Longtime PGA Tour Policy Board Member Randall Stephenson Resigns Over LIV Golf Alliance
Citing “serious concerns’’ about the PGA Tour’s proposed agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, longtime PGA Tour policy board member Randall Stephenson resigned his position in a letter dated Saturday.
The Washington Post first reported that Stephenson, a former AT&T executive, had planned to resign on June 12, days after the surprising “framework agreement’’ was announced by commissioner Jay Monahan but waited in the wake of Monahan’s undisclosed health issue which saw him take a leave. He announced Friday he is returning to work on July 17. Sports Illustrated confirmed Stephenson's resignation and obtained a copy of his letter.
Stephenson said the framework of 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,’’ according to the letter obtained by the Post.
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It was sent to fellow policy board members, including chairman Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, who were instrumental in negotiating the terms with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF.
Tour leadership has been attempting to sell the plan to members. A Policy Board meeting was held on June 27 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
The Tour policy board is made up of 10 members, five who are independent directors and five players. Mark Flaherty, the former vice chairman of Wellington Management Company and Mary Meeker, a partner with Bond Capital, are the other independent directors.
The player directors are Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman and Peter Malnati.
According to the Tour, Stephenson will be replaced in accordance with Tour bylaws, which state that the four remaining Independent Directors will select the successor after consulting with the five Player Directors and PGA Director.
McIlroy, like others, was caught by surprise, learning about the deal only a few hours before it was announced. In a news conference at the RBC Canadian Open, McIlroy said: “There's a lot of ambiguity. There's a lot of things still to be sort of thrashed out. But at least it means that the litigation goes away, which has been a massive burden for everyone that's involved with the Tour and that's playing the Tour. And we can start to work toward some sort of way of unifying the game at the elite level.’’
The framework agreement spelled out that the PGA Tour would remain as is as far as its non-profit member organization is concerned, but a new entity to be called PGA Tour Enterprises would be for profit and include the PGA Tour, DP and LIV Golf after an evaluation of assets. Nobody at this point is sure how that will play out.
“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 wrote. “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.’’
The PGA Tour could not be reached for comment Sunday night
On Tuesday, Dunne and PGA tour COO Ron Price are scheduled to testify before a congressional subcommittee that is investigating the proposed alliance between the PGA Tour and the PIF, the main source of LIV Golf funding.