Tag: Greg Norman

‘Surely you jest:’ Greg Norman calls out PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan with letter concerning Saudi Arabia-backed golf league

“This is just the beginning. It certainly is not the end,” Norman warned.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The potential Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led golf league isn’t going away.

Despite a chorus of the game’s top players pledging their allegiance to the PGA Tour, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, the league is moving forward.

In a letter sent Thursday to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Norman, the CEO of Live Golf Investments, the group behind the proposed league, said “this is just the beginning. It certainly is not the end.”

“Surely you jest,” Norman began the letter that was released to certain media outlets including Golfweek. “And surely, your lawyers at the PGA Tour must be holding their breath. As has been widely reported, you have threatened the players on the PGA Tour, all of whom are independent contractors, with lifetime bans if they decide to play golf in a league sponsored by anyone other than the Tour.”

Golfweek confirmed Monahan received the letter. At this moment, they have not decided to comment or not.

In a mandatory player meeting Tuesday at PGA National Resort, site of this week’s Honda Classic, Monahan said anyone joining the Saudi league would lose PGA Tour membership.

“I told the players we’re moving on and anyone on the fence needs to make a decision,” Monahan told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “All this talk about the league and about money has been distracting to our players, our partners and most importantly our fans. We’re focused on legacy, not leverage.”

In the letter, Norman said he has fought for the rights of players to fully and properly be rewarded for their efforts.

“Yet for decades, the Tour has put its own financial ambitions ahead of the players, and every player on the tour knows it,” Norman wrote. “The Tour is the Players Tour not your administration’s Tour. Why do you call the crown jewel in all tournaments outside the Majors “The Players Championship” and not “The Administration’s Championship?”

“But when you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you likely are in violation of the law. Simply put, you can’t ban players from playing golf.  Players have the right and the freedom to play where we like. I know for a fact that many PGA players were and still are interested in playing for a new league, in addition to playing for the Tour.

“What is wrong with that? What is wrong with allowing players to make their own decisions about where to play and how often to play? What is so wrong with player choice? Why do you feel so threatened that you would resort to such a desperate, unwise, and unenforceable threat?”

Norman concluded his letter with this: “Commissioner – this is just the beginning. It certainly is not the end.”

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‘I don’t think it’s right’: Jack Nicklaus on potential Saudi-backed golf league; Xander Schauffele also out

Add Xander Schauffele to those publicly pledging allegiance to the PGA Tour’s flag.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The potential Saudi Arabia-backed golf league has been on the receiving end of numerous body blows of late, with many of the game’s stars including Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau publicly pledging their allegiance to the PGA Tour’s flag.

They joined a chorus that already included Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka.

Add Xander Schauffele to the list.

“My allegiance to the PGA Tour, my belief in positive changes at the verge of being implemented as the PGA Tour, in particular when it comes to shared intellectual property rights, size of purses and overall transparency, never wavered,” Schauffele posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

And Jack Nicklaus weighed in as well.

In a function ahead of the Honda Classic earlier this week, Nicklaus was asked about the league led by his good friend, Greg Norman.

“(The PGA Tour’s) brought millions and millions of dollars to communities, it’s brought great competition, great television,” Nicklaus said. “Why would I not support that? Instead, I’m going to go support for my own benefit, see 40 guys break away from the PGA Tour at the whim of an advertising agency in Saudi Arabia? What happens to the other guys?

“I just don’t like it. I don’t think it’s right.”

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Memo from Greg Norman says PGA Tour engages in ‘egregious acts of bullying’, can’t legally ban players

LIV Golf Investments has confirmed that a letter was sent by Greg Norman to players about the rival league.

LIV Golf Investments has confirmed to Golfweek the delivery of a letter and accompanying seven-point memo sent by Greg Norman to some professional golfers and their agents last week.

Labeled as private and confidential, the letter starts by insisting that the PGA Tour cannot ban golfers who play in a proposed Saudi Golf League, calling such attempts “utterly impermissible under competition and other laws.”

The letter goes on to explain how the LIV Golf team is interested in such things as a “collaborative outlook” and sharing “how our vision and operation will enhance the game” while accusing the PGA Tour of being unwilling to “entertain constructive dialogue for the betterment of the game and stakeholders across all sectors, particularly players.”

The letter, signed by Greg Norman, LIV Golf Investments,
CEO & Commissioner, also talks about how there are “noted antitrust lawyers” available for anyone with questions.

The letter concludes with: “Finally, you should know that LIV Golf Investments is on the side of the players. None of us should stand for these egregious acts of bullying by the PGA Tour.”

Along with the letter is a seven-point list entitled “PGA Tour Cannot Ban Players Who Join LIV GOLF”. Items on this list include:

  • The PGA Tour Would Violate The Antitrust Laws Were It To Ban Players
  • Antitrust Law Violations Carry Severe Consequences For the PGA Tour
  • Permanently Banning Golfers Will Diminish the PGA Tour’s Product
  • The PGA Tour Would Violate Its Non-Profit Purpose Were It To Ban Players
  • The PGA Tour Would Violate Its Own Regulations Were It To Ban Players
  • The PGA Tour Will Likely Crumble Under Public Pressure Supporting Players
  • The PGA Tour Would Damage Its Relationship With Its Members to Permanently Ban Golfers

Comments by Phil Mickelson that recently came to light also addressed the non-profit status of the PGA Tour.

“The Tour is supposed to be a nonprofit that distributes money to charity. How the (hell) is it legal for them to have that much cash on hand? The answer is, it’s not,” Mickelson told the Fire Pit Collective, among many other things.

The letter and the seven-point memo were sent to Golfweek by LIV Golf Investments after “it was leaked” to other media outlets.

Golf Channel reported on Tuesday during a players meeting ahead of this week’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan didn’t use the words “lifetime ban” but did point players in the direction of the door if anyone was having thoughts of leaving for the breakway rival league.

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Shark: New ESPN 30 for 30 film to focus on Greg Norman and the 1996 Masters

How the Masters shaped Greg Norman’s legacy, for better or worse.

Greg Norman has dominated the headlines over the last year for his work with LIV Golf Investments to start the Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League. That said, an upcoming documentary on the 20-time PGA Tour winner and two-time major champion will instead focus on how one day at the Masters in 1996 shaped his career.

“Shark”, the latest film in ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 series, will debut at 8 p.m. ET on April 5 from directors Jason Hehir and Thomas Odelfelt. The film will be made available on ESPN+ immediately after the premiere.

“There are places in sports that have such a mystique that they can forever shape the way we remember an athlete. Augusta National is one of those places,” said Hehir, who also worked on popular documentaries The Last Dance and The Fab Five. “Greg Norman is by any objective measure one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game. Two-time major winner, 331 weeks at world No. 1, leading money winner in PGA history pre-Tiger, one of the few indelible players of his era. But despite all his success, he’s perhaps remembered most for his failure at the Masters, particularly his excruciating collapse on final Sunday in 1996. I was excited for the opportunity to tell the story of one man’s career through the prism of such a sacred site, and to examine the power of one place to mold a man’s legacy, for better or worse.”

Previous golf 30 for 30 films and shorts include “Hit It Hard” about John Daly (2016), “Tiger Hood” on New York City street golf (2016) and “The Arnold Palmer” on the drink, not the player (2012).

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Rory McIlroy tabs the Saudi Golf League ‘dead in the water,’ asks ‘Who else have you got to fill the field?’

It’s been another disheartening Sunday for Greg Norman.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – It’s been another disheartening Sunday for Greg Norman.

The Hall of Fame golfer, who is leading the efforts behind the upstart Saudi Golf League, is renowned for blowing several majors on Sundays. This time, he suffered a setback of a different sort when both Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson announced their allegiance to the PGA Tour in the ongoing power struggle for control of the professional game.

Rory McIlroy suggested that the strong support for the Tour this week from many of the biggest names in golf is a death blow to the Saudi Golf League.

“Who’s left? Who’s left to go? I mean, there’s no one. It’s dead in the water in my opinion. Yeah, I just can’t see any reason why anyone would go,” McIlroy said.

DeChambeau, who was reportedly offered at least $150 million, was expected to become the face of the Tour among the 40-and-under set. He posted a message on social media not long after Johnson had the PGA Tour’s communication staff tweet on his behalf. McIlroy said he didn’t know where DeChambeau stood until he finished his final round at the Genesis Invitational.

“No one really knew where Bryson stood,” McIlroy said. “I was really glad to see DJ and Bryson put out those statements this week. We all want to play against the best players in the world and they’re certainly two of the best players in the world and it’s nice to know that they’re committed to playing here and committed to making this the best tour in the world.

McIlroy also aimed a few arrows at Norman and his leadership team.

Genesis Invitational 2022
Rory McIlroy looks on from the third green during the second round of the 2022 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)

“I knew the way these guys have operated and it’s all been smoke and mirrors and they’ve created rumors and spread rumors and tried to play one guy off another and said one thing to one manager and said a different thing to another manager and just sort of created this chaos and confusion around that group, and everyone’s questioning everyone else’s motives so they’re just kind of playing everyone off one another. I think it’s nice now that we all can sit down and say, look, we’re all on the same page here,” he said.

“Are there things the Tour could do better and they’re working on, of course, but that’s the same in any business, in any sports league around the world, they’re all trying to get better, just as the PGA Tour are. But that is why the tournament in Saudi happened a couple weeks ago, I thought it was awfully quiet, there were no announcement that were really made, and I think once that happened everyone was waiting for something and nothing really came of it.”

McIlroy added, “I would say don’t try to fix something that’s not broken. I don’t think that the Tour and the system is broken.”

He also noted that failure to get the support of Tiger Woods was a critical failure.

“The epicenter of the professional world still revolves around Tiger, he is the epicenter, and if they don’t have him,” McIlroy said, it didn’t have a leg to stand on. “Like who knows when he’s going to play again, but if they don’t have his blessing even, it’s got no chance. Then roll in Jon Rahm, the best player in the world, Collin Morikawa, No. 2, me who’s been up there for a while, everyone else, I mean, yeah.”

In addition to blasting Norman, McIlroy saved some choice words for Phil Mickelson, who was quoted by Alan Shipnuck in a story on the Fire Pit Collective as being in cahoots with the Saudis in order to leverage as much as possible and overhaul the Tour’s structure.

“I don’t want to kick someone while he’s down obviously, but I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant,” McIlroy said. “It was just very surprising and disappointing, sad. I’m sure he’s sitting at home sort of rethinking his position and where he goes from here.”

So, too, may be Norman, and McIlroy delivered one more pot shot to him.

“Who else have you got to fill the field?” McIlroy said of the Saudi Golf League events. “I mean, Greg Norman would have to tee it up to fill the field. Like, I mean seriously? I mean, who else is going to do it? I don’t think they could get 48 guys.”

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Patrick Cantlay chose Pebble Beach this week, but remains curious observer of potential Saudi Arabia-backed rival league

“I think with the amount of money they’re talking about it’s always very tempting. I think it’s tempting for everybody.”

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – To play in the Saudi International or the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am?

Patrick Cantlay is at Pebble Beach.

The world No. 4, reigning FedEx Cup champion, and PGA Tour Player of the Year said ahead of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that he was approached to play in the conflicting event in the Middle East that is paying appearance fees reaching seven figures to some players.

More than 20 players were granted releases from the PGA Tour to play in Saudi Arabia but had to agree to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at least once in the next two years. Cantlay doesn’t have to have his arm squeezed to play Pebble.

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world. I love the Monterey Peninsula and I love Pebble Beach and so every time I’m here I feel lucky and no different this week,” said Cantlay, who has two top 10s including a tie for third last year in five starts at Pebble. “I love California golf, and this is the epitome of California golf and so I think it’s great and I definitely feel at home. Greens that are for the most part traditional and very severely sloped back to front. Poa annua greens and in general the properties are more condensed. There’s less real estate so it feels like the properties are a little older in general and that’s just golf I played growing up in junior golf. Whenever I’m on Poa annua greens at a course like Pebble Beach it feels like I’ve played courses like that my whole life.”

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Patrick Cantlay plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

But Cantlay didn’t slam the door on playing in Saudi Arabia in the future. Nor has he made a definitive decision on a proposed Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led league that would rival the PGA Tour. Norman and LIV Golf Investments have pledged $300 million into the Asian Tour with 10 new events.

The league, which would be based on team competition, would offer hundreds of millions more in guaranteed purses.

LIV Golf Investments is backed by the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund. Saudi Arabia has been harshly criticized for its human rights record and the country is among the top executioners in the world; people are put to death annually, some in public beheadings.

“I think with the amount of money they’re talking about it’s always very tempting. I think it’s tempting for everybody. And to deny that would be, you know, maybe not true,” said Cantlay, who has two wins and two other top 10s in his last four PGA Tour starts. “I think it’s a complicated thing and I don’t think there’s an easy answer. I think there’s two sides to every coin and if people want to be more interested in golf and want to put more money into golf, I think that’s a good thing.

“I think it’s tricky because it’s not always in the fashion that people would have expected or wanted, and I would say at this point I’m definitely a curious observer as to see what happens and who decides to play.”

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Especially if a certain number of the world’s best players did join the league.

“I think definitely there’s a want of the best players in the world to play against the other best players in the world,” Cantlay said. “It’s a complicated equation. I wouldn’t be surprised if people’s tune changed quick if the best players, if a majority of the best players in the world wanted to play anywhere. Because if they did, I think there’s a real desire of the most competitive people out here to play against the best players in the world almost no matter what.

“But more of my point was, it almost doesn’t matter who or what or where or how, if the best players in the world, a large percentage of them are playing, and the stakes are high and like all of them are there and I’m not there, I’m going to be disappointed, because that’s exactly what I want to be doing.”

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Asian Tour gets big boost from LIV Golf Investments, fires shot at DP World Tour by announcing first event in Europe

“This is just the start for us,” said Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf Investments.

LIV Golf Investments announced another $100 million investment into the Asian Tour as well as the first few events of its newly launched International Series, beginning in March.

“This is just the start for us,” said Greg Norman CEO of LIV Golf Investments. “The 10-event series we’ll be starting off is just the beginning. It’s the beginning of an exciting new journey.”

The International Series will debut in Thailand at Black Mountain Golf Club from March 3-6 and include stops in England, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong and will feature prize purses ranging from $1.5 to $2 million per event.

The announcement of a tournament staged in London at Centurion Club from June 9-12 and offering a $2 million purse marks the Asian Tour’s first foray into Europe and will be played not far the headquarters of the DP World Tour. Asian Tour CEO Cho Minh Thant downplayed the move as a formal attack on its former partner.

“If you look at the way the other tours are operating, as well, there’s instances where the PGA Tour plays in Asia. There’s instances where the DP World Tour is trying to or playing in Asia as well,” he said. “Obviously, there’s no boundaries anymore in the world of golf.”

“The International Series is not going to be geo-fenced,” Norman added. “Just because the International Series is associated with the Asian Tour, we want to get the message out there that it’s just not specifically for the Asian region, and that’s critically important for everybody to understand. Healthy competition and respectful competition should be spread globally.”

The second half of the year will see stops in Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia before heading to the Middle East and then culminating in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Due to COVID-19 restrictions still in place in those countries, dates and sites for these events will be announced at a later time.

LIV Golf Investments also bumped its commitment to invest in the Asian Tour from $200 million to $300 million.

“In a nutshell, what have we really done? We’ve identified a new opportunity out of a lost opportunity,” said Norman, who called the Asian Tour a “sleeping giant.” “It’s because we believe in the players. We believe in the partners that we’re associated with, the Asian Tour. We believe in the future of where the game of golf can go.”

Each of the 10 events will be broadcast live across the globe, with plans to attract an international field of headline talent.

In October, Norman was announced as CEO of LIV Golf Investments. PIF, which operates on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia and ranks as one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, is the majority shareholder in LIV Golf Investments.

The announcement comes on the eve of the Asian Tour’s new season with the $5 million PIF Saudi International starting this Thursday at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. The field is comprised of six of the top 20 players in the world competing – including Americans Dustin Johnson, the 2019 and 2021 champion, and Bryson Dechambeau – as well as over 50 of the Asian Tour’s most prominent players and represents the strongest field in the history of the Asian Tour. The tournament, which is not part of the International Series, also offers one of the Asian Tour’s most lucrative purses.

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Check the yardage book: Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Grande Lakes for the PNC Championship

Tiger Woods and 19 other pros will play with family members at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Grande Lakes – site of this week’s PNC Championship – was designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2003 less than 10 miles from Walt Disney World.

After pro-ams Thursday and Friday, 20 teams will compete in the tournament proper Saturday and Sunday. Originally named the Father-Son Challenge, the current format includes pro golfers partnered with either a parent or child. The main attraction will be the return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf as he pairs with son Charlie less than a year after a single-car crash in California left the 15-time major champion with significant injuries.

Grande Lakes will play at 7,122 yards with a par of 72 for the pros. Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Investments hires two female executives to leadership team

While no players have joined the new golf venture, the leadership team continues to grow.

On Wednesday LIV Golf Investments, the new golf entity backed by the Public Investment Fund which operates on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia, announced Monica Fee as its Senior Vice President, Global Head of Partnerships and Lily Kenny as Head of Strategy.

“I am very pleased to welcome Monica and Lily to LIV Golf Investments to help lead our company’s ambitious plans to expand our global corporate presence and grow the game of golf around the world,” said Sean Bratches, Chief Commercial Officer of LIV Golf Investments. “This is an exciting time for all of us as we grow our team, and the appointments of Monica and Lily is the latest show of force of how we are strengthening the commercial arm of the business.”

Fee, a former Property Sales Agent at CAA Sports, will work to identify key partners “to grow the sport of golf across the world.”

“I look forward to bringing my creativity and sponsorship expertise to the LIV Golf Investments team, helping to grow the game and link leading brands to a new global sports property,” said Fee. “It is an honor to join Sean’s team and be part of something truly groundbreaking in the world of sport.”

“The game of golf has immense potential for growth, and I am eager to leverage my expertise and tap into the game’s true potential,” said Kenny, who previously worked with Amazon.

Opinion: Let ‘grow the game’ die of shame at the Saudi International

No players have committed to play for the new venture, largely criticized as a way for the Saudi government to “sportswash” its controversial human rights record. According to LIV Golf, the PIF is its majority shareholder and is, “one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with a diverse international investment portfolio.” The fund’s chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of Saudi Arabia’s king.

Despite the lack of player support at this time, LIV Golf Investments is putting together a C-suite of industry executives with deep experience.

Will Staeger, who has worked with sports brands like ESPN and WWE, is the group’s new Chief Media Officer. Former PGA Tour rules official Slugger White joined as Vice President of Rules & Competition Management. Bratches, also a former ESPN executive, was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer. Ron Cross, who spent 30 years between the PGA Tour and Augusta National, is the Chief Events Officer. Atul Khosla, who most recently served as the chief corporate development and brand officer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was hired last week as LIV Golf’s Chief Operating Officer.

The new golf venture has previously announced its intention to begin competition in the spring of 2022.

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Lynch: Let golf’s catch-all cliché—’grow the game’—die of shame at the Saudi International

The phrase is a one-size-fits-all banality to justify unconscionable money-grubbing.

As a working rule, press conferences by PGA Tour players are seldom fertile ground for philosophical treatises, but even against that beggarly standard Bubba Watson managed to produce a veritable bingo card of bullshit in which no box went unchecked.

Watson was speaking at the QBE Shootout, the title of which is now off-brand since its host, Greg Norman, went to work for a regime that prefers bonesaws to bullets (the “QBE Dismemberment” would be a tough hospitality sell). The two-time Masters champion—Watson, obviously, not Norman—was addressing his intent to compete at February’s Saudi International. More out of credulousness than chicanery, I suspect, Bubba delivered as upbeat and varied an explanation as seems possible from a man abetting the normalization of a merciless regime.

He cited his love of travel (a revelation to those who recall his previously voiced disinterest in France and the British Isles), the Saudi financing for women’s golf, helping tourism in the region, the beautiful beaches, a desire to see God’s (his, not theirs) creation and charity.

“They’re trying to change,” he said earnestly of his hosts. It was, he added, all about “trying to grow the game.”

More: Lefty, Bryson highlight loaded field for 2022 Saudi International

There must have been a time—back when motives were pure and goals were ambitious—that the phrase “grow the game” communicated sincerity and credibility. Perhaps there are instances where that’s still the case, but they are scarce. “Grow the game” has become a one-size-fits-all banality that is destitute of genuine meaning, used instead to promote product and, increasingly, to justify unconscionable money-grubbing.

Consider just a few of the causes in service of which “grow the game” has been marshaled: sports gambling, technology, the Olympics, equipment advances, shorter courses, longer drives, quirkier formats, snazzier apparel, made-for-TV tedium, social-media sniping, diversity and inclusion. From the First Tee to Topgolf to Top Tracer, it is the exhausted slogan of first resort.

When people says “grow the game,” they usually mean grow revenue, and they always mean their own revenue. That context is important. It guarantees that anyone who dismisses “grow the game” as marketing guff will be tut-tutted for negativity, and it persuades others to dish the same dung in case one day it’s their revenue that demands this gossamer-thin veil of nobility.

What has been a steady stream of insincerity about growing golf will surge into a tsunami when Watson and his peers pitch up in King Abdullah Economic City for the Saudi International, pending permission from the PGA Tour. It promises to be a week when professional golfers eagerly slobber about “growing the game” but prevaricate when asked about the human rights abuses of their benefactors. Ever the pioneer, Norman has been busy forging a path for those who will follow.

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After recently equating the historical legacy of racism in America with the atrocities currently being committed by his employer, the Great White Pilot Fish tackled gender issues in comments to Golf Digest.

“Women’s rights issues—the women there now, I’ve been so impressed,” he said. “You walk into a restaurant and there are women. They’re not wearing burkas.”

Norman went on to reject criticism of the Saudi government by anyone who has not been there to see things for themselves, an evidentiary requirement that one presumes would have silenced contemporary critics of Nazi genocide because they hadn’t personally inspected Auschwitz. He added that he himself has been going to Saudi Arabia on truth-finding missions for three years, since right around the time the regime hired him to design a golf course.

The extent to which Norman has been willing to abase himself is disappointing, but it’s unsurprising that his every utterance in defense of his disgrace is littered with the painfully familiar platitude. “I always wanted to grow the game of golf on a global basis. Always, always,” he said.

This association alone ought to be sufficient for self-respecting people to forswear its usage. If an aspirational catch-all is required, try “Better the game,” a more individual and granular goal, one not yet compromised by gasbags and geopolitics. One way to start bettering this game: don’t enlist it in an odious campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of an oppressive government.

If the Saudi International is to contribute one welcome change in service of golf, let it be the week when the wretched cliché about “growing the game” finally dies, albeit of shame.

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