CHARLOTTE — The controversial cease-fire between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf will have ripple effects throughout the golf world, but, so far, it’s impossible to say how or whether those effects extend to the Wells Fargo Championship’s discussions about renewing the event’s title sponsorship.
The current agreement expires after the 2024 tournament. Wells Fargo & Co. representatives and those from host course Quail Hollow Club as well as tournament owner Champions for Education have all told CBJ in recent months that they hoped to continue their partnership.
Wells Fargo, of course, understands controversy, as years of hefty fines and censures from federal regulators have often put the bank in the crosshairs of public opinion. Whether the backlash of the PGA Tour now being funded by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund — bringing harsh rebukes from families of 9/11 survivors as well as supporters of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi — pushes the bank to opt out of a renewal is unknown.
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