Saudi trip all about cash, not conscience
Golfers content to ignore nation’s transgressions
In the run-up to the 2016 Ryder Cup, a friend of mine sat in a meeting during which a senior official on the American side wondered aloud about the possibility a U.S. team member might take a knee during the ceremonies. It was a laughable notion, as though the official believed Colin Kaepernick were protesting slow play or high taxes — those being the only issues on which PGA Tour players are apt to take a public stand.
That reality was reinforced last week as some of the world’s best golfers competed in the Saudi International, a tournament created solely to cast Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s regime in a positive light. The players received stout appearance fees, which was only fair since they had to navigate awkward questions about war crimes in Yemen and that bone saw murder in Istanbul. The payment was more for performing in the media than on the golf course, and the well-compensated chorus remained steady of voice all week.
“I’m not a politician, I’m a pro golfer,” said world No. 1 Justin Rose.
“I’m not going to get into it,” echoed world No. 2 Brooks Koepka.
“It’s my job to play golf,” offered Dustin Johnson, the world No. 3 who went on to win the tournament.
While not wanting to get into his hosts having Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi dismembered and dissolved in a vat of acid, Koepka did publicly call out Bryson DeChambeau for taking too long to hit the ball. But then DeChambeau wasn’t paying his appearance fee. DeChambeau himself took a moment to doff his cap. “They’re showing us, ‘Hey, we’re a place just as beautiful as the rest of the world,’ so I think it’s amazing what Saudi Arabia and the European Tour are doing,” he said, suggesting that his fee included a BS bonus.
European Tour CEO Keith Pelley defended the Saudi event, saying it was “transformational.” But then a bone saw and a vat of acid can be pretty transformational too. In the absence of standards at the tour, players are left to make their own choices.
Conscientious objecting is a fraught business, of course. Is a golfer who can’t countenance competing in Saudi Arabia because of human rights abuses then obliged to skip the PGA Tour stop in China? How current or egregious or wellpublicized must violations be to warrant a boycott? And what about events staged in countries that arm evil regimes? It’s a fine, blurred line between conscience and compromise.
Almost every sport has produced a seminal figure who advanced a cause of inclusion, to stand up for something greater than themselves, to make a statement when statements desperately needed to be made. Jackie Robinson. Muhammad Ali. Arthur Ashe. Billie Jean King. LeBron James. No golfers though. Protest movements don’t pay appearance fees.
Plenty of those who pitched up to play in Saudi Arabia are engaged in admirable endeavors off the golf course. But that demands only charity, not courage. We’ll have to keep waiting for that golfer with a conscience.
THIS WEEK ON TOUR
Pebble Beach GL, Spyglass Hill GC, Monterey Peninsula GC-Shore, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Thursday-Friday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1-4 p.m. (Channel 5); Sunday, 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m. (Golf Channel); 1-4:30 p.m. (Channel 5).
Pebble Beach will be hosting the U.S. Open this summer for the sixth time. … Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed are in the field, having played last week in Saudi Arabia. Johnson, at No. 3 in the world ranking, is the only player from the top 10 at Pebble Beach. … Phil Mickelson, a four-time winner, has missed only one year since 1995. That was in 2015 when his children were on spring break. — Associated Press