message is clear: COVID-19 rages on. The threat is real. It is real for everyone, especially middle-aged and older golf fans, most of them male. No responsible sports organization can think or say otherwise.

“As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance,” Ridley said. “Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved.”

As devastating as this news is for the local economy, Augusta National’s decision is both a wake-up call and an exhibition of serious and responsible leadership. Even though there are acres and acres of land at the club, and plenty of room to roam, the Masters has prudently decided it just cannot yet safely bring back many of its fans while the world is still in the throes of this terrible pandemic.

It will, however, hold two other signature events prior to the first men’s major golf championship of the year: the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. A “small number” of spectators will be allowed at both, Ridley said. Neither of those events were held in 2020.

All of this means that the 2021 Masters will look quite similar to the 2020 Masters, except that it will be played in the springtime, with the club’s famous azaleas in bloom.

In November, every person who went through the gates at the 2020 Masters – players, caddies, club employees, Augusta National members, the news media – first had to test negative for COVID-19 on site before being allowed in.

Once inside, everyone was required to wear masks in buildings as well as on the course, golfers and caddies excepted. In the opulent press building, meals were carry-out only, while the relatively small number of journalists were socially distanced in the expansive work room.

We now know that it will be 2022 at least before the Masters looks like its old self again. With few fans and no roars erupting around the course this coming April, it will be a tradition unlike any other, now two tournaments in a row.

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Opinion: Masters with limited attendance becoming a new tradition unlike any other

As Christine Brennan writes, if an outdoor sport, with built-in social distancing, can’t bring back the masses, it’s clear COVID-19 remains.

At the spectator-less November Masters, there was the hope that the 2021 tournament would be able to be played as close to normal as possible, with throngs of golf fans returning to the game’s American mecca.

Those dreams were dashed Tuesday morning when Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, announced that the club “intends to limit attendance” at the April event, employing the bubble-like health and safety standards that were used two months ago for the delayed 2020 tournament.

“With these protocols in place, efforts are being made to include a limited number of patrons, provided it can be done safely,” Ridley said.

When a sport that is played outside, with built-in social distancing, cannot bring back the multitudes, the message is clear: COVID-19 rages on. The threat is real. It is real for everyone, especially middle-aged and older golf fans, most of them male. No responsible sports organization can think or say otherwise.

“As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance,” Ridley said. “Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved.”

As devastating as this news is for the local economy, Augusta National’s decision is both a wake-up call and an exhibition of serious and responsible leadership. Even though there are acres and acres of land at the club, and plenty of room to roam, the Masters has prudently decided it just cannot yet safely bring back many of its fans while the world is still in the throes of this terrible pandemic.

It will, however, hold two other signature events prior to the first men’s major golf championship of the year: the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. A “small number” of spectators will be allowed at both, Ridley said. Neither of those events were held in 2020.

All of this means that the 2021 Masters will look quite similar to the 2020 Masters, except that it will be played in the springtime, with the club’s famous azaleas in bloom.

In November, every person who went through the gates at the 2020 Masters – players, caddies, club employees, Augusta National members, the news media – first had to test negative for COVID-19 on site before being allowed in.

Once inside, everyone was required to wear masks in buildings as well as on the course, golfers and caddies excepted. In the opulent press building, meals were carry-out only, while the relatively small number of journalists were socially distanced in the expansive work room.

We now know that it will be 2022 at least before the Masters looks like its old self again. With few fans and no roars erupting around the course this coming April, it will be a tradition unlike any other, now two tournaments in a row.

[vertical-gallery id=778074351]

[lawrence-related id=778083318,778082616,778082075]