Hypocrisy abounds as Phil Mickelson and other golfers join the Saudi tour
Phil Mickelson hits his tee shot on the fifth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Jan. 26, 2022, in San Diego. Phil Mickelson, the chief recruiter for a Saudi-funded rival league to the PGA Tour, was the last big name to join the 48-man field for the LIV Golf Invitational that starts Friday outside London. It will be Mickelson's first time playing since Feb. 6 at the Saudi International. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File) Credit: AP/Denis Poroy
As big names in golf commit to the new LIV Golf Invitational Series, funded by Saudi Arabia, with the tour’s inaugural tournament beginning Thursday, the outrage machine is justifiably revving up.
Seeing fantastically wealthy athletes help Saudi Arabia “sportswash” its reputation is disturbing. The Middle Eastern nation is putting huge cash behind athletics to divert attention from human-rights abuses including murder.
But condemning athletes for partnering with a close ally of our own government that’s also an important market for legions of Fortune 500 companies, is blindly hypocritical if it’s unaccompanied by fury toward our government and those companies.
The league features an eight-tournament schedule paying out $255 million, funded by the Saudi government's public investment trust.
Appearance fees for top golfers are reportedly in excess of $100 million. Each.
This week’s tourney is outside London. Five will be in the United States, including the season-ender at Trump National Doral. One event each will tee off in Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
Phil Mickelson, the biggest name to leap, is the second-highest money winner in PGA history, with $95 million in earnings that does not include endorsements. It’s estimated he made $46.1 million last year.
But Mickelson was blasted when, in an interview for an upcoming biography, he told author Alan Shipnuck, “We know they killed [journalist Jamal] 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.”
That’s so horrible that several of Mickelson’s sponsors, including accounting firm KPMG, dropped him.
But here is what KPMG’s website trumpets about its Saudi Arabia operations: “KPMG has grown to become one of the largest professional service providers in the Kingdom and currently has a workforce of well over 1,400 across the country, based in Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar.”
And here is what our State Department says about Saudi Arabia on its website:
*Saudi Arabia plays an important role in working toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region and is a strong partner in security and counterterrorism efforts and in military, diplomatic, and financial cooperation.
*Saudi Arabia is the United States’ largest foreign military sales customer.
*The U.S.-Saudi partnership is rooted in more than seven decades of close friendship and cooperation.
PGA players don't have permission to play in the new league, and will lose most PGA playing rights if they do. Even so, Mickelson has been joined in defecting by other successful players.
What they’re doing is despicable. But our nation’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, though fueled by a strategy that seeks stability in the Middle East and containment of Iran, is equally despicable. And our corporate giants’ complicity in the evil that happens there, driven only by profit-seeking, is even worse.
After all, when President Joe Biden travels to Saudi Arabia this summer, hoping to strengthen our relationship with this despotic, murderous government and get more oil flowing to counter shortages caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman won't be playing games.
Columnist Lane Filler's opinions are his own.
Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
