The PGA Tour has taken its concerns regarding the new LIV Golf series to the next level.
According to recent reports from CNBC, the PGA Tour has been involved in conversations with the White House regarding its concerns over the Saudi-backed golf organization.
The PGA Tour has reportedly paid DLA Piper, the organization’s longtime law firm, $360,000 over the last year to lobby lawmakers on its behalf. Lobbying efforts began as early as the second quarter of 2021.
Lobbying efforts in 2021 reportedly resulted in a proposed sit-down meeting between a PGA Tour representative and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. — but the PGA Tour declined the meeting.
The LIV Golf series poached some of the PGA Tour’s biggest names, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. The PGA Tour issued bans for all players who decided to defect to the Saudi-backed series.
“We welcome good, healthy competition. The LIV Saudi Golf League is not that. It’s an irrational threat, one not concerned with the return on investment or true growth of the game,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a recent press conference.
The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating whether the PGA Tour engaged in anticompetitive misconduct with these suspensions.