A new startup tournament, LIV Golf, backed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, is dividing the professional golf world by promising players multi-million dollar prizes and attracting some of the best-known names in golf to play in their circuit. And rebranding the game as “GOLF, BUT LOUDER.”

All this is upsetting already established tournaments like the PGA Tour – which is like the NFL of American Football, or the MLB of Baseball – and for nearly a century, it has been pro golf's gold standard tour.

Top golfers including former World No. 1 Dustin Johnson have resigned from the PGA Tour and moved over to LIV Golf. LIV reportedly offered Johnson $100-150 million to play. Six-time-major-winner Phil Mickelson joined LIV Golf with an even bigger reported $200 million contract. Others, like Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down a nearly $1 billion offer from LIV, have been loyal to the PGA, and has criticized players who have left. 

But LIV’s supporters are also having to address Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by Saudi agents.

Former president Donald Trump, who has business ties to Saudi Arabia and has repeatedly downplayed concerns about the country’s record, plays today in a pro-am tournament at his Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, in New Jersey. 

To tee things off for us, we’re joined by Andrew Beaton, sports reporter for The Wall Street Journal.