“Obvious lies serve a purpose for an administration,” wrote Garry Kasparov, the chess great and courageous critic of Vladimir Putin. “They watch who challenges them and who loyally repeats them. The people must watch, too.”
We are entering a week in which golf fans will be inundated with obvious lies from the Saudi International, peddled by players exhibiting all the sincerity of $20 hustlers trying to say it like they mean it.
“I’m trying to grow the game.”
“They are trying to change here.”
“I’m just here to play golf.”
“I want to compete against the best.”
“I’m not a politician.”
The ashamed might at least look uneasy in their prevarications. The shameless will be all thumbs-up and duplicitous grins. And everyone will depart the Kingdom richer, but only in cash terms. This effort to launder the Saudi regime’s grotesque reputation will soil that of many others.
It promises to be a discordant week in golf as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is held opposite the Bonesaw Invitational. On one side we have an iconic venue, a longtime sponsor whose investment in the sport runs to tens of millions of dollars annually and a worthy charitable beneficiary. Eight thousand miles to the east, there is only money—unless you think bailing certain golfers out of their financial misadventures constitutes charity.
Sure, it’s all commerce, but one tournament comes with a side of mercy. The other is simply mercenary.
Elite golfers are free to earn money…
