The British Open golf tournament is the sport’s fourth and final major event of the year, and it ends today at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. 

It should be a jolly good show for those who respect the game.  

But thanks to the actions taken by Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf Series as it seeks to buy its way into the game, there are angry golfers from the PGA and LIV, Professional Golf Association Tour officials and others seething underneath like a Yellowstone Park fumarole.

All this started when American golfers sued the PGA Tour, calling it a monopoly. The Saudi Arabian government — which has a $700 billion Public Investment Fund to back its golf ambitions — joined the lawsuit against the PGA, which is a $1.5 billion business, according to Forbes magazine. This likely explains why the PGA is caving in to the Saudi demands — they can’t afford the litigation fees.  

It’s “sportswashing” at its worst, designed to buy respectability rather than earn it. Sportswashing is the practice of using sports to divert attention away from what’s really happening. It leverages the popularity and global appeal of sports to improve or alter a country’s international image. 

It happens when a nation desperate to be seen as important, invests millions of dollars for a seat at the table.  

LIV Golf is the organization that helped create a rival tour. “LIV” is the Roman numeral for the number 54, which is how many holes the players compete in at the LIV tour stops. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour events remain at 72 holes. 

On top of that, the LIV series awards huge paydays — some of them multiples of PGA prize amounts. 

Big names — such as Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and others — jumped ship for millions of dollars to join LIV events.   

Golf fans are looking beyond today’s final round at the British Open because they’re worried about losing the sport to foreign influences. 

Sportswashing is not new. 

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, the Nazi regime attempted to showcase the German notion of Aryan superiority. American sprinter Jesse Owens made the hosts look silly as he won four gold medals — the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 4 X 100-meter relay and the high jump. 

In 2018, Russia hosted the men’s World Cup soccer tournament to distract people from Vladimir Putin’s unsavory rule. China hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing despite criticism of human rights violations. 

In 2022, Qatar hosted the men’s World Cup. It sought the approval of other countries, despite its human rights problems that included the deaths of hundreds of migrant workers who were building the event’s stadiums. 

Why does Saudi Arabia want to join the United States and other golf-crazed countries on the world stage? Because it wants to use sportswashing to cover up human rights abuses while also making money. Here are a few of them.

• Sept. 11: Saudi Arabia had strong connections to what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, as Saudi-born hijackers allegedly got some resources from the Saudi regime.

• Women’s rights: Saudi Arabia continues to treat women like possessions. Women are subservient to men in that country, restricted when it comes to working or attending school beyond the lower levels. It’s very difficult for women to advance in Saudi life.

• The 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the general abuse of dissidents: The CIA concluded that Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination.

• Migrant worker rights: They make up a large portion of Saudi Arabia’s workforce and often are exploited on the job.

• Death penalties and torture: Saudi Arabia carries out the highest number of such punishments in the world, piggybacking on blatantly unfair trials.

• The Yemen civil war: Saudi Arabia is one reason that this conflict goes on. It has been stirring the pot for a long time in hopes of gaining more influence in that area of the world. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have caused civilian casualties and contributed to what the United Nations described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Sportswashing is the silent invader that undermines the integrity of sporting events. It uses the passion of sports to hide darker realities.  

The power of sports should never be used to launder the reputations of those who infringe on basic human rights. When the roar of the crowds drowns out the cries for justice, that’s when you know sportswashing is in play. 

Sportswashing puts a Trojan Horse in the world of sports through stealth. Eventually, I expect that Saudi Arabia will take over golf worldwide. 

When sport becomes a tool to divert attention from social issues, that’s going too far.

Saudi Arabia is trampling upon the ideals of fair play, integrity and honesty. The real losers in sportswashing aren’t just the fans, but also the ideals of fair play, integrity and honesty. 

The danger of sportswashing is that it uses the universal language of sports to tell a phony story. 

The United States should take the following actions to erode sportswashing’s influence:

• Demand increased transparency: Who, exactly, is staging events and how they are paying for them?

• Public awareness and education: We need to raise the awareness of sports fans and the public about the dangers of sportswashing. That takes educating people about the potential motivations and consequences of sportswashing, helping them make informed decisions about teams, events and sponsors.

• Engaging media and journalists: Encourage them to investigate and report on sportswashing cases. Robust journalism can expose attempts to manipulate sports for reputation-laundering purposes.

• Fan activism: Empower sports fans to voice their concerns and demand transparency from sports organizations and franchises. Grassroots movements and fan activism can bring attention to human rights violations.

It’s important to note that stopping sportswashing requires ongoing efforts from stakeholders, including sports organizations, fans, media and the government. 

He who has the gold (oil) makes the rules.

Jim Martin can be reached at jimmartinesq@gmail.com.