美国国家公共电台 NPR--PGA Tour agrees to merge with its Saudi-backed rival, LIV Golf

PGA Tour agrees to merge¹ with its Saudi-backed rival, LIV Golf

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Zach Helfand of The New Yorker about the planned merger³ of the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf — after two years of animosity.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The two biggest organizations in pro⁴ golf are merging⁵.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The PGA Tour has run big tournaments for generations, but it faced a challenge from an upstart with a lot of money. That would be the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV tour. That's L-I-V, pronounced, as we said, LIV, like live large, which the tour did, offering eye-popping paychecks to attract players from the PGA.

INSKEEP: Zach Helfand of The New Yorker joins us now with the latest. Good morning.

ZACH HELFAND: Good morning.

INSKEEP: These two tours were fighting. Why did they merge?

HELFAND: So this was something that came as a big surprise to almost everyone involved. Even some of the star players didn't know that this was coming. But it's also one of those things that, from a business standpoint, a lot of people, with the benefit of hindsight, could say, oh, yeah, we could see why this happened. The Saudis wanted a golf tour. They wanted power and prestige, and they had a lot of money. And the PGA Tour was always happy to take a lot of money, and they had a golf tour to offer and they had power and prestige to offer. So each side really had what the other wanted.

INSKEEP: I want to understand. Is this a merger of equals or is it a takeover?

HELFAND: That's a good question. It depends how you view it. They're establishing a new entity⁶ which will oversee⁷ LIV. There's a question of whether LIV will live on. And it will also oversee the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour gets - it's probably going to be about $3 billion from the Saudis, and they get to retain voting rights control over the board of directors. But the head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund gets to be the chairman of the board.

INSKEEP: Ah, OK. So a Saudi choice to be chairman, but the PGA Tour forces have the majority of the board seats. That's what you're saying?

HELFAND: Yeah, it's kind of a power-sharing agreement. The PGA Tour retains more control, though, with the voting rights.

INSKEEP: So I have to ask about the reputation of Saudi Arabia and human rights abuses there, which golfers have noted⁸. Phil Mickelson, one of the biggest stars, said last year that he viewed LIV as a Saudi vehicle to improve the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin⁹ Salman, conceal¹⁰ his poor record on human rights. How are pro golfers answering those kinds of accusations¹¹ now that they've joined forces with the Saudis?

HELFAND: They're happy to gloss¹² over it once they are part of the Saudi outfit¹³. So it's one of those things that I don't know that most golfers really care that much about. Some of them do. A lot of them use it if it's convenient. I think the reputation-laundering aspect of this has been a little bit overblown. From the people I've talked to who know MBS or speak to MBS, he knows that a golf league isn't going to wash away the killing¹⁴ of Jamal Khashoggi, for example. But they're using it as a business and as an economic tool. They want to transform their economy, become a tourist destination, get one up over the Emiratis, who also have golf interests. And this really serves that need.

INSKEEP: So we'll see a lot more pro golfers in Saudi Arabia, is what you're telling me.

HELFAND: Very likely.

INSKEEP: Zach Helfand of The New Yorker, thanks very much.

HELFAND: Thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF CLOUDKICKER'S "EXPLORE, BE CURIOUS")

1 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

4 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

5 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

6 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

7 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

10 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

13 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。