Newcastle director Amanda Staveley targeted by LIV Golf for PGA Tour talks

Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan (L) with Amanda Staveley

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 17 May 2023

LIV Golf has reportedly sought out the services of Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley, the women behind the Saudi Arabian takeover at St James’ Park, to try and smooth over relations with the PGA Tour.

Staveley brokered not only the deal for Newcastle but also the Abu Dhabi takeover of Manchester City thanks to her connections to the mighty wealth of the Middle East.

Newcastle’s chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is also governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) that is bankrolling Greg Norman’s LIV Golf operation.

Now, the Daily Mail is reporting that thanks to her links to Al-Rumayyan, Staveley is seen as a possible peacemaker in the civil war that has caused this split in the game of golf.

Grabbing the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith, LIV Golf ploughed $2 billion into LIV Golf, but with that also came a number of lawsuits with the PGA Tour as animosity grew.

PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan banned the LIV golfers, while DP World Tour counterpart Keith Pelley fined his players, causing the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter to resign.

There seems no end in sight, but many have now said that it would suit the interests of both parties to settle the differences sooner rather than later.

Amanda Staveley at the LIV Golf draft in London

A US District Court judge has recently agreed to a PGA Tour request to force Al-Rumayyan to be subjected to discovery, which LIV have been vehemently against.

Legal dealings in the US could also open the door to problems for Newcastle United - with the PIF and Al-Rumayyan being described as sovereign possibly causing issues with Premier League ownership rules.

Problems for Newcastle could be another reason why Staveley would get involved in settling the animosity between the two factions - along with the PIF's desire not to have a US court and the PGA Tour’s lawyers dig too deeply into their finances.

Staveley was present at the inaugural LIV Golf draft in London last year, and was also reportedly at the Masters at Augusta last month.

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Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.

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