Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of LIV golf, confirmed as distinguished guest at The Open Championship 2023

Chairman of LIV Golf, Yasir Al-Rumayyan is invited to the 151st Open Championship as an R&A (the organizers of the event) main sponsors' guest. He is the governor of the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, also known as the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

As per Telegraph, Al-Rumayyan, who is set to become the chairman of a new golf enterprise after the merger of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the PIF, will be present at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake.

Al-Rummayyan will be reportedly accompanied by Amanda Staveley, who co-owns Premier League side Newcastle United with him.

The PIF chief is an avid golf fan and wanted to gain membership at Augusta and Royal & Ancient Golf Club for a long time. His visit to Royal Liverpool Golf Club could be a step towards the procedure too.

A proposal stated by Amanda Staveley claims Yasir Al-Rumayyan to become the International Golf Federation director. The official statement, as per Golf Monthly reads,

"H.E [His Excellency] Yasir Al-Rumayyan to become a Director of the International Golf Federation and to receive membership at Augusta and the R&A. As part of this, LIV is to review its senior management structure and Board composition."

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Details from the PGA Tour-PIF Senate hearing happened weeks before the Open Championship

The golfing fraternity was in shock after the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the PIF announced a merger to unify and stabilize the game of golf. However, not much was known about the agreement between the three parties until the Senate hearing happened on July 11.

A 276-page document was shared by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that opened up some important points that will be taken into account in the future.

It was revealed that Yasir Al-Rumayyan's PIF will invest over $1 billion in the American golf circuit, the PGA Tour. However, a big revelation came in as the PIF chief was willing to be granted the membership of Augusta and R&A club post the merger.

The PIF proposed Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy own one of the teams in the LIV Golf and play at least 10 events in the league. In addition to this, the PGA Tour is also asked to host two PIF/Aramco-sponsored events every year, out of which one should be played in Saudi Arabia.

Another key point from the meeting was that the PGA Tour's Ed Herlihy shared a letter to PIF's representative Michael Klein to remove Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf and Performance 54, the golf marketing company.

As per Golf Monthly, the letter read,

"The services of Greg Norman and Performance 54 will cease upon the management transition to the PGA Tour contemplated by the Framework Agreement and in any event by no later than one month after."

Finally, the PIF issued a non-disparagement agreement letter that read that the PGA tour members should be barred from using defamatory statements against Saudi Arabia.