by
SEOUL, South Korea (Yonhap) - The abrupt departure of the tournament operations chief of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (PIF)-funded LIV Golf has drawn attention to the background.
LIV Golf announced on Wednesday that Ron Cross, who had been overseeing tournament operations, had quit.
Cross confirmed his resignation to Sports Illustrated, saying, "I am very grateful for the opportunity to play a part in launching LIV Golf."
Cross, a former executive in tournament operations for the PGA Tour and a former executive at Augusta National Golf Club, joined LIV Golf in November 2021 and has been running the organization since its inaugural tournament last June.
On the PGA Tour, he has run the Players Championship, Tour Championship, and Presidents Cup, and at Augusta National Golf Club, he has organized the Latin American Amateur Championship and the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship.
He was instrumental in organizing last year's and this year's LIV Golf seasons, and was recently busy planning the 2024 schedule.
Cross's sudden departure is likely related to the fact that the PGA Tour and PIF recently teamed up to create a new version of the game, including a merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
During negotiations with the PGA Tour, it became unclear whether LIV Golf would continue to exist.
Greg Norman, who heads up LIV Golf, has said that LIV Golf will still be around next year, but depending on the outcome of the negotiations, 카지노사이트 LIV Golf could either disappear or be absorbed into PGA Tour events.