European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said he had no second thoughts about bringing a tour event to Saudi Arabia.
Pelley and tour officials have come under scrutiny after they decided to go ahead with the Saudi International in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last fall. Turkish media reported that Khashoggi, who wrote critically of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed and dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The European Tour has held events in the Middle East since 1989, and there are now six tournaments on the Arabian Peninsula, but never have they attracted so much attention.