'This is wrong:' Even this US Senator is disgusted by Phil Mickelson and Saudi golf league
Ron Wyden says he strongly opposes LIV Golf's scheduled event in his home state of Oregon later this month.
BROOKLINE, Mass. — As Phil Mickelson was cheered throughout a poor first round at the U.S. Open Thursday, a U.S. senator called him out for his decision to join LIV Golf, ensuring the controversy over the new Saudi-backed tour will continue with its first tournament to be held on U.S. soil near Portland, Oregon in two weeks.
In a telephone interview with Paste BN Sports Thursday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D.-Ore., said that Mickelson and other American golfers are “wrong” to take money from a government trying to sportswash its image from a range of atrocities, including 9/11, the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and a controversy over the 2016 death of an Oregon teenager, the victim of a hit and run by a Saudi national who then fled the United States for Saudi Arabia.
“I would just say, this is wrong,” Wyden said when asked what he would say to Mickelson about his involvement with the Saudis. “I went to school on a basketball scholarship. I believe deeply in the role of sports helping to promote goodwill. I would tell Mr. Mickelson, you can do better than this. You can be far better than this, you’re clearly going to have loads of opportunities to make very substantial sums of money, but you can do it in a way that doesn’t reward those with blood-stained hands.”
Wyden, along with 11 mayors of cities around Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, is speaking out in opposition to the club hosting the LIV tournament.
“One of the reasons I am so strongly opposed to this being in Portland, the kickoff of the (U.S. portion of the LIV) tour, is that this hits really close to home,” Wyden said. “A young woman, Fallon Smart, was the victim of a fatal hit and run and right before the Saudi national was to go to trial, our law enforcement officials at home believe that this suspect was whisked out of Oregon and the country by Saudi officials. They saw a big car pull up, his ankle bracelet cut, passports, all this stuff, in order to get out of the country.
“My own view is Saudi Arabia is trying to cleanse their blood-stained hands in Oregon with Fallon Smart and Jamal Khashoggi,” he said. “What I’ve been trying to do is say, look, the American government and important institutions in this country ought to be speaking out against these outrageous examples of Saudi complicity in evading the U.S. justice system where it hits close to home in Oregon, or as we all remember what happened with Jamal Khashoggi.
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“And, we ought to say that when U.S. sports institutions partner with governments like Saudi Arabia, they are in effect allies in these coverups and they’re selling out their integrity for profit.”
In addition to his involvement with the Fallon Smart case, Wyden authored legislation requiring the release of an unclassified report naming Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for ordering the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi. LIV Golf, which is paying Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and others hundreds of millions of dollars, is bankrolled by a fund run by bin Salman.
“I’d say going along with this sportwashing is basically undermining core American values,” Wyden said. “We believe deeply in human rights, we don’t look the other way when you have governments engaging in these human rights and ethical abuses. …The golfers ought to be Americans first and concerned with justice, values and acknowledging there’s more to it than money.
“The ball, so to speak, is in their court. They’ve got a chance to make this right (by renouncing their involvement with the Saudis in LIV Golf), and make a very powerful statement that America is at its best when it stands up for justice, when it stands up for human rights. You asked what I’d say if Phil Mickelson was in front of me: ‘You can do lots better than this.’”
Wyden also urged President Biden to discuss LIV Golf as well as the Khashoggi and Smart deaths in his meetings with bin Salman and other leaders in Saudi Arabia next month.
“I’d like to see the president bring up these issues and particularly raise the Saudi golf efforts with LIV and put it in the context of holding the Saudis accountable for these atrocities,” Wyden said. “I want to tell you as one member of the United States Senate, I’m not going to let this go away.”