Hemel Hempstead (07/08 – 30.00) A group of Extinction Rebellion protesters arrived during the second round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series at Centurion Golf Club.
“Blood money” was one of the phrases written on their placards as they protested against the human rights record of Saudi Arabia.
Throughout the week, the atrocities relating to LGBTQ communities, migrant groups, women and the bombing of Yemen have been put to various players.
Extinction Rebellion is an environmental movement aiming to use nonviolent protest to force action to avoid issues in the climate system, biodiversity loss and the risk of social and ecological collapse.
One of the main issues with the LIV Golf Invitational Series’ use of funding of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. In May, Greg Norman revealed that LIV Golf Investments secured a cash injection of almost £2 billion.
The death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been a focus point this week in the moral questioning of players at Centurion Golf Club. Graeme McDowell described the incident as “reprehensible” and Phil Mickelson described it as “terrible.”
In his press conference on Tuesday morning, McDowell sat alongside Dustin Johnson and attempted to explain his participation in the LIV Golf Series with the cloud of Saudi hanging over.
“I wish I had the ability to have that conversation with you,” the former US Open champion said when asked about the topic.
“As golfers, if we tried to cure geopolitical situations in every country in the world we played golf in, we wouldn’t play a lot of golf. It’s a really hard question to answer. We are here to just focus on golf and what it does for the role models we are. It’s a really hard question to get into.”
In terms of playing on a moral basis, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter refused to comment on whether they would play in an event organised by Vladimir Putin.
