One of the big winners of the just-announced LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger could be former president Donald J. Trump.
Trump has established significant financial ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the LIV Golf tour — financed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund — has staged several events at Trump-owned golf courses over its two seasons of existence.
Now, with the rival tours in alignment, Trump and his family businesses stand to gain even more prestige, influence and money as a result of the merger. It may ultimately lead to one of his long-sought goals: to have a Trump course host one of the four major championships in men’s professional golf.
How are Donald Trump, his family and LIV Golf connected?
While he was president, Trump maintained especially close ties with Saudi Arabia and its royal family. His first foreign visit after he took office was to Saudi Arabia. He also downplayed the kingdom’s role in the assassination of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, who was highly critical of the Saudi government in his writings.
Shortly after Trump left office in 2021, his son-in-law Jared Kushner struck a $2 billion deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund to finance a new investment firm Kushner created, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported.
The PIF, which also runs LIV Golf, provided the financial backing that allowed the tour to attract top PGA Tour stars with guaranteed contracts totaling $100 million or more and provide tournament payouts approaching $25 million.
This season, LIV Golf scheduled three events at Trump-owned courses:
- May 26-28 at Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C. in Potomac Falls, Virginia.
- Aug. 11-13 at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey.
- Oct. 20-22 at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.
In November, the Trump Organization struck a deal with a Saudi real estate company to build a Trump-branded hotel and golf course as part of a $4 billion resort project in Oman.
How much money is the Trump family making by hosting LIV Golf events?
The Trump family has not said how much they are making from LIV, though Trump characterized the amount as “peanuts” in an interview with reporters last month at the LIV Golf event at his course in Virginia.
“They pay a rental fee,” he said. “They want to use my properties because they’re the best properties.”
According to The New York Times, payments from the LIV Golf tournaments are not included in Trump’s financial disclosure report. That seems to indicate the money goes directly to the individual golf clubs and is considered part of the clubs’ overall revenues.
Is Donald Trump under investigation for his ties to LIV Golf?
A New York Times report earlier this month said the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed the Trump Organization for records regarding LIV Golf and Trump’s ties to the tour.
“I guess they’re doing that because of what’s happening with (President Joe) Biden. That’s their retribution,” Trump said last month in Virginia, without citing any evidence to support his claim. “Because we did nothing wrong. That’s their retribution. That’s the way they try and get even.”
How close has Donald Trump come to hosting a pro golf major?
Actually, a Trump course has hosted a major tournament before: the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. That event was won by Sung Hyun Park of South Korea as Trump became the first U.S. President to attend a U.S. Women’s Open.
Trump National was also selected to host the 2022 PGA Championship, however, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob spurred the PGA of America to reconsider its decision. The tournament was later moved to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Does the LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger increase the chances of a major tournament at a Trump course?
The Trump family has had an eye on hosting a men’s major, especially after buying the historic Turnberry golf resort in southwest Scotland in 2014. The historic Ailsa course (one of three on the property) has hosted the British Open four times — in 1977, 1986, 1994 and 2009.
Trump said last month “everybody wants to see the Open Championship” held at Turnberry, but the tournament’s governing body seems to have other ideas. Officials at the R&A recently told The Telegraph that Turnberry will not be included in the Open rotation as long as Trump is the owner due to the security risks.
The LIV and PGA Tours will operate independently for the time being. However, the head of the Saudi PIF, Yasir al-Rumayyan, will serve as chairman of the board of the new yet-to-be-named entity overseeing the unified golf entity.
His opinions will certainly carry a great deal of weight in every aspect of the tour going forward, including the location of future major tournaments.
Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, Tom Schad
