January 20,2022
ENGLISH golfer Paul Casey on Wednesday defended Saudi Arabia’s $200 million cash injection to revive the Asian Tour, following criticism of the deal over the oil-rich kingdom’s human rights record.
Speaking ahead of this week’s SMBC Singapore Open, where he finished tied-second in 2019, Casey welcomed the funding from LIV Golf Investments, which is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. “Look, investment is investment. Every tour needs investment, that’s plain and simple,” said Casey, currently world number 27.
“The revenues are amazing on the PGA Tour, and I’m part of the PGA Tour. I’m proud of that, but I’m also excited about the investments in the other tours around the world. So that is a good thing,” he added. Casey said fellow players were upbeat about the cash infusion.“It’s a big deal. The fact that they got more events and more money to play for. Nothing wrong with that,” said Casey, who has also committed to playing the Saudi International that starts in two weeks.—AFP
