Former AT&T executive Randall Stephenson resigned from his position on the PGA Tour’s influential policy board in a letter dated Saturday, writing that he had “serious concerns” about the tour’s controversial partnership with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.

Stephenson’s resignation suggests the partnership faces significant hurdles if it is to move forward. The first step to the deal getting finalized is securing the approval of the 10-member policy board. Stephenson had been a member of the policy board since 2012 and in his resignation letter he said the framework of the deal is “not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support, particularly in light of the U.S. intelligence report concerning Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.”

Stephenson sent his resignation letter to fellow policy board members. In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post, he said he intended to resign on June 12, just six days after the deal was announced publicly, but he delayed his resignation after hearing that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was taking a leave of absence to deal with unspecified health concerns. Monahan informed tour golfers Friday that he’ll be returning to his post July 17.

Article content

Article content

“I joined this board 12 years ago to serve the best players in the world and to expand the virtues of sportsmanship instilled through the game of golf,” wrote Stephenson, the longtime chair and chief executive of AT&T. “I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement.”

Stephenson did not immediately return an email Sunday seeking a comment. The PGA Tour also did not respond to a request for a comment.

Stephenson’s resignation landed just three days before the PGA Tour is scheduled to testify before a key U.S. congressional subcommittee that is investigating the alliance between the tour and LIV Golf’s deep-pocketed benefactors. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, is holding a hearing Tuesday and will be questioning Jimmy Dunne, the policy board member who helped broker the deal, and Ron Price, the tour’s chief operating officer.

The PGA Tour and the PIF shocked the sports world when they announced June 6 that the rival parties would drop their litigation against each other and team up to create a new for-profit entity that would oversee the commercial interests of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the Europe-based DP World Tour.

The sides initially agreed to terms May 30, but most professional golfers didn’t learn about it until after it was announced. Several members of the policy board also were kept in the dark, according to people familiar with the matter. In Stephenson’s letter, he expressed concern that the deal “came to fruition without board oversight.”

The policy board consists of five players — including Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay — plus five independent directors and a PGA of America representative.

While Monahan signed off on the deal, Dunne and Ed Herlihy, the board chair, have been credited with negotiating with the PIF and hammering out many of the details.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

The tour and the PIF continue to sort out details of a final agreement. The tour has spent the last several weeks trying to sell its players and the policy board members on the partnership, saying it’s vital to the long-term sustainability of the tour. The policy board met with tour executives on June 27 in Detroit and later issued a statement saying, “We are all committed to the safeguards in the framework agreement that ensure the PGA Tour would lead and maintain control of this potential new commercial entity.”

Aside from Dunne and Herlihy, most policy board members have had little to say publicly about the deal. Players serving on the board have been careful with their words, saying they were surprised by the deal but also noting that the basic agreement between the parties is short on details and many questions have yet to be answered, including how LIV golfers might be reintegrated into the PGA Tour.

“I don’t have enough information about the deal yet to have an unfavourable or favourable view about it,” Cantlay told reporters at the U.S. Open last month.

— The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins contributed to this report.

Article content