LIV's Saudi boss left the league the way he entered it

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the man responsible for LIV Golf’s multi-billion dollar investment, made a surprise appearance at the LIV Golf event in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Sunday. This comes amid reports that Saudi Arabia is winding down its financial support for the league, sparking surprise and questions from players and observers.

A Return to the Battlefield

The presence of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), at the LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster on Sunday was a true sensation. This appearance was particularly noteworthy given that earlier this year, the PIF announced the cessation of its five-year investment program in LIV Golf, having injected over $6 billion. Al-Rumayyan, who was previously a regular fixture at LIV events, had all but stopped attending gatherings after his employer’s decision to cease funding.

Bryson DeChambeau, one of LIV Golf’s star players, commented on Al-Rumayyan’s presence: “I think we all found out last night that he was going to be out here. I think he needed to have some conversations with the president. That was a whole ‘nother thing. I’m not going to get involved with that.” DeChambeau’s words hint at possible political or business discussions that may have accompanied Al-Rumayyan’s visit.

Photos captured during the final day of competition at “LIV New York” showed the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund standing next to Donald Trump in a private suite at the president’s golf course in New Jersey. In them, Al-Rumayyan looks as he usually does: in a trim polo, wearing a very expensive watch, sporting an amiable grin and a salt-and-pepper beard. However, his silence and location raised many questions.

Shifting Course and a Mystery Investor

Al-Rumayyan’s appearance occurred in the same week that LIV announced a new, mystery investor—reportedly the private equity firm BC Capital. This comes amidst intensifying rumors that the league is on the brink of canceling its team championships scheduled for the end of the month in Michigan. These developments underscore the uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf’s future and the role Saudi Arabia continues to play, even as it winds down direct investment.

Despite the abrupt halt in financial support, DeChambeau tried to maintain a positive outlook: “It was great to see him out here. I think he’s done wonders for us and the global game of golf. How it moves forward, I think there’s a great place for the PIF and where they want to be moving forward. Where that is, I’m not exactly sure. I have no idea. But I know that he’s supported golf for a long, long time, and as this transitions over hopefully into the new investor’s hands and into the players’ hands, and that’s what it’s going to be, in the players’ hands, we really have an opportunity to align a lot of the global incentives to be a force for good for the game.” His words reflect hope for the continued development of golf, despite changes in the funding structure.

A Legacy of Silence

In the short history of LIV Golf, there is perhaps no character whose name engenders a greater sense of mystery than Al-Rumayyan’s. As the head of the PIF and a top lieutenant to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he played perhaps the most critical role of any person alive in LIV’s germination from a glitzy idea into a multi-billion-dollar investment. The stories of LIV’s founding and early days are littered with references to Al-Rumayyan—known by the players simply as “H.E.,” for “His Excellency”—and the vision of the league’s current existence is littered with his fingerprints, evident everywhere from its New York City HQ to many iterations of its Pro-Am schedule, where Al-Rumayyan was a regular fixture.

The simple truth is that for most of LIV’s history, Al-Rumayyan has been the man responsible for cutting the checks. As you can imagine, that’s a pretty big deal for a startup with a $100 million per month cash burn rate.

But Al-Rumayyan’s public influence has not necessarily manifested in public access. Outside of a short (and ill-fated) interview with Jay Monahan to announce the famed “merger” between Al-Rumayyan’s league and the PGA Tour, Yasir has never granted a single interview in the golf world. In that time, he has left countless others—DeChambeau chief among them—to speak for him and his Saudi partners.

In the end, it is entirely conceivable that Al-Rumayyan’s presidential visit to Bedminster is the last we see of him at a LIV event. If it is, it will bring its own set of questions. Was this kind of soft power the Saudis’ chief interest in golf? Was the competition they asked golf fans to care about less important than the people it attracted into their orbit? Were the players they paid untold millions compensated at least in part for their willingness to speak on behalf of Al-Rumayyan?

The current LIV leadership would have you know that the answer to each of these questions isn’t nearly as black-and-white as it seems. Golf has always been a vessel to something bigger, and there’s nothing wrong with that… even if “something bigger” is the leader of the free world.

True as that may be, Al-Rumayyan’s appearance is a reminder that LIV’s investors might have done the league a few billion favors, but those favors came at a price. The price of standing at a podium answering questions for a man who never bothered to answer them himself.

For DeChambeau and for the rest of crowd who spotted their ex-flame floating around the property on Sunday at Bedminster, that explanation wasn’t necessary on Sunday evening. As it turns out, sometimes our loudest words are the ones we don’t say at all.