‘Gigantic victory for sportswashing’: old truths will haunt golf’s new dawn

F or nearly two years, the battle for golf’s soul has raged across fairways and in courtrooms, between Middle East and west, oil money and established tradition. But on Tuesday the sport’s bitter civil war came to an abrupt end as the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed rival LIV golf agreed to merge in a deal that was immediately condemned as a “gigantic victory for sportswashing”.

The merger, which came on the same day that Real Madrid’s striker Karim Benzema was unveiled by the Saudi champions Al-Ittihad as their latest star signing, will lead to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, pumping billions of pounds into a new commercial golf venture. But the deal is less about money and more about making a statement. There are no doubts now. Saudi Arabia is a major player in global sport.

It already owns Newcastle United, who qualified for the Champions League last month, and has also staged multiple major events, including Formula One and heavyweight championship boxing. This gives it legitimacy – and significant influence – over one of the biggest sports in the world.

The deal was hailed as a victory for golf by both parties with the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, claiming: “After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love. The game of golf is better for what we’ve done here today.”

Donald Trump, whose courses have hosted LIV events, wrote on his social media network Truth Social that it was: “A big, beautiful and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf.”

However, Ben Freeman, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said the Saudis were the clear winners. “This is a gigantic victory for sportswashing,” he said. “In fact, it