All eyes on Hollywood at US Open drama arrives in LA

LOS ANGELES : The PGA Tour's stunning decision to welcome in massive investment from Saudi Arabia was a twist straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster so it is only fitting that all the leading characters will be in LA for this week's U.S. Open.

After two years of railing against the Saudi-backed LIV Golf on moral grounds, PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan did a jaw-dropping about-face last week when he announced an alliance with the country's Public Investment Fund despite its human rights record.

Now the spotlight shifts to Los Angeles Country Club (LACC), which will roll out the red carpet even as the thorny issue including potential penalties for golfers who defected to LIV are still being worked out.

"It brings a lot of attention to the game of golf because people have watched this story for so long," Gene Sykes, president of the LACC, told Reuters in an interview.

"It's one more chapter in this complicated and fascinating story. It will be a backdrop."

In some ways, nothing has changed since the bombshell agreement was announced on June 6.

The field of players teeing it off on Thursday is unchanged since the USGA previously said that, like the three other majors, it would allow both PGA Tour and LIV golfers to compete.

But just below the surface, everything is different.

The agreement is widely seen as a win for the Saudis, who have been accused of laundering their reputation for oppressive policies against women, the LGBT community and journalists by getting a foothold into sports.

On the course, the narrative that dominated the past two majors was whether a PGA Tour player or LIV golfer would emerge victorious, and that will presumably be a dead issue now.

But the feuds that broke out between golfers from the rival