The Kingdom is in the spotlight this week and world opinion doesn’t reflect nicely on Saudi Arabia.
It’s an ongoing PR nightmare in the Land Of Sand And Oil and with this week’s stop on the European Tour, a new term in sports comes to the forefront.
It’s call Sportswashing.
“Sportswashing” is a term used to describe efforts by a nation to disguise and divert attention from its unsavory reputation by hosting high-profile sports events. It’s a tactic commonly used by countries that violate human rights.
And yes, the Saudis have had more than their share of human rights violations.
Yet there is world’s No. 1, Brooks Koepka in the field. Brooksie was more than happy to grab that big fat seven-figure appearance fee from the Saudis. Same for Dustin Johnson, who’s fallen to No. 5 in the world rankings. Yes, D.J. got a pile of Saudi loot as well. There’s more to the American contingent. Phil Mickelson, who has had a hard time making cuts, is showing up for some easy money as is the tour’s infamous villain — Patrick Reed. He’ll probably get lots of support from the spectators over there — they don’t know any better.
There’s even more controversy surrounding The Kingdom. It comes from the whispers that Saudi Arabia could be the money behind the proposed new Premier Golf League. The announcement of that proposed new tour has sent PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan into the “stern warning” mode. He has sent out an email to PGA Tour members warning them about any thoughts of joining the proposed tour, stating that it definitely would interfere with the tour’s FedEx Cup points season and that a player who opts for the new league would most likely lose their PGA Tour membership.
The European Tour hasn’t made a stand yet. It is perfectly happy to put one of its events in Saudi Arabia, despite world opinion. Hey, the European Tour needs all the help it can get — it doesn’t care much who puts up the money.
Regardless of all the bad press, this one will go on. Koepka, Johnson, Mickelson and Reed are allowed to use this as one of their three chances to “beg-off” from a PGA Tour event to play in a conflicting event elsewhere. One player who had a last-second change of heart was Tony Finau. He was scheduled to play but decided to instead, help his family move to Arizona.
Sergio Garcia is back. This is the spot where he went nuts last year, tore up several greens and went ballistic in a sand trap. No worries, all’s forgiven, glad to have you back Sergio.
Yes, this one is “sportswashing” at its best.
Big names getting paid big money to play in the sandbox.
