PGA Tour policy board’s Randall Stephenson resigns after LIV merger: Can’t ‘in good conscience support’
The PGA Tour’s newfound alliance with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund bothered one PGA Tour policy board member so much that he resigned over the weekend.
Former AT&T executive Randall Stephenson stepped down from his position as a member of the policy board over “serious concerns” that he had with the PGA’s proposed partnership with the PIF, the deep-pocketed backers of rival LIV Golf, the Washington Post reported.
Stephenson, 63, retired from his post as CEO of AT&T in June 2020 and had been a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board since 2012.
Stephenson handed in his resignation in the form of a letter dated Saturday, per the report, and in it wrote that the deal “is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support, particularly in light of the U.S. intelligence report concerning Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.”
The deal in question is the shocking merger that would bring PIF-funded LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and the European tour under one roof.
The PGA Tour made the stunning merger announcement with LIV Golf on June 6, ending the bitter war between the two leagues, but setting off confusion and anger in the golf world.
The agreement between the two parties still has plenty of hurdles to clear including having to be signed off on by the PGA Tour board. It is also the subject of a congressional subcommittee investigation.
Policy board member Jimmy Dunne and PGA Tour COO Ron Price will be questioned by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday.
“I joined this board 12 years ago to serve the best players in the world and to expand the virtues of sportsmanship instilled through the game of golf,” Stephenson said in the letter to his fellow members of the policy board. “I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement.”
Stephenson had also wrote in the letter that he had intended to resign on June 12, which was shortly after the deal became public, but postponed his departure after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan took a leave of absence for unspecified health reasons.
It was also noted that the deal had come about without any oversight by the board.
The PGA Tour policy board consists of 10 members, five players and five independent directors.
Among them are board chairman Ed Herlihy and Dunne, who has been credited with playing a big hand in helping the deal come together between the PIF and PGA Tour.
It will be up to the four remaining independent directors to find a replacement for Stephenson.
They will consult with the five players and PGA of America president John Lindert, who is a non-voting member of the board, on the decision, per the tour’s bylaws.
