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Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the Scottish Open.

1. Misters Dunne and Price go to Washington

Chelsey Cox and Lillian Rizzo…”PGA Tour operating chief Ron Price and policy board independent director Jimmy Dunne testified Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s investigations subcomittee, while representatives from LIV Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund weren’t present.”

• “LIV CEO Greg Norman is out of the country, according to a spokesperson. A representative for the subcomittee said it is preparing to hear testimony from Norman as well as tour golfers in the future.”

• “Dunne and Price said they believed the PGA Tour would benefit the most from the proposed deal. Dunne said that if a deal were to get done, the tour would “definitely stay intact and becomes more powerful,” and added he hoped PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan would have “a more productive role in the game of golf” in a more constructive way.”

2. Documents, more details, Blumenthal on the attack

Rick Maese at the Washington Post…“Many details of the deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi investors are unknown and still subject to negotiation, but the documents released Tuesday during the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing into the surprising agreement give the fullest picture to date of what the key stakeholders had hoped to get out of the partnership.”

• “Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chair of the subcommittee, shared a 10-page summary document plus an additional 265 pages of supplementary emails, messages and other communications that were submitted to the subcommittee by the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in advance of Tuesday’s hearing.”

• “Blumenthal was the most pointed lawmaker in his questioning of the PGA Tour representatives — Ron Price, the tour’s chief operating officer, and Jimmy Dunne, a member of the tour’s policy board and a key architect of the agreement — urging them “to avoid the sellout that this deal appears to be” and warning that accepting Saudi money will not alleviate the tour’s woes.”

• “Looking at it from the future standpoint, you’re not out of the woods,” he said toward the end of the hearing. “They’re going to continue to have this kind of bucket full of money and they’re going to continue to wield the influence that they do … and whatever the good intention and rhetoric is now, you still have to reach a deal. My hope is that you will resist those buckets full of money.”

3. Tiger and Rory as LIV captains?

Bob Harig for S.I…”Among ideas proposed by the LIV Golf League in the time leading up to the shocking framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia was giving Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy LIV Golf League franchises and seeing them compete in LIV Golf events.”

• “Two of the biggest names in the game were staunchly opposed to the rival Saudi Arabia-funded circuit but were kept in the dark when negotiations took place between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, policy board members Ed Hirlihy and Jimmy Dunne and the PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan.”

• “This was just one of the ideas that was discussed by the parties as part of documents released Tuesday by a Senate subcommittee during a hearing in Washington, D.C., led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut). The PGA Tour rejected it as part of the negotiation.”

4. Goodbye, Greg?

Frankie Taggart for the AFP…”Among the items on the table in the talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf were the firing of two-time British Open champion Greg Norman as LIV boss and a new “World Golf Series” that would climax in the kingdom.”

• “The communications, released by the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at the start of a hearing into the controversial tie-up, gave the most detailed picture yet of how the deal might look.”

• “Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — which finances LIV Golf — did not ultimately agree to the PGA Tour’s request to fire Norman but the push for his ouster underscored the radical nature of the negotiations.”

5. More from the doc dump

Via Brentley Romine at Golf Channel…”Here were a few of the proposals for consideration, aka their wants:”

• “Rory and Tiger would own teams and play in at least 10 LIV events

• “Initiate a large-scale superstar LIV style team global event to include PGA Tour, LIV and LPGA players with live TV draft and qualifying held in Saudi Arabia with TV revenue flowing to LIV

• “Development of global golf investment fund managed by PIF

• “LIV would own vehicle for broadcast income

• “Al-Rumayyan to become director of International Golf Federation and receive membership to Augusta National and R&A

• “Minimum of 2 PGA Tour elevated events branded under Aramco and/or PIF flags, including one in Saudi Arabia

• “LIV team branding to continue

• “LIV tournaments not to compete with majors, elevated events or international team competitions”

6. PIF Governor for Augusta membership?

7. $1 billion infusion?

Al Weaver for the Hill…”Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the subcommittee chairman, repeatedly questioned the pair over the decision to accept money from the Saudis after vehemently opposing LIV Golf for more than a year. He also pressed Price and Dunne on the financial and human rights questions surrounding the pending accord.”

• “Today’s hearing is about much more than the game of golf,” Blumenthal said in his opening remarks. “It’s about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence — indeed even take over a cherished American institution — to cleanse its public image.”

• “While concrete details on the emerging deal are sparse, some financial aspects cracked through Tuesday.”

• “No financial terms have been hammered out between the PGA Tour and PIF, Price said, but the wealth fund is expected to contribute a “significant amount” that will likely exceed $1 billion.”

8. USWO ratings bump

Cameron Jourdon for Golfweek…”NBC Sports announced Tuesday the U.S. Women’s Open was the most-watched edition of the championship since 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2. It averaged 895,000 viewers, up 118 percent from 2022 and up 47 percent from 2021.”

• “The 2014 event averaged 1.03 million viewers on NBC and ESPN2, ranking as the second most-watched U.S. Women’s Open since 2009 and the most-watched West Coast U.S. Women’s Open in 20 years.”

• “Weekend viewership on NBC and Peacock – which included the first East Coast primetime coverage in U.S. Women’s Open history – averaged 1.34 million viewers, up 76 percent in 2022 (765,000 viewers) and 35 percent in 2021 (995,000 viewers).”

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