Saudi Arabia, ‘sportswashing’ and the future of golf

Phil Mickelson hits his tee shot on the fifth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament in San Diego on Jan. 26, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

By Patricia D'Cunha

Posted June 16, 2022 6:08 am.

In today’s Big Story podcast, last week, LIV Golf held its first tournament, in London. Under normal circumstances, there would be no reason for anyone who isn’t a diehard fan the sport to care. These, however, are anything but normal circumstances.

LIV Golf is backed by a Saudi Arabian fund that invests in projects to help burnish the image of a regime that has a dismal record on human rights. That money has been used to lure away some star golfers, including Phil Mickelson, from the PGA Tour. And when Mickelson found himself defending his decision while asserting publicly that he has “deep, deep empathy” for the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, it became pretty clear something had gone badly wrong somewhere…

GUEST: Donnovan Bennett, Sportsnet

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