PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, sat beside each other during a CNBC interview wearing comfortable smiles of longtime friends.
That was one of many surprises.
They announced a blockbuster commercial partnership that seemed so unfathomable only a few months ago because they were adversaries in the bitter antitrust lawsuit initiated by Saudi-funded LIV Golf — and because two months ago, they had never even met.
What brought them together in a roundabout way was Monahan appointing Jimmy Dunne — a power broker in golf and on Wall Street with a personal connection to the Sept.