The 151st British Open golf tournament is the sport’s fourth and final major event of the year, which ended last Sunday at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.

It was 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 Arabia 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 explains why the PGA is caving into 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 on the field, court or golf course. 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 Roman numerals 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 the Open’s final round 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 host look silly as he won four gold medals – 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4 X 100 meter relay and the long 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 in soccer. It sought the approval of other countries, despite its human rights problems that included the deaths of hundreds of migrant workers building the stadiums.

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

Saudi Arabia had strong connections to what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, as 15 of the terrorists involved in the attack were Saudi-born, coming to America legally on Visas and receiving some funding from the Saudi regime that was laid out in a 2016 document Biden released in 2021.

Women’s rights: Saudi Arabia continues to treat females like possessions under the antiquated “guardianship” program where male relatives chaperone unmarried women at all times in public. Men and women are separated in public venues, and despite advances in women’s education, the workforce is still dominated by men.

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. Saudi Arabia causes civilian casualties and contributes to what the United Nations described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as it backs the effort to oust the Houthis and keep them from power with the help of allies like the U.S.

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 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 are they 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 sports washing requires ongoing efforts from stakeholders, including sports organizations, fans, media, and government.

He who has the gold (oil) will eventually take control and make the rules.

Jim Martin can be reached at jimmartinesq@gmail.com. He is a former University of Colorado regent who chaired CU’s Subcommittee for Athletics for several years. He also taught Sports Law at CU and the University of Denver.  

Correction, 10:19 a.m

​Because of a writer’s error, a guest commentary on Page 13A Friday about “sportswashing” incorrectly described the four gold medals won by Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In his field event, the sprinter won gold in the long jump. 

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