Golf fans all say same thing as LIV boss spotted in PGA Tour pro-am field

A number of golf fans expressed their disappointment after LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was spotted in the pro-am field for this week's PGA Tour Champions event in Morocco under his real name. 

The powerful Saudi businessman was listed to take part in the pro-am ahead of the PGA Tour Champions Trophy Hassan II. 

Disgraced Masters champion Angel Cabrera is also among the competitors and is making his first start on the North American circuit since he was released from prison in his native Argentina for domestic abuse charges. 

Al-Rumayyan, 54, is the mastermind behind the rival LIV Golf League. He is an absolute golf nut and reportedly plays off a handicap of 12. 

Last October, Al-Rumayyan played in the pro-am ahead of the DP World Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews. 

His inclusion in the field represented a softening of attitudes towards the contentious LIV figure and the Saudis by the establishment. 

Only it was curious as Al-Rumayyan was attempting to keep a low-profile by playing under the pseudonym Andrew Waterman. 

Al-Rumayyan played alongside LIV player Peter Uihlein and, remarkably, Official World Golf Ranking chairman Peter Dawson and outgoing R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. 

LIV were later officially denied OWGR accreditation by the governing body. 

Al-Rumayyan was grouped with Indian veteran Arjun Atwal and two other amateurs at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. 

One X user commented: "Where's Andrew Waterman?!" 

Another added: "He's clearly getting to know the players before creating the LIV champions tour!"

Playing in today's PGA Tour Champions pro-am in Morocco with pro Arjun Atwal...



Yassir Al Rumayyan, a 12-handicap amateur and PIF governor pic.twitter.com/1KCa1ti3fF

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) February 21, 2024

Al-Rumayyan is now a key figure in men's professional golf. 

On 6 June 2023 he appeared alongside PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on national television to announce the 'framework agreement'. 

That was essentially a deal to make a deal to combine the commercial assets of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf under the umbrella of a new company. 

Al-Rumayyan promised a hefty investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund into the new entity but it remains to be seen whether that deal will ever be ratified. 

The PGA Tour have since announced a $3bn private equity deal with Strategic Sports Group which begs the question whether the established Tour wants to strike a deal with the PIF. 

Reacting to the news, Al-Rumayyan wrote a letter to his LIV players last month which read:

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