World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb is one of the most decorated players in the history of women’s golf, and she’s worried about the where the game is headed.
In an appearance Wednesday on “Golf Today,” Webb was asked about the turmoil taking place in the men’s game and whether she was concerned that the LPGA might endure the same.
“Yeah, I am,” Webb said. “In the women’s game it’s really hard because obviously you want as many women to have the opportunity to play the game, but as women I feel like we should be standing with all women. And the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia, we shouldn’t be supporting that.”
LIV Golf is funded by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which has been controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, since 2015.
While LIV Golf has dominated headlines on the men’s side, it’s been mostly quiet with the LPGA and LET tours.
The only real news of note was in late May when Greg Norman – the CEO of Saudi-backed LIV Golf – said LIV Golf approached the LPGA and LET with “a substantial investment,” and that both tours rejected the offer.
The LPGA was quick to deny Norman’s claim, simply saying, “The LPGA Tour has not received an offer from LIV Golf.”
Webb grew up idolizing fellow Aussie Norman, but after Norman brushed off Saudi Arabia’s human-rights atrocities last month, Webb tweeted: “The little girl in me just died well and truly!!” When asked on “Golf Today” if she still felt that way, she responded: “She’s still well and truly dead.”
Webb hopes the women’s game will continue to make the LPGA founders proud.
“Meg Mallon [18-time LPGA winner] said it the best at the beginning of the year,” Webb said. “When our founders started this tour [LPGA],they refused to play at clubs that didn’t allow Black players or Hispanic players, and they needed to play every opportunity they could and they still refused to do that. So I feel like when we say, ‘act like a founder,’ we really need to take a page from that book.”