Shark On Saudi Arabia: There Are Women In Restaurants!

As Commissioner Greg Norman tries to sell the Saudi golf move into the Asian Tour and an elite global tour inspired by the Premier Golf League, the Shark is out spinning his role. Speaking to GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport, Norman made clear there is nothing to see here when it comes to the home of 9/11 hijackers, public beheadings and women’s rights.

I’ve been going to Saudi Arabia now for three years. I was invited to do a golf course design project there. Unless you actually go there and see and understand exactly what’s happening there, you [can’t] sit back and make judgmental calls. I made the journey there to look at what was happening in Saudi Arabia before I made any decision on anything because I’m not a person who makes judgement calls. I make sound decisions on sound facts and information that is presented to you. So when the PIF wanted to become a majority investor, I knew what was happening in the country.

Women’s right issues—the women there now, I’ve been so impressed. You walk into a restaurant and there are women. They’re not wearing burkas. They’re out playing golf.

That last comment earned this from the Golf Digest editors:

Editor’s note: Saudi Arabia ranked 147th out of 153 nations in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index for 2021. And according to Human Rights watch, despite women’s rights reforms in recent years, “Saudi women still must obtain a male guardian’s approval to get married, leave prison, or obtain certain healthcare. Women also continue to face discrimination in relation to marriage, family, divorce, and decisions relating to children, including child custody.”