Josh Hawley Takes PGA CEO to Task on LIV Merger: ‘You Agreed to Take a Billion Dollars From the Same People You Were Lobbying Against a Year Ago?’

Senators on both sides of the aisle grilled PGA Tour executives about the impending merger with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series on Tuesday morning, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was no exception.

During an exchange with PGA CEO Ron Price, Hawley contrasted Price’s posture toward LIV a year ago with his desire for a merger today.

“Let’s talk a little bit about your lobbying activity as it relates to the Saudi deal. Public reports say that you paid lobbyists last year in one quarter, just one quarter of the year, six figures or more as to lobby Congress on the Saudi golf league proposals. What was that related to?” asked Hawley to kick off the exchange:

PRICE: Senator, we went to members of Congress as we faced a very threat to our existence to make them aware of what the Public Investment Fund was attempting to do through its operations of the LIV Golf series.

HAWLEY: And so, make Congress aware and ask it for what? What did you want this body to do?

PRICE: Senator, anything that the Congress could do within its power to help preserve an American institution.

HAWLEY: But this is before you agreed to take a billion dollars from the same people that you were lobbying against a year ago?

PRICE: Senator, we faced a choice. One was to allow professional golf to be taken over and operated by the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The second was to allow the PGA Tour to continue to lead it in accordance with our mission and our values, for the benefit of our players and charity.

The PGA has been pilloried for reversing itself from its original hostility to LIV.

Players who accepted the lucrative contracts offered by the upstart league were supposed to face a ban from PGA events, but now they will come back to the Tour having profited enormously from their hiatus to LIV, while players who rejected offers from LIV remain unrewarded.

Other have expressed outrage over the human rights abuses of the Saudi government, and its ties to the 9/11 terror attacks.

Watch above via Fox News.