This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

It’s called “sportswashing.”

It’s what Saudi Arabia is trying to do by spending billions of dollars to go after the PGA Tour by creating its own series of what I call “golf exhibitions.”

I hope the Saudis won’t win.  I hope the country’s intolerable human rights record will remain in the limelight, no matter how much money is spent to wash it away.

Recently, I have demurred from writing about the challenge to the PGA Golf Tour being orchestrated – and funded – by the Saudi Arabian government.

I demur no longer.

This blog summarizes my comments, which may not mean much, but they are still mine, so I value them, even if no one else does.

The latest development is that, as American players teed off in the first round of an LIV golf tournament overseas Thursday, the PGA Tour reacted immediately.  Emphasis on immediately.

The players who chose to play in the LIV exhibition were informed they had been suspended from the PGA Tour for violating their commitments to that tour.  The suspensions were meted out even to players who had resigned from the Tour.

So, here’s my take.

Point #1:  I have a hard time believing why some players have defected from the PGA Tour, golf’s best playing situation, even after the Tour has done so much for them, even if the PGA Tour is not perfect in its administration.  There is a way to effect change.  It’s to work within the system to prompt improvements, not to defect.

The PGA Tour has huge tradition to ignore.  Or, if the players are new and just getting started, the potential of the PGA Tour is immense, if they play for the love of the game and not just for a financial handout.  Better to acknowledge the legacy of the Tour and try to improve it.

Point #2:  I think players should not just opt for “the money,” as attractive as that may be at first blush.  They should consider the source of that money, which is the Saudi regime and its intolerable human rights record.  It was only a couple months ago that the regime lined up 81 men and summarily executed them by firing squad simply because they disagreed with regime leaders.

In the Washington Post, here’s the way a writer, Barry Svrluga, described the Saudi’s detestable record:

“Left unsaid:  In choosing what’s best for themselves and their families, in providing balance, in pursuing the freedom to play wherever they want, in sustaining their business, the breakaway group of golfers assembling in London this week are articulating clearly they care not an iota where their money comes from.

“This is worth stating and restating:  The money these golfers are guaranteed before they even tee it up Thursday in LIV’s inaugural event, the money they will pursue in purses over the course of the series — it’s blood money.  The investment arm of the Saudi Arabian government provides it all, and the Saudi Arabian government is a murderous regime that killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, that continues to wreak havoc with innocent civilians in Yemen, and that very much wants to use international sports to provide cover for all of it.”

Plus, this from Jay Monahan, CEO of the PGA Tour who – no surprise — is biased in favor of the organization he runs:

“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons.  But they can’t demand the same PGA Tour membership benefits, considerations, opportunities, and platform as you (as he wrote to players who are remaining with the Tour).  That expectation disrespects you, our fans, and our partners.”

And, finally, this from PGA player Rory McElroy who has said he will remain with the PGA Tour:

“Any decision that you make in your life that’s purely for money usually doesn’t end up going the right way.  Obviously, money is a deciding factor in a lot of things in this world, but, if it’s purely for money, it never seems to go the way you want it to.”

Point #3:  Just because some American corporations have made the misjudgment to do business with Saudi Arabia does not provide an excuse for golfers to do so.  It’s wrong for corporations; it’s wrong for golfers.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Point #4:  Just think about the LIV tournaments.  They won’t be tournaments.  They will be exhibitions.  Even golfers who finish last in the 48-man fields will get $120,000.  Guaranteed.  And that comes on top of appearance money.

Point #5:  It is abundantly clear that what the Saudis are doing is “sportswashing,” a relatively new term I used in the lead to this blog and which means that the country is trying to wash away its intolerable human rights record with sports money. 

Here is the way Golf Digest put it:

“The PIF (the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, which, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, has $580 billion in assets) is essentially the financial arm of the Saudi Arabian government, which has been accused of numerous human-rights violations.  

“To improve its reputation, especially to the Western world, Saudi Arabia has heavily invested in various athletic organizations and events, a practice often referred to as “sportswashing.”  This exercise, particularly when used by state-run groups, is considered a form of propaganda to distract the public from its abuses.  The most famous example of sportswashing is when Nazi Germany hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics.”

So, my bottom line, at least for the moment, is that PGA Tour players who have cast their lot with the LIV tour are off my list of favorite players.  That, unfortunately, includes Phil Mickelson.  I will decline to watch their “exhibitions.”

But, forget the to’ing and fro’ing over all this, at least for the moment.  Including my points.

The issue will not be decided until it ends up court. 

The PGA Tour, like any other employer or organization, believes it has the discretion to enact rules of conduct for its members, employees, and independent contractors.  One of the provisions in the PGA Tour Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations is that each PGA Tour member acknowledges the commissioner, the Tour’s Policy Board and the appeals committee have the authority permanently to ban a member from playing in competing events, unless specific permission is granted to play in such events.

And, so, I will choose to watch and support real golf, not LIV, which, to me, is nothing more than sportswashing with blood money.