The kingdom’s astounding deal to control men’s golf is part of a patient, multibillion-pound strategy to change its global reputation
It’s not often that a multi-millionaire sports star is a pawn in a global power play, but that was the situation Rory McIlroy found himself in last week. The Northern Irishman, currently ranked the third best golfer in the world, was having to explain how he felt after his long campaign to hold out against a disruptive Saudi Arabian competition had ended with the Gulf state sharing control over the entirety of his sport.
“It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens,” he said.