Controversial in the U.S. and abroad because it is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the LIV Golf Series has hired former Repbuclian Arizona Representative Benjamin Quayle to lobby on its behalf in Washington, D.C.
Quayle, the son of former vice president Dan Quayle, is now a member of the firm Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures and will lobby on “education and issues related to the game of professional golf in the United States and abroad” along with “protecting the rights of professional golfers to play when and where they choose,” according to Politico. Rashid Hallaway, a former legislative assistant, will with Quayle work on the account.
Elected in 2010, the younger Quayle lost his bid for a second term in office in 2012 in a very competitive Republican primary in a newly drawn congressional district that encompassed parts of Phoenix and Scottsdale, per The New York Times.
“HHQ Ventures is proud to advocate on LIV Golf’s behalf and is aligned with its mission to modernize and grow the game of golf on a global basis,” Hallaway said in a statement.
Known as the Public Investment Fund, the fund that finances LIV Golf is overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Many consider the money in the PIF to be blood money due to the fact that U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed that top Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, were responsible for the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite LIV’s direct link to Saudi Arabia, the lobby registration filing was made under the Lobbying Disclosure Act instead of to the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
It’s worth noting that the PGA Tour, the chief rival of LIV, has been speaking to White House officials and congressional lawmakers about its concerns about the Saudi-backed series since last year. Over that time period, the PGA Tour has paid $360,000 to the firm DLA Piper to lobby lawmakers on their behalf for topics including “Saudi Golf League proposals.”
In addition to having lobbyist battles in D.C., the two rival golf leagues are involved in multiple fights in the courtroom. One of those legal alterations has resulted in attorney Larry Klayman, who now represents LIV golfer Patrick Reed, filing to make Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy testify under oath about a PGA players-only meeting that took place ahead of the BMW Championship last week.
“This is not a personal ‘thing’ against Woods, McIlroy and [Jay] Monahan,” the attorney said in a release. “It’s about getting information about what occurred at the players’ meeting and generally with regard to allegations in our complaint that the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and their commissioners Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley, are allegedly colluding in restraint of trade and the antitrust laws to harm the LIV Golf Tour and its players.”
In the words of the elder Quayle, be “ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”
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