Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PGA Tour’s Saudi disrupter, loves the game and is fiercely loyal to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
which documents the crown prince’s global aspirations. “The line to get in is around the block because they have all the money. The price of oil is very high. And then when that excess profit comes in, a lot of it goes into PIF. PIF is ready to do deals that other sovereign wealth funds are not ready to do — risky things like LIV Golf.”
That’s a critical skill as the kingdom tries to shed its reputation as a repressive regime and as Western executives balance the risks to their brand with the rewards of accessing Saudi capital.“He’s a consummate translator between the corporate West and Saudi Arabia,” Hope said. “He can go between the two worlds really easily. Probably his highest value is his absolute loyalty to MBS, his ability to move between these two worlds.
“If you want to attract the commanders of industry and their families,” Schenker said, “a lot of these guys like to golf.”As he sat on corporate boards and governed the most powerful sovereign wealth fund on the planet, Al-Rumayyan also became part of the leadership of Golf Saudi, which years before LIV existed hosted tournaments in Saudi Arabia with purses and appearance fees that attracted the world’s best players. Al-Rumayyan’s close friend Majed Al Sorour was installed as CEO of Golf Saudi.
Still, it is difficult to determine where Al-Rumayyan’s professional interest in golf ends and his personal obsession with the game begins. While golf holds a unique place in the corporate world, some in his circle believe Al-Rumayyan’s affinity for the game is an equal driver of Saudi Arabia’s investment in the sport.
“I don’t think he has the time or the bandwidth to be that involved with the PGA Tour,” Haykel said. “He has so much else going. I imagine he will want it to be a success. He will just give the big, broad outlines of where he wants it to go. … I can’t see him being a micromanager.”which the PIF poured at least $2 billion into creatingcould be a preview of how he will approach his role chairing the newly formed PGA Tour-LIV board.
“When a decision regarding LIV’s launch date needed to be made, Norman presented options to Mr. Al-Rumayyan and said he was, ‘looking forward to [Mr. Al-Rumayyan’s] direction,’ ” the filing stated.
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