Lynch: The Saudi golf boss showed up at the Masters. Most of his players haven't

USA Today

11-04-2025

Lynch: The Saudi golf boss showed up at the Masters. Most of his players haven't
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Golf executives weary of negotiating with the unyielding Yasir Al-Rumayyan can draw comfort from his appearance Friday at the Masters, if only because the head of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund came to the iconic meeting place beneath the oak tree at Augusta National's clubhouse rather than insist the tree be brought to him. His presence meant that LIV had as many executives on site as players near the top of the leaderboard, its new CEO Scott O'Neil having spent a couple of days in the company of the usual habitués of the trough.
It was all enough to inspire one wag to repurpose Verne Lundquist's legendary call: 'Yas ... Sir!'
The diminutive PIF bagman was clad in a sharp business suit, not having yet been granted a jacket in the Pantone 342 shade of green that he reputedly aspires to. Since most patrons lingering by the clubhouse are accustomed to vast wealth and untrammeled power, Al-Rumayyan passed largely unnoticed. He had neither security detail nor retinue, his only employees at hand otherwise engaged trying to make the cut. He chatted amiably with an Augusta National member before retreating upstairs to sit with Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state who was national security advisor at the time of the September 11 attacks, which ample evidence suggests bore the fingerprints of the Saudi government.
Earlier in the day, Al-Rumayyan met with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, according to multiple sources. 'I'm sure this will solve all the problems,' one golf executive wryly noted while standing by the clubhouse, his cynicism owing to extensive business experience with the PIF head and his apparatchiks.
Ridley invited Al-Rumayyan to attend the Masters, presumably as a goodwill gesture to encourage a rapprochement between LIV and the PGA Tour, but since the chairman isn't in the habit of discussing his correspondence, it's unclear when the welcome was extended. It could have pre-dated the February 2o meeting at the White House during which prospects of a settlement soured, or it may have come in the aftermath, a Hail Mary bid to resurrect things. Whether being greeted as a notable at the National is sufficient to soften Al-Rumayyan's stance on deal terms remains to be seen, but even the most optimistic types seem either pessimistic about a deal being reached or increasingly convinced one is not needed.
Informed expectations lean toward talks reaching a conclusion rather than a solution, but with billions of dollars at stake, even the most reticent can be persuaded to pucker up if Al-Rumayyan decides that a little humility could help make that Masters badge a regular perk.
While the boss hobnobbed atop the hill, his hostages — or, if you prefer, the players he recruited — were enjoying mixed results beneath him. Only Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton were within striking distance of the lead as Friday afternoon wore on. Patrick Reed, so often distracted by litigious pursuits, was under par, as were Joaquin Niemann and Bubba Watson.
Others were riding the edge of the cut line, like Dustin Johnson, who finished bogey-double bogey. Sergio Garcia was a stroke farther away from the weekend, while Brooks Koepka sealed his fate with a quadruple bogey eight on the final hole.
Jon Rahm is 17-for-17 in finishing inside the top 10 in LIV events, but his second-round 71 has him tied for 50th, with 50th and ties making the weekend. He won here in 2023 and jumped to the Saudi-funded circuit eight months later. After playing poorly in 2024's majors, he's eager to dispel the notion that he's a worse golfer on LIV than he was on the PGA Tour. His play thus far has done little to aid that cause.
In having to defend his own competitiveness, Rahm is forced to also defend the competitive merits of the tour he's paid to play. That adds a layer of complication he and his colleagues could do without during a major. Twelve golfers began this week with the unspoken understanding that they're playing to promote the credibility of their circuit — well, 11, since Koepka typically declines to play the finger puppet. The other 83 men in the field had no such caveat to carry.
Some of those golfers have become demonstrably worse since they joined LIV, but does that really owe to the source of the paycheck? Or the ease with which it is earned? There are other possible factors for their underperforming in majors recently. They're getting older. They don't work as hard. They've put too many miles on the clock this year with stops in Riyadh, Adelaide, Singapore, Hong Kong and Miami before Augusta. Many of them have played only 15 tournament rounds this year, and three of those were at night under lights. DeChambeau and Hatton were already considered the most relevant of LIV's contingent, so their performances come as no surprise, and are no succor for defenders of LIV's competitive worthiness.
As the second round of the 89th Masters wound down, Al-Rumayyan looked a lot more comfortable with his position at Augusta National than did his players. But then, wasn't that always the endgame?